4/9/18 Report - Martin County History Including Bottling Plant. State Park Maps. Don't Be Too Patient.

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

Map of Old Broward Beach State Park.

The above map shows the state park just below the Fort Lauderdale inlet into Port Everglades. The name has been changed.

I once found a large binder with maps and information on the Florida State Parks in a thrift store.  The maps and information was from the early 70s. Although some of the information is outdated, it is still a useful reference.

On the above map you shows Whiskey Creek, for example.  Other maps show historical sites along with a few notes.

It can be worth browsing through thrift stores.

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In my opinion, one of the best posts I ever published was the recent post on sifting an entire city lot.  How many people would have guessed that one small suburban Florida lot that was the site of one modest working-class house would conceal nearly 500 coins?   Not many I would bet!  But one person proved that to be true by sifting the entire lot in addition to using a metal detector.  I posted the detailed results of that study on  3/26.  In my opinion every detectorist should have eagerly studied that post, and it should have been the most read post of my blog.  That post actually told how many coins were in the ground compared to how many were found with a detector  You usually don't find out how much is missed - just how much is found.  This was the exception. 

Nearly 500 coins were found in that one small lot!  That is what I want you to remember.  The next time you pass a lot and think there is probably nothing there, think again.  Less than half of those coins were found after many metal detecting sessions failed to get them.  There were still many good coins left in the ground long after most detectorist would have given up on the site.

Patience is a virtue, but too much patience can a problem too. You need patience to stick it out when things are slow  You need patience when you are tempted to give up and quit, but there are also times when you need to quit and move on to another location or another strategy or technique.  There is a fine balance.

A site can quit yielding much, but sometimes it isn't the fault of the site.  Sometimes another method is required.  Decisions should be made analytically and strategically, rather than emotionally.  A big part of the fun of detecting for me is figuring out what is going on and how to do things more effectively.

When I was doing a lot of detecting in shallow water, I couldn't work the water when it got very rough.  It was a real pain.  The waves would knock my ear phones off and give me a headache.  Then I learned another technique.

Water is powerful.  You can't really fight it.  It is better to work with it. I learned to go with the flow rather than trying to fight the waves and trying to remain stationary on the spot.  Some people use weights to help them, but I learned to feel the surges coming and knew when to pick up my feet so that each surge would carry me in one direction before coming back and dropping on the spot where I started.  Fighting the waves was futile.  That new technique allowed me to work the rough water when I otherwise couldn't.

Impatience can be a virtue at times.  It can be a virtue when you won't settle for the status quo and learn to do things more effectively.

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I recently asked about the Stuart Bottling Works when I posted a picture of one embossed bottle from that plant.   Joe P. sent me the following link to some historical vignettes of Martin County published in TCPalm (See link below.).



Stuart's first bottling plant

In July 1913, James Elersly Weir, Jr., purchased a pitch pine wooden building owned by Joseph A. Lucas, a real estate developer, located on an isolated dirt road (Decker Street) south of Stuart; he had it converted into a bottling plant, Stuart Bottle Works. Soft drinks were bottled, sealed with large snap off caps and distributed in Stuart, Palm City, Jensen, Salerno, Hobe Sound, even to Fort Pierce and Jupiter. Weir only remained in Stuart a few years, joining family in West Palm Beach, in the plastering business and later, an auction house.

The bottling plant building was eventually owned by Ira L. Decker, who operated a concrete manufacturing business and was used primarily for storage. In the afternoon of Feb. 6, 1933, while Decker and local firemen were battling a brush fire nearby, the building caught fire. The wooden structure quickly went up in flames making it impossible for Ira to retrieve equipment, vehicles or machinery.

At least two bottles from the plant survive, clearly marked Stuart Bottling Works, one of which can be seen at the Stuart Heritage Museum.

Here is the link.

http://archive.tcpalm.com/news/historical-vignettes-some-of-martin-countys-firsts----part-2-ep-306511173-342350261.html

Thanks much Joe!

I've found at least four of those bottles south of Fort Pierce.  I think probably six.  I sold one or two of them.

I think anyone interested in local history will enjoy using that link to read the various Martin Country firsts.

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The surf is only two feet today and the tides are flat.  Thursday the surf will be bigger.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/16/14 Report - Educational Presentations On Treasure & Treasure Coins. Working the Washing Machine - Rough Shallow Water Detecting.

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

Treasure Coast Beach This Morning Near Low Tide.

The beach has been building. There were almost no targets in the wet sand this morning at this beach.  The dry beach didn't have much either.

I mostly worked in the washing machine.  By that I mean the area right in front of where the waves were crashing.  It isn't easy to work that area when you have decent waves.  The currents are strong there, and it is impossible to sweep a coil normally.  It can also difficult to recover targets there.  

To make things even more difficult, the bottom was very irregular today.  There were big dips and pot holes.  Many pot holes were more than a foot deep, and it was impossible to see the bottom, so occasionally I would get a jolt as I stepped into a hole.

There are several tricks for working in the washing machine.  While I normally don't bother to slip my arm into the band on the arm rest, in these conditions it helps a lot.  If your arm is strapped in tightly, it helps you to control the detector in the currents.

It also helps if you swing the coil so you are going with the current as much as possible.  Try to time your swing so the coil goes with the current one direction and then back the other direction when the current reverses.  It was so tough today that much of the time I was moving my coil more in a tight circle.  It took a good bit of effort.  If I didn't maintain good control both the detector and my scoop would get washed behind me.

Recovery was the hardest thing today.  In those conditions, try to time lifting the scoop so the current is rushing into your scoop rather than from behind your scoop as you lift a scoop from the bottom.   If you lift the scoop while the water is coming from behind, it will wash a lot of the sand, and quite possibly the item, out of the scoop as you lift it.

Before you lift the scoop, jiggle it to sift as much through the scoop as you can before lifting it.  That is if you think the item is in the scoop, of course. 

Don't over-fill the scoop or a lot of the sand, and quite possibly the item, will wash out of the scoop as you lift.



Detected Ear Ring.

Often foot-fanning will help you remove a lot of sand quickly, but fanning was not working well today because the currents were so strong, and the sand filled the hole as quickly as it could be fanned.  I had to give up on a few targets, which I always hate to do.

I was finding coins and objects mostly in the pot holes, and sometimes in the edge or side of a pot hole. 

Working the washing machine is not for beginners.

You also have to have sturdy equipment.  An extra brace can be used to help keep the coil in position.




The day before floor bidding begins for the current Sedwick Coins Treasure Auction, which will be  at the Doubletree Hotel at Lake Buena Vista, Orlando, there will be a number of educational presentations.  So if you are going to be in the Orlando area, you might want to make arrangements to see those.

Here is the schedule.

Wednesday, Nov. 5	Lot viewing and educational presentations
10 AM-6:30 PM EST	Lot viewing in Evergreen Room
2:00-2:45 PM EST	Ben Costello (director of the 1715 Fleet Society), guest Ernie Richards (PLUS ULTRA Newsletter)	"The 1715 Fleet 300th Anniversary"	Buena Vista Ballroom (English)
3:00-3:30 PM EST	Jose Manuel Henriquez (president of Dominican Republic Numismatic Association)	"La Numismatica Dominicana"	Buena Vista Ballroom (Spanish)
3:45-4:30 PM EST	Roberto Mastalir (researcher-writer)	"Potosi Cobs: Transitional period"	Buena Vista Ballroom (English)
4:45-5:30 PM EST	Jorge Emilio Restrepo (researcher-writer)	"Coins Issued during Colombian Independence"	Buena Vista Ballroom (English)
5:45-6:30 PM EST	Cori Sedwick Downing and Jorge Proctor (researchers-writers), guest speaker Angel Valtierra  (Nat. Mexican Numismatic Museum)	"Mexican Charles and Joanna Coinage"	Buena Vista Ballroom (English-Spanish

Gonazalo is still out there but the other disturbance has disappeared, so it looks like we won't be getting any real storm action.

Friday and Saturday the Treasure Coast will get a little higher surf but only around four or five feet.

The low tide is not getting very low at all these days.

We had got a bit of a cool front and some very nice weather.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net

10/14/11 Report - More Cobs & Hunting Rough Water on the Beach

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

Cobs Found by Dean C.

Here is the same eight-reale that I showed the other day,but this photo shows the other side. It was found in the Jupiter area.

Notice that the cross is the type used by the Mexican mint. That matches what I thought I saw of the mint mark in the previous photo.

Included in the photo above are two smaller cobs, also found by Dean.

Congratulations Dean!

And below are some spikes he found in the same general area.

There are still some spikes being found on the Treasure Coast beaches even though conditions there have deteriorated since last weekend.

I might show you some of the recently discovered Treasure Coast spikes someday soon.

Spikes and cobs are often found in different areas. Not always, of course. But I would say more often than not.

Spikes Found by Dean C.

Don't forget about the club hunt at Oak Hammock Park tomorrow at 7 AM. Contact Bernie at twiprod001@att.net for info.

I heard on the radio that $23 million has been obtained for more beach renourishment on the Treasure Coast. I believe much of this will be in the more southern parts of the Treasure Coast. We might not have enough money for social security or anything else these days, but we can sure pay to dump sand on the beaches.

The poor endangered sea turtles will be building their nests in more of that fake sand - if they can stomache it. Then the eggs will get washed into the ocean when that sand gets eroded away - which it will just like any other sand dumped where Mother Nature wouldn't have it.

I don't know where the environmentalists are on that one? Must be sleeping.

One lady who has a time-share at Disney sent me an email and asked if I knew if there would be a time she could visit the resort when there wouldn't be some big steep cliff between the resort and the ocean. She recently visited the resort and was very disappointed that it was so hard to access the beach with that eight foot cliff created by the last renourishment project.

There were some nice surfing waves yesterday morning and I suppose still this morning on the Treasure Coast. And there were some really big shell piles

If you aren't into collecting shells, you should still inspect the shell piles to see if there are any pot shards or other things. You can also often find encrusted old iron artifacts in or around big shell piles. And sometimes fossils too.

Its hard to detect in rough water on the beach. I've given some clues about how to do that in the past. If you are in front of a shell pile where the waves are crashing, don't let your coil get hit hard by the crashing water. That can destroy a coil.

Also, it is good to have something to protect your feet and ankles from flying shells and rocks. They can really hurt.

A long handles scoop can help as a crutch to support yourself in the rough water and to fend off flying objects being moved by the water.

Lean heavily on your long handled scoop to give you added stability. If you don't lean heavily on it, the scoop can fly up and take a piece out of your shin.

When you detect a target in rushing water on the beach, be ready to put your foot on it so it won't get washed away before you can pick it up.

Detecting in rough water on the beach is not easy and can be dangerous. Don't try it if you aren't up to it.


I received an email from a person that has a Nokta Golden King NGR for sale. It is a Deep Processor Radar Plus! It's once used. Original cost is around $6000. The seller says they'll take a thousand less. If you are genuinely interested I'll give the seller's email address. I don't know the system or the seller, so it is up to you from there. I can't give any recommendation or assurances. I thought it would be worth mentioning since it seems to be an interesting system that someone might want to look into.

This blog recently blew through a quarter of a million hits a few days ago and I didn't even notice.


Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions.

Yesterday on the Treasure Coast.

This is the same beach that a couple of days ago was cut back up to fifty yards or so. Now you can see the new sand that accumulated in a single day on the front of the beach replacing a good part of what was lost.

Those south winds generally pile up sand and shells.

I did see one place yesterday where the water was nearly reaching the dunes. I didn't expect to see it get so high.

Like I said, there were some nice surfing waves.

The wind has shifted again and is now coming out of the north. Slightly rougher seas are expected this weekend, peaking at about four feet on Sunday. I don't expect an upgrade in conditions.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/17/11 Report - Working the Beach in the Crashing Surf

Titanium from Challenger.

This piece is different from many of the other pieces of titanium that I've found. Many of the others were smooth and rounded. This one looks like it was blasted. One thing I noticed is that it tests like gold, testing between 14 and 18k. I wonder if titanium should do that, or if maybe my acid is going bad or something.

I just realized that I found an Ice Age fossil and a piece of space debris within yards of each other on the same day.

A lot of people probably don't care about either space debris or fossils. Different people like different things. I tend to like a lot of different types of things.


Yesterday I mentioned that I might give some tips on working the rough water when the surf is crashing on the front beach. It is not easy and there are some dangers in doing it, but it can be done. I've done a lot of it.

Caution: If you choose to try to following you can easily damage or lose your equipment or get hurt. Proceed with due caution and only at your own risk.

To help avoid damaging your coil, be sure the coil is not exposed to too much force. And of course, your coil must be waterproof. Your entire detector should be waterproof because water can splash up or you can get knocked off of your feet. Don't even try this unless you know what you are doing and you and your equipment are up to it.

A lot of people don't work the wet sand area because they get false signals. There are a number of things you can do to minimize that. The detector manufacturers will often tell you to turn down your sensitivity. I don't do that. Instead I operate in pin-point or all-metals mode. Operating in those modes you will hear some of the changes in salt mineralization, but that is OK. You can learn to distinguish between actual targets and changes in salt mineralization.

Another thing you can do is to slow down your sweep speed and sweep parallel to the shoreline instead of perpendicular to the water line.

If you haven't worked the moving shallow water on the front beach before, avoid going into rough water. Stay where the water comes and goes more quietly. You can work up and down the slope venturing farther out towards the ocean as the water recedes and then working back up the slope as the next wave or surge comes in. You'll find that the waves are irregular - sometimes building and going further up the beach and sometimes backing off for a while. You can work in and out with those changes.

Try to avoid dipping your coil in and out of the water. Try to either keep it submersed in a few inches of water or just an inch or so above the water. Going in and out can cause false signals and will stress your coil more.

The angle of the coil can make a big difference. Swiftly moving water can really put a lot of force on your coil. Keep the coil so you can easily cut through the water. If the coil must come out of the water, angle the coil so that it slides out smoothly, rather than picking it up and down abruptly.

If you are on a slopping beach and the water is moving in and out with some force, when you get a signal, turn your back to the water, pin point the target, place one foot an inch or so down hill from the target.

That reminds me of something else that I want to interject here. If the water is moving with a lot of force, you might need some foot wear to protect your feet and legs from rocks that are being thrown around by the water. A rock hitting a shin or ankle bone can really hurt. And a wave hitting you when your are off balance and don't expect it, can easily knock you down.

Back to the target. There are two reasons to place your foot by the target. One is to mark the target. You can easily lose the exact spot when water, stones and shells are rushing by, and you don't want to make it any harder than necessary to recover a target under those conditions.

Looking down at a spot while the water and everything rushes by makes some people dizzy. Again, be careful.

The other reason for having your foot close to the spot, is if the target is near the surface and the water is moving with good force, you should be in a position to quickly place your foot on the target to keep the target from moving. That generally works. The same thing applies if you have taken a scoop or two and don't yet have the target in your scoop.

If the water is moving with a lot of force, you can easily loose the target to the rushing water. When you put your foot on the target, in pin-point mode, keep sweeping your coil quickly over your foot to keep track of the target in case it does move. If the water moves it, you can often track it and put your foot on it again before it is lost.

Another reason for putting your back to the water is when you push your scoop into the sand, the water rushing back down the slope will push the material into your scoop and help sift the sand through your scoop. Sometimes the water will sift the scoop for you without shaking the scoop or anything, but sometimes you'll end up with a scoop full of rocks or shells.

Again, this can be dangerous if the water is moving forcefully and you are inexperienced. Don't try it until you are sure you have worked up to it. Begin in slightly moving water until you have mastered the process. I know one person that lost her detector to the ocean, and another that lost a nice long handled scoop.


The results of the most recent survey are now in. A little over one third of those responding are from the Treasure Coast area (35%), 45% are from other areas of Florida, 45%, and 30% from other areas of the United States, few of them being from the southeast US. And of the course the remainder are from outside the continental US.

That sounds pretty reasonable. While I might have expected the majority to be from the Treasure Coast, the Treasure Coast is not a heavily populated area, and those outside of the Treasure Coast area might want to keep an eye on the Treasure Coast to see when it might be worth making a trip.

There is a large number of respondents from outside of Florida. I often hear from snowbirds from the northeast who either have winter homes in Florida or who visit Florida during the winter months. Many of them like to keep up on the news about treasure hunting and the Treasure Coast beaches.

It is clear that this blog brings a lot of attention to the Treasure Coast and our famous shipwreck beaches. (My hit counter is over 180,000 now, and all of that is without any publicity efforts other than the availability of the blog. I don't do facebook, make offers to exchange links or any of that stuff.)


Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions.

The wind is still from the west and the seas running down around a foot. It looks like things will remain that way for a few days, at least if the surf web sites are correct.

The water is calm enough for easy water hunting. There are some swells in the shallow water, but nothing you can't easily bob with.

I've mentioned before that you can work even rough water if you learn how to just go with the flow, and my post today might have opened up a new area for you to detect.

A lot of the beaches now have a sand bar real close to the beach and during low tide the swells will cut down. And there is the dip between the sand bar and the beach that might be real calm during low tide. Those dips differ. Very often they are too shallow and filled with loose sand and shells. Sometimes though, they can be very productive. You can quickly sample the dips to see if it is worth your time or not.

Remember, hunting in the water in leased areas is not legal. I've posted a lot about where those leases are in the past. You might want to use the blog search box to find rules and regulations for water detecting.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net