12/31/16 Report - Happy New Year. 2016 Popular Posts. Magnetometers and Ground Penetrating Radar: Technology and Application.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

A  New Year Post Card Received by My Grandfather in 1913.

Well it is the end of the year again.  It seems like they fly around faster and faster.   It is a good time to look back and assess things.  What went right?  What went wrong?  And how can we do better?

For the Treasure Coast and metal detecting, Hurricane Matthew provided a lot of the big news this year. First we hoped that it would move some sand and leave us some treasure.  Then as it grew and grew and appeared to be headed towards us, we hoped that it wouldn't cause a lot of destruction.  As it turned out, after all the preparations were made, it skirted the Treasure Coast.

You'll see the most popular blog posts of 2016 at the top left of the main blog page, where I'll leave them for a couple of days.  They are the most read posts of 2016.

As you can see most of those popular posts dealt with Hurricane Matthew in one way or another, and six of the ten were posted in October of 2016.  The most recent posts are at a disadvantage since readers continue to read the older posts over the days, months and years.

One of the most popular posts of 2016 was posted in 2014.  It continues to be popular year after year.

I never expected this when I started this blog back in 2008.  I had no idea that I would have something to say almost everyday or that the blog would grow like it did.  On an average day the blog has  1000 page views.

For some there were losses in 2016.  Some lost family members or loved ones or experienced other hardships.  The holiday season is a sad time for some who remember departed family members and happier times.  I hope 2016 was a good year for you, and I'm hoping that 2017 is a great year for you.

One of the more interesting finds that I reported on this year was the 68 karat emerald found at Golden Sands park by a lady looking for shells.  No detector.  Not even a treasure hunter.  Just someone beach combing!

Next year is already very promising.  I know of a couple exploratory things being done.  I'm thinking of investigating one of those with a technology that is new to me.  Maybe I'll be able to give you the details some time in 2017.

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Yesterday I was talking about the advantages of conducting a comprehensive visual site survey.  I still intend to get out and take some pictures to help illustrate that.  I also plan to get into steps after that.

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Time spent in the field is a critical factor for beach hunting.  Finds can come in clusters and being out there a lot multiplies your chances of finding those really hot spots when they first pop up.

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If you are interested in learning more about how magnetometers and ground prentrating radar works and their practical application, here is a theses entitled Magnetics, Radar, and Steam: Geophysical Testing of the Allegheny Portage Railroad Industrial Historic Site by Michael Raymond Sprowles.

Here is the link.

http://knowledge.library.iup.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1953&context=etd

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We are starting the year with a small surf and a little negative tide.  A week or two down the road they are predicting a 4 - 7 foot surf.   Those types of long range predictions seldom happen.  We'll see.

Happy New Year.

Be kind.

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/26/14 Report - Cuts On Treasure Coast On Some Beaches and Helicopter Metal Detecting

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

A Three Foot Cut on the Treasure Coast This Morning

 Since I entered my pre post, I got out to the beach to see what the cold front did as it came through with the North winds.

First off, the modern jewelry hole that I had been working with good success disappeared.

Too bad.  But when sand moves, it adds at one place and disappears at another.




What I often try to do is find where the sand just left.

It did move yesterday and this morning.  I found two beaches that were cut pretty nicely and two that weren't cut.

The cut beaches had cuts that ran hundreds of yards.  The cuts that I saw were from one foot in height up to just over four feet.

Scallops on One Treasure Coast Beach This Morning.

At some places there were scallops.

I would rate beach conditions as about 1.5 right now.  It is starting to get interesting, but from what I saw this morning I wouldn't say it is good enough for a two rating on my Treasure Coast Treasure Beach Detecting Conditions Rating Scale.

It could improve enough for an upgrade if the north winds keeps blowing. 



What has been happening lately is that the wind direction changes quickly again.  If it does change and we start getting the wind out of the East, don't expect any more improvement in conditions.



Long Cut of Two To Three Feet

 If you look closely at the face of the cuts you will notice something important. 

There is no layering.  All of the sand was of the same type and there were no layers of shells.  It was therefore probably built up during a single period of accumulation.

If you remember I commented not very long ago that a lot of sand had recently accumulated.

Unfortunately the cuts that I found this morning were where a bunch of that new sand had recently built up.  It was very mushy before.  That newly accumulated sand is what eroded.  And there were very few targets in it, and very few signals along these cuts today.

I did run into one of those stubborn targets that you can detect but not recover (DBNRs).  It was in detecting range but just beyond recovery range.  It was in the wet sand down a little over a foot, and the sand kept falling in before I could get the target out.

More Cuts This Morning.

Pictures can come in handy.  If you inspect cuts at the same location at different times, especially those that have produced targets at one time and not another, look for differences that might be clues.

One thing I am pointing out today is how the face of the cut reveals something about the history of the sand and the probability of targets coming out of it.

The sand that eroded today was in front of the beach.  The slope was very gentle. 

The eroded sand created a front beach that extended out about fifty yards at most locations.

The surf tomorrow will be about four feet.   Unfortunately they are predicting a change in direction.  They predict the wind coming out of the South/Southeast.  If that happens, the cuts will probably fill in again rather than improve.

There were very few people on the beach this morning.

One more thing, I saw very few shells where I was.  Didn't even encounter shells in the holes that I dug.

The Navy is using a helicopter equipped with a 16 magnetometers.  Flying at a height of 5 feet it can detect metal as small as two pounds.  It will detect metal down several feet.  Looks like a good way to cover a lot of ground.

Here is the link for video and article.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/lake/os-metal-detecting-helicopters-20140323,0,1045196.story

Thanks for the link Doug.


One reader reports that the dredge was back south of Jupiter Inlet Tuesday.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/22/13 Report - Strange Helicopter, Large Treasure Coast Ordnance Removal Project and WWII History

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Figure From 1998 NRL Project Report.
See link below for link to the report.

Have you seen the strangely equipped helicopter flying up and down the coast off of Hutchinson Island?

There have been many rumors recently about the helicopter with a strange contraption attached.  Some said it could be a government agency doing a study of the sand.  They can actually measure the amount of sand deposits in the water from the air.  Others thought it could be a magnetometer survey or photographic mapping.

One resident who spoke to the helicopter crew thinks they got the answer.  They say the helicopter is conducing a magnetometer survey for WWII items.

As you probably know a magnetometer by detecting differences in the magnetic fields can detect iron objects.

It has been determined that a Canadian company is performing the survey to locate the WWII items for a future reality TV program.

That reminded me of a large project to remove WWII items from the Treasure Coast beaches back in the 1990s.

I've talked about that a little in the past but you might be surprised by the extent and type of artifacts that were removed.

Figure From Same NRL Report.

Beginning in 1993, the project conducted by the Naval Research Laboratory removed everything from sculleys, to live bombs, "tiny tom" missiles, to railroad rails.  The 1990s project employed a magnetometer survey with a magnetometer array pulled by the vehicle shown here.

The strangest contraption though was a large barge-like amphibious vehicle on tracks like those used on tanks or other heavy equipment and equipped with a large crane that was used to remove large sculleys from the water.  That thing was huge.  I wish I got a photo of it at the time. I hoped they would show it in the report, but they didn't.

The fellows working the project were dressed like those shown below in black shorts and white Ts.

If you want to learn more about the project, what was detected, how the project was conducted, and what went on at our Treasure Coast beaches during WWII, below is a link to a report on the project.

Not a Cannon But a Rocket Being Removed From
a Treasure Coast Beach.

Anti-Tank Mines Removed From Beach.

Here is the link for the Navy report.  It is a PDF file.

https://www.google.com/search?q=navy+research+laboratory+ordnance+removal+fort+pierce+1998&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS536US536&oq=navy+research+laboratory+ordnance+removal+fort+pierce+1998&aqs=chrome..69i57.18867j0j4&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8

You'll find a lot of information in the report and some useful hints.

Most of the items removed were larger - at least a half meter or more.  And as you'll read, there was a lot of "live" ordnance.

Many obstacles thought to be a danger to swimmers and
boaters like this Hedgehog were removed from the
water along the Treasure Coast.

Did you know, that Normandy Beach on South Hutchinson Island was named that because it was used to conduct training exercises for the invasion of Normandy?   The report says that area was used for bombing raid exercises.


I've been receiving a lot of email from readers from other states lately.  I'll post some of those and some ideas on the mystery item I posted yesterday.

I got one report of good erosion on the Alabama Coast lately.


On the Treasure Coast a lot of surfers were enjoying the Christmas break yesterday.  The surf was up to about four feet.

On Christmas the predictions are for a six foot surf.


Happy Hunting,
TreaureGuide@comcast.net

9/3/13 Report - Old Photos for Evaluating Beaches, Coin Auction Results & Mag Opportunity

Written by the Treasureguide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.





Old Aerial Photo - Hollywood Beach, FL
Picture from the following link.

Tomorrow more on recent 1715 gold finds in Fort Pierce.  I said the media should pick up on that story and they did.


If you like to mix beach detecting with history, here is the kind of resource you are sure to love.  It is a blog on the history of Hollywood Beach.

Hollywood Beach is where I did my first beach detecting when I got m my first detector.

There are numerous places to detect from Hallandale Beach Blvd. all the way up to Port Everglades.

The hotels there date back to the 1920s or 30s.

I know that some who read this blog still detect down that way, but the reason I mention this is to point out how useful it can be to seek out old photos and historic information about beaches.  You can do that for any area, including the Treasure Coast.

Notice in the photo above where the waterline is.  Also notice the groins along the board walk.

With all of the replenishment projects along with the forces of nature, the waterline changes a lot.

http://joanmickelsonphd.wordpress.com/

In any photos of old beach resorts make note of where the water line was at the time. 

From the photo above, you can see that a lot of sand would have to be moved to get to the layers of old items.

Also remember the busy spots of today may not be the same as those of years gone by.

The strip of beach from Hallandale up to the port has a lot of detecting areas, many of them with good history.    In that strip there are many what I would call tertiary sites, some secondary sites where you can find a good bit of gold, but of only average quality, and only one spot where there is a good bit of high-quality gold.

In the old days there were some coin lines that showed up very frequently.  They often produced one or two gold items.



Total sales of the Stack’s Bowers Galleries Official Auction of the August ANA World’s Fair of Money was $46,483,309.

A 1792 half disme graded MS-66 by PCGS sold for $793,125.

A 1889-CC Morgan Dollar graded MS-68 by PCGS sold for $881,250.

Here is the link for more on coins that sold well in that auction.

http://www.numismaticnews.net/article/stacks-tops-46-4-million



We had a lot of lightening yesterday and in the afternoons recently.   "One in 3,000 people has a chance of being hit by lightning (in a lifetime)," said CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. "Thankfully, very few people die, but it happens a lot more than people realize."

Be careful.   You can hear lightening a good distance away by static or notice in your ear phones.


Gold, silver, platinum, gas and the dollar are all up nicely today as talk of taking action against Syria increases.


If you have a good boat around Ft. Pierce and might want to get involved on a mag survey outside the 3 mile limit let me know.  I might be able to hook you up with a good experienced fellow, who you might know if you are familiar with the Treasure Coast guys. He has some good information that needs to be investigated.   I'll forward your info to him and let him go from there.


One weather area 100 miles west of Dominica has a 30% chance of becoming a cyclone.  There are also lower probability areas over the Yucatan and coming off of Africa to watch.

Beach conditions on the Treasure Coast remains poor.  It seems like all summer we've had a 1 - 2 foot surf.  Not much else. 

The tides aren't even much good now.

I got one report of the mushy conditions down at Jensen Beach.

But as you saw a couple of days ago, there are some iron artifacts being found on the beach, and all that beautiful gold in the water.

Let me know if you might be able and willing to run a mag survey.  I might be able to hook you wup.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net