9/13/19 Report - Updated With Beach PM Beach Photos. Tropical Storm Nine to Hit Florida Soon. East/Northeast winds and 4 -6 Foot Surf.

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

John Brooks North Friday Afternoon.

I went out to take a look at the South Hutchinson Island beaches this afternoon.  There was no new erosion to the shipwreck beaches.  You can see John Brooks above and below.

I don't know why the photos are not in color.  I'll try to correct that.

John Brooks South Friday Afternoon.

Frederick Douglass was very similar.  No new erosion.

Frederick Douglass Beach Friday Afternoon.

Frederick Douglass did seem to have a little flat area in front of the beach.

Surf At Frederick Douglass Friday Afternoon.

I went to another beach to give the Equinox its second field test.  More on that some other time.

I'll keep watching for the effects of Tropical Storm Nine.

I'd like reports on the Vero/Sebastian beaches.

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Source; nhc.noaa.gov

It looks like we'll get at least a piece of Tropical Storm Nine, which is now over in the Bahamas.  

Expect tropical storm force winds and rain this weekend.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

I hope to get out later to take a look.

Right now it looks like the wind is East/Northeast and the surf shoiuld be running around 4 - 6 feet.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

I expect to have more for you later, and might be adding to this post from time to time.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/2/19 Report - Updated: Jensen and Stuart Causeways. Surf Predictions and Projected Track of Dorian.

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


Jensen and Stuart causeways are only open for residents.

As of the 11 AM update, there was very little change in the cone.


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Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

As you can see, MagicSeaWeed is predicting that the highest surf for Fort Pierce and the Treasure Coast will be today and early tomorrow, then quickly falling off.

The wind will be from the north today, but be coming from the west after the storm goes north of us.  The surf will decrease down to almost nothing very quickly.

The west wind might give you a food chance to get out in front of the beach before the beach begins to fill again - that is if the evacuation orders are lifted and the beach accesses are opened.

The tides will still be pretty big.

Below is the cone, as of the 8 AM update.  

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

The cone hasn't changed much.  Dorian is still supposed to turn north and move along the coast.  The brown area shows hurricane force winds, so if the hurricane remains about the same size and take the center track, we'll be close to having hurricane force winds.   If Dorian moves just a little farther east, some of it could be over land.

I'd like to see Dorian start to move north sooner rather than later.

With the storm hanging around out there you'd think we'd get a big surf for longer, but when it moves a little north of us, the wind will start coming from the west.

I might be back and add some to this post.  Maybe or maybe not.

That's it for now.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/27/19 PM Update.

John Brooks Wednesday Afternoon.

I visited John Brooks and Frederick Douglass parks this afternoon about four o'clock and though the wind was blowing strong from the north there was no erosion at those beaches yet.

The wind increased today just before noon and the surf is rough, but it seemed the waves were being buffered by the sand bar in front of the beach.  Of course at that time, it was still well below the peak surf that is expected.

Another View of John Brooks Wednesday Afternoon.

Frederick Douglass looked very similar to John Brooks.  No erosion yet.

Fort Pierce South Jetty Wednesday Afternoon.

I don't know what happened with this photo, but thought it was pretty so posted it anyhow.

At the time of these photos, the surf was probably around five feet.

Peak surf is predicted to be about noon Thursday.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/8/18 Hurricane Michael Weather Update. Monday 1 PM.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

I did my 10/8/18 post earlier.  It is still there for you to see, but Michael is now getting a lot of attention.  Beside that there is another system coming off of Africa that we need to watch.

But back to Michael - Michael is expected to strengthen, becoming a Category 3 hurricane.   Although we had a good idea of what the track would be for several days, it is now time to start really paying attention.

Michael is now expected to become a category three hurricane, and is headed towards the Florida Panhandle.  Hopefully it will weaken.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

This is something we all need to watch, but especially the Florida West Coast.

Source: Ventusky.com

Here is the Wed. 12 PM Ventusky.com wind speed map.

If this is the way it works out, the Treasure Coast will be getting south and southwest winds.

The Treasure Coast surf is expected to peak tomorrow at four to six feet.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

We are also still having nice high tides on top of that.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/5/18 Report - Big Surf But Not Much Erosion Around the Treasure Coast. Mystery Find.

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

Mystery Object
Find and photo by Scott B.

Here is what Scott said about this find.

I attached a picture of a brass ( maybe bronze?) item I found in some woods near my house in Fernandina Beach. It’s hard to tell from the picture, but it bows out (convex) toward the camera. This convex bend seems to be how it was made, but I might be wrong. The size of the nail holes also varies.

What do you think it is?  Send me an email with your ideas.

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John Brooks Monday Afternoon.

I went out to take a look at a few beaches this afternoon.  The water had been high on the beach.  In fact at Walton Rocks it had been up over the beach and into the parking lot.  Despite the high water, I found almost no erosion, and the erosion that I did find was only in renourishment sand.  Shells were very scarce too.  To sum it up, the South Hutchinson Island beaches that I saw were very sandy.

Above you can see a photo of John Brooks beach.  Too bad some idiot kept sticking his finger over the lens.

Another View of John Brooks Monday Afternoon.

Notice the pile of weeds that shows where the water stopped.

John Brooks Beach Monday Afternoon.

The above photo doesn't show it well, but what I wanted to show with this shot is how far out the waves were breaking.  They were breaking 60 or more feet out because of all the sand in front of the beach.

Even though the water was high, there were at least three things that kept the beaches from cutting.  One is the angle of the waves. In the above photo you can see that the white water is parallel to the beach.  The water was coming right up over the beach instead of slicing away at it.

Second was the amount of sand pile in front of the beach, preventing the beach from much of the water force.  The sand in front of the beach also protected any coins that might have been buried there.

The third factor is all of the renourishment sand that has been dumped on the beaches the past few years.  Some of it gets washed out, where it protects the front of the beach.  That sand will move south, so some of the sand in front of John Brooks probably came from the north where they keep dumping sand and it keeps getting washed away.  At other beaches the renourishment covers the front of the dunes so that the older material is not exposed.

DB sent in his observations too.  Here is what he said.

Thought I'd check in but looks like you know, it's terrible out there still. 

He also said Turtle Trail had been closed for some time and mentioned the millions of wasted dollars going into that project.  He continued as follows.

It was pretty funny but sad watching six dump trucks full of sand lined up there two days before a major storm would hit.

Anyhow, it's pretty poor all around, some dunes are cut but like you mentioned it's fill dirt and what I like to call kitty litter.

Hopefully something happens soon,

Thanks DB.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

As you can see, the surf will start to decrease over the next few days.  The wind will switch too.  The wind will be coming form the south for a day or so, and then switch again.  Then another front will come through and we'll have some north winds again.

People used to talk only about big waves as the thing to watch for.  A lot of people now realize that it takes more than just big waves.  Angles and other things are important.  I've been talking about that in this blog for quite a few years now.

Sometimes the window of opportunity opens for an hour or so and then closes just as quickly.  You just have to be there.

It looks like Fort Pierce is turning into a tourist destination.  I never saw so many out of state cars down by the jetty.  The beach is busy (by Fort Pierce standards ).

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/3/18 Report - Necklace Found and Returned. High Wind and Surf Decreasing Along Treasure Coast but Still Big Tides.

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

Necklace Recovered and Returned.
Find and photo by Alberto S.

Here is another example of the type of good deeds done all the time by detectorists.  Alberto S. was able to find a necklace that was lost just the day before.  Here is how Alberto told me about that.

Happy New Year!

My last trip to the beach on the last day of the year provided an opportunity to do a good deed for a young girl who had lost a necklace. As I walked on to the beach with my metal detector she approached me and asked if I could help her find a necklace she had lost the day before, it was given to her by her brother after his return from New Zealand, so it meant a lot to her. Not knowing if it had any silver or gold I searched the area where she lost it with my CTX 3030 full screen no discrimination, after a couple of hits that turn out to be aluminum foil the third was very different and sure enough it was the necklace, total time invested about 5-10 minutes. This is the first time I help someone find a lost item so it was very special to me and of course she was very happy, as soon as I placed the necklace in her hand she said thank you with a big smile in her face and ran to show her father. The beach (John Brooks) did not provide any good targets after a couple of hours of metal detecting, no erosion just like you mentioned on your post from a day or so ago, but I did get a chance to meet and talk for a bit with another person that was metal detecting. 

My 2018 bring you many happy moments and good health to enjoy them.

Alberto S.

Thanks for the good deed Alberto.  It helps the metal detecting hobby when people know what detectorists do for the public.  Thanks for sharing.

Alberto also sent me some beach photos.  He was out a few hours after I was yesterday.

Turtle Trail Close To 2:30 Yesterday.
Photo by Alberto S.

Notice the other detectorists.

Another Photo From Turtle Tail Yesterday.
Photo by Alberto S.

This photo shows the same area I showed yesterday but about three hours later when the tide was lower.  You can see the bags again.  It appears that very little, if any, sand was lost between when I took my photo and when Alberto took this photo.  

I don't know what if anything happened last night.

Thanks again Alberto.

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As of this morning, the wind has stopped.  The tides are going to be big today - big high tide and nice negative low tide.

Below are the charts for the Fort Pierce area.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

The surf will be decreasing.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

It looks like there won't be much additional improvement to beach conditions.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/2/18 Special Winter Storm Beach Conditions Update.

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

Wind Direction Tuesday Noon
Source: Ventusky.com

We are getting some good wind, rough waves and high water today.  You can see the wind direction above.

I went out to check some beaches to see how things were developing.

Rough Water Getting High on John Brooks Beach This Morning.

Despite the high water there was no erosion this morning at John Brooks.

John Brooks Beach Around Ten This Morning.

South of Turtle Trail Around 11 This Morning.

You can see just the top of some bags at that time.

The foot of the cliff was eroded very little. 

There were about a six detectorists working close to the cliff this morning.

Another View of the Bags Appearing This Morning.

The red/brown sand was under a thin layer of other sand.

Looking South Towards the Seagrape Trail Beach Access This Morning.

Pile of Beach Chairs Near Most  Northern Condos Above Seagrape Trail Access This Morning.

If these get buried that will give one big signal.

Wabasso Beach This Morning Near Noon.

Ambersands Beach This Morning Near Noon

There was about a five or six foot cliff at Ambersands for a long ways both north and south.  The sand is the most recent renourisment sand though.  The older renourishment sand from the inlet was still covered.

Overall, I think some treasure coins will be found in the next few days.  Beach conditions have just begun to improve.   The wind direction tomorrow will be a little more from the north/northwest.  We'll see if that helps any of these beaches.  

Lets see who reports the first treasure coin of 2018.

I posted an earlier post today, do if you missed that you might want to go back and take a look at that one.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/26/17 Report - Erosion in Jupiter/Juno Area. Cuban Silver Ten Centavos. Erosion Is Erosion.

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

Joe D. sent the above pictures from the Jupiter/Juno area.  He says that the got more erosion this week.  You can see that in the pictures.  Notice also the nice shell line.

Thanks much Joe.

I haven't been able to get out since the last pictures I posted, so I have seen what the beaches are doing for myself.  Thanks for any reports.

UPDATE:  Joe D. tells me these beaches have changed in the past 21 or so hours.  More on that later.

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It looks like Brian M.could have identified the mystery coin I showed yesterday.  The mystery coin looks very much like the Cuban 10 centavos shown here.

The coin is silver and was made in this design from 1915 to 1949.

Here is the link Brian sent.

https://www.coincommunity.com/forum/uploaded/XavierOfGreen/20110825_1915cuba10centavos.jpg

Thanks much Brian.  Looks like a good match me.

I very much appreciate the help.

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The Dare is returning to Key West from the hunt for the Lost Merchant and will be gearing up to work on the Atocha or Margarita site.

Storms move sand in the ocean as well as on the beach. The Fisher organization flew over the Atocha and Margarita sites and was able to see the Margarita main pile from the air after it was uncovered by the storm.

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Treasure hunting, especially beach and shallow water hunting is very much about moving sand. Erosion is key, no matter how it happens or where it happens.

Erosion can be caused by wind, rain or waves and currents. We don't often mention wind or rain erosion, but whenever it happens to any significant extent, I always check it out. 

Erosion caused by wind is usually not a big factor, but it can be helpful.  There have been times when I walked a beach looking for anything that might have been uncovered after the beach was scoured by strong wind. Wind erosion can uncover non-metallic as well as metallic targets.  You might find shards or fossils or other things.  It also gives you a chance to take a look at whatever is normally hidden by the top layer of sand.  Important clues can be uncovered.

Rain can also be an important source of erosion. There are places on the Treasure Coast where million-year-old fossils are uncovered any time it rains.

Back from the beach or inland, little gullies produced by rain can be worth checking. I remember finding some nice historic artifacts in a little gully back from the beach near a historic site.  There are places like that which you can't detect, but a little erosion gives you a chance to see what lies under the surface.  I've also found some older silver coins in gullies cause by rain.

On the Treasure Coast we are always waiting for some good erosion to the beach or dunes, but I very much enjoy checking out erosion at inland sites too. Creeks and rivers are always moving earth. One of my friends usually hunts river banks up north and has found a lot of Native American artifacts by that way.  Camp sites were often near creeks or rivers.  Bottle dumps are often found in small dips or valley running downhill towards a larger creek.

Always check out erosion no matter how it was created. It doesn't have to be huge to be helpful. You might discover a find or at least see something that provides a good clue.  

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Enjoy the nice cool weather.  

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/26/17 Report - What the High Water Did To Some Beaches. Useful Web Site For Predicting Beach Conditions. Various Types of Finds Along the Treasure Coast.

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

Frederick Douglas Beach This Morning.

Yesterday I showed the water getting high on Frederick Douglas beach.  Today I went out to see what happened.  The answer unfortunately, is very little.

I'm about to call Irma, Jose and Maria all a bust when it comes to improving metal detecting conditions.  Who would guess that three hurricanes would not produce much better beaches?  Not one of them did a lot for us.

There are reasons.  And I'm always learning.  I learned something just the other day.  Actually I already knew it to some extent, but didn't give pay take it into account enough.  There is little use to pay attention to wind direction unless it is blowing fairly hard.  Otherwise it is not going to affect the direction of the swells.

The past few days I looked at the wind direction on MagicSeaWeed, but I didn't pay enough attention to the wind speed.  I should have paid more attention to what web sites like Ventusky.com was telling me when I plotted the waves.

Below is an example.

Wave Direction.for Yesterday.

Source: Ventusky.com

What I saw at the beach yesterday and today matched what Ventusky.com said a couple of days ago (See my 9/23/17 post.). The waves, as predicted were hitting the beach straight on despite the north winds. The wind wasn't very strong, so didn't seem to have much effect.

We always talk about northeasters, but direction isn't the only factor.  The wind has to be fairly strong, otherwise they won't have a significant effect on the swells.

I think I could do this a hundred years and I would still continue to learn.

Below is another picture of a beach that I looked at this morning.

Treasure Coast Beach Tuesday Morning.

Notice the waves coming directly at the beach and all the seaweed.  The beach was building.  You could see new layers of sand on the beach.  That isn't what we were hoping for.  I'll pay more attention to the swells in the future and less to wind direction.  

I've said before that it doesn't take a hurricane and recently went over what happened during the Thanksgiving Storm of 1984.  Jon Morgan, who does the great Lets Talk Metal Detecting and Treasure Hunting podcasts, said that post was very helpful to him.  You might want to take a look at that post again.  Hurricanes don't always create good detecting conditions.  Neither does high water.

I made a few interesting finds today - at least I thought they were interesting.

I found one very big piece of wood.  It was about seven feet long.  My photo showing the entire length somehow got lost, but here are a couple photos of a section of the wood.

Large Piece of Wood Found On Beach This Morning.

 Notice the worm holes and the apparently worked surface.

Another Shot of the Same Piece of Wood.

Ballast Stone?

A couple of days ago I mentioned finding some pieces of fossilized bone.  Here is the smallest - a small vertebra.

Small Fossilized Vertebrae Shown On U. S. Nickel.

I picked up more fossils today.  They are shown below.

Fossils Found On Beach Today.

The most interesting one to me was the piece of antler.  I've found those before and always like them.

Here is a closer view of that one.

Fossilized Piece of Antler.

And here is an ever closer view that shows the nice color and texture.

Closeup of Fossil Antler.

I walked a long distance today because I wanted to check out a particular location that I have not seen for quite a while.  It wasn't much good for detecting, but I did pick up the fossils on the way.

As I often say, when conditions aren't good for finding one type of thing they might be good for finding other things.

Today I didn't do any detecting, but kept myself entertained with wood, stone, fossils and shells while I scouted a few beaches.

I'll be showing you some more things I learned tomorrow or some other time real soon.  I think that is all for today.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net