6/16/17 Report - Small Gold Artifact Found. Gold King Mine Disaster. Shipwreck Wood on Beach. Two Tropical Disturbances.

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

Animas River After Gold King Mine Disaster.
Source: See Daily Signal link below

In August 2015, an EPA crew inexplicably dug out the rock and rubble “plug” to the long abandoned Gold King Mine, triggering a massive blowout that flooded the Animas River with 3 million gallons of acid mine drainage and, according to the EPA, over 550 tons of metals...

Click here to read more about that.

---

Things have been going well down south.  The Dare recently recovered three silver coins on the trail of the Atocha.

The Magruder found a small gold artifact said to be a pendant.  It appears to be gold wire with a gold two-piece filigree bead and with a pearl near the end.  A similar one was found in 1985.

Here is a picture.

Small Gold Artifact Found by Margruder
Source: Personal email.

---

Shipwreck Wood Washed Up on Beach.
Source: See Daily Astorian link below.

CANNON BEACH — What at first glance looks like one of the many logs that line Cannon Beach may be an uncovered keel of a boat from a possible shipwreck.

The wood object, which measures about 18 feet long and several hundred pounds, was found Wednesday afternoon on the beach close to the Taft Street access by Jeffrey Smith of Portland. Looking for a place to rest after walking with his wife, he noticed rusty square nails, notches and square cutouts in the log and decided to call the Cannon Beach History Center and Museum...

Here is the link for more of that story.

http://www.dailyastorian.com/Local_News/20170615/possible-shipwreck-debris-uncovered-in-cannon-beach

Cannon Beach!  Pay attention to place names.

Shipwreck wood occasionally washes up onto Treasure Coast beaches too.

---

As I've been saying, "Its time to start watching for tropical weather."   There are two disturbances out there now.  Neither will likely affect the Treasure Coast much, but keep watching.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/28/16 Report - Shiver Me Timbers. Wood Shipwreck Remains.

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

Worm-Riddled Shipwreck Wood From a Treasure Coast Beach.

I mentioned the other day that a lot of the visible wreckage of the treasure wrecks is not longer there. To a large extent it has deteriorated, been removed, or scattered about.  Once in a while, though, there is still some timber that gets uncovered and washes up on the beach.  That happens most after rough weather that removes protective layers.  It doesn't seem to happen very often anymore.

Of course things deteriorate and disappear, especially in rough salt water environments.  One thing that was always a problem for wood ships is the Toredo worms.  Various things were used over the years in the hope of preventing that type of damage, such as covering the hull with copper or lead or various materials or substances.

Prior to around 1800 hulls were made almost entirely of white oak, possibly with sacrificial planking on the outside of the hull. The sacrificial planking was used on ships that traveled in warm ocean waters, where wooden hulls are susceptible to damage by burrowing marine organisms such as teredo worms. Sacrificial planking was applied to hulls to decrease the risk of damage. This half-inch thick layer of wood, such as pine, was replaced regularly when infested with marine borers. By the late eighteenth century copper sheathing replaced sacrificial planking as the preferred method of hull protection.

As far back as the reign of Edward the III, in 1336, several compositions containing pitch, tar, sulphur and oil were employed for coating the hulls of ships to prevent the attack of sea worms and the adherence of barnacles and sea weeds. It was also a common practice to use a thin planking, secured by nails, over the main planking, in those olden times. In 1625, a patent was granted to one William Beale, in England, for a composition not described, but the object of which was to render the hull and rigging incombustible.  

(That excerpt is from http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/copper-sheathing.htm.)

There are places on the Treasure Coast where you can still find pieces of lead and copper sheathing.  I think the place that seems to produce the most copper sheathing is a later wreck and probably not a treasure wreck.

I've read that pieces of hull and other wood structures were observed on some of the 1715 wrecks into the mid-20th century.  I don't know how much wood the salvage crews see on the wrecks anymore.  I do know that it wasn't long ago that I found pieces of worm-riddled timbers on the beach.  Large sections were found over the years in the dunes at various locations.  It can be difficult to tell the age or source of small isolated wood finds like that.

At the top of this post you can see a close up of one piece that I found one time.

Often there will be the remains of iron or other types of metal such as spikes or rods.  This piece shown above has a piece of what appears to be a spike and a hole or two where there were once pieces of metal.

I've posted some beach found shipwreck wood in this blog in the past.   I suspect that there has to be a relatively unusual combination of weather conditions to uncover centuries old wood and wash it up onto the beach these days. A few years ago quite a few pieces washed up.  Of course it is also possible that wood covered by the dunes was washed out, but I don't think that was the case the last time I saw it happen, judging from the other things that were washing up onto the beach and where it happened.

---


KEY WEST, Fla., Oct. 11— After 364 years under water, 40 timbers from the sunken 17th-century Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha, each weighing 1,600 pounds, have been raised from a depth of 54 feet in the Gulf of Mexico...

The timbers are ''the largest single collection of remains from a Spanish galleon,'' according to Dr. John Dorwin, senior archeologist for the treasure hunters who found the ships. ''And in terms of construction of such a galleon, very little is known.'' He predicts the timbers will help to break new ground in ship architecture.

Here are links to the article and a YouTube video about that.

http://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/12/us/spanish-galleon-s-timbers-made-accessible.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAfrOmHeIzE

And here is an article that claims that as the result of global warming teredo worms are spreading farther north and damaging shipwrecks that in the past were safe from the pest.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/01/100119-viking-shipwrecks-worms-shipworms-global-warming/

---

If you're curious about the expression "shiver me timbers," here is a link.

http://www.historyextra.com/qa/pirate-history-origin-meaning-shiver-me%20timbers-why-say

---

We're having unusually warm weather for the season.  And the beaches aren't doing much.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/19/14 Report - Shipwreck Wood Found on Beach Not Far From Anchor. International Talk Like A Pirate Day Today. Response To Life Is A Beach Post.

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




Big Piece of Wood With Iron and Concretion
Found on Beach

Just in:  This is International Talk Like a Pirate Day and you can get a dozen free donuts at Krispy Kreem if you wear a pirate costume, or one free donut if you talk like a pirate.

http://www.krispykreme.com/Pirate


Yesterday I took a look at some of the beaches.  The surf was up pretty good.  The day before I didn't think the waves got as big as predicted.  The waves were forming nicely yesterday, and there were a lot of surfers out.

At one Treasure Coast beach the waves were breaking right at the base of the front beach.  It was really pounding (See photo below.).   But at the other beaches that I looked at, the waves were breaking 50 to a 100 yards out (See video.).  The video shows where everyone was surging.  That is also the area where the piece of shipwreck wood was found.

At two beaches that do not normally have a lot of shells there was a good heavy shell line near the high tide line.   They weren't big shells, but there were a lot of them.  There were also a few pieces of fossils.

All of the beaches that I saw were built up and very mushy.  Very poor beach detecting conditions.

I promised a photo of the piece of wood that I think could be a piece of shipwreck wood.  Here are three.

The wood is bigger than it looks in the photos.  I'd say just over four feet long and nearly a foot thick.

In the photo above you can see the end of an iron band that goes around what I'll call the back side of the plank.   The iron band is mostly covered by light grey concretion.

Front View of the Same Piece of Wood - Flat Side

 

Other Side of the Piece of Wood _ Worm Eaten and More Rounded.

In this photo the grey concretion covers the iron band.

This piece of wood was found south of Dollman Beach, where a year or two ago an old anchor was found in the water.   My 8/18/12 post told about that.

In that post Bill F. told about how he found a piece of a wreck near there, and mentioned that the America sank near there.

Here is the link to that post.

http://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/search?q=anchor+found

Remember, you can use the search box on the first page of the blog.

Here is a video showing the surf down that way yesterday.  Good chest high waves breaking out a good ways.

I don't know if you can see the surfers in this small video.

And below is a photo of the shipwreck beach where the waves were pounding right at the base of the beach.

In my 9/17/14 post I wrote about my dad and I.  I didn't know if I should post that in this blog, but I decided to just based upon my gut feeling.  I just felt like I should do it and maybe it would help someone.

It didn't fit in with the types of things that I usually post, and I didn't know how people would react.  As it turns out, I didn't need to worry about that.  

Those who detect are a special group.  They appreciate the past.   They are generally kind and care about people and family.  They do the "right" thing and are glad to return valuable found items when they can. 

I received a lot of emails from people who appreciated that post.  Below is a pretty typical example from Mike T.

Here is what Mike said.

Thanks for sharing that.... In this crazy world we tend to gloss over things that don't affect us directly. The slight glimpse of your world reminds me that that we should never take things for granted or be too busy with life to appreciate those we love and who have given us so much. Life is short and before you know it things change....like the beach.  I haven't read your blog for months as I have been busy with life and family. For some unknown reason this evening I clicked the link in my favorites.  I am thankful. :)

Mike

I couldn't have said it better Mike.

Many detectorists detect with family members.  Some got started because of their dad, and some introduced their dad or mom to the hobby. 

I always enjoy seeing a father teaching a young boy how to detect at the beach.  One of my favorite photos is of me showing my then ten-year-old nephew how to detect.  My dad and mom were at the beach with me when I found my first ring.  I remember it well.  I remember my dad's reaction when I showed it to him.

Mike mentions that he read the blog that day "for some unknown reason."  I also posted that post for "some unknown reason."  I just felt it.  Part of it was in tribute to my dad.  It was also probably cathartic.  But a lot of it was that there was just something in the back of my mind telling me to do it.

I strongly believe that there is a lot more than we see or know.  I heed feelings and impulses.  When I detect I listen to my feelings and impulses.  I might for some unknown reason  on impulse visit a new site or wander over to a particular spot.  

Many readers were able to relate to something I said.  Maybe it helped somebody.   Many of us will go through something similar.  People are people.  We all have challenges in life.  We are all unique, yet all have a lot in common. 

About that post, Karen wrote   ... It will impact those that are in that place. For others, maybe they will store it away for later. Thank you.

My hope is that when I write things like that "for some unknown reason," someone somewhere will deeply benefit some how.  That makes it all worthwhile.


On the Treasure Coast the surf is supposed to be 2 - 3 feet today and then decrease slightly for a couple of days.

There isn't much in tropics to watch other than one disturbance just coming off of Africa.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuidecomcast.net