8/8/11 Report - More Beach Renourishment Projects & GPS Uses

New Wilderness GPS Model.

If you have never looked at a wilderness GPS system, you might find it interesting. They can be very useful, although not every beach hunter will need one. If you are not hardcore, it might be a waste of money.

This is not the brand or model that I use, but I do use one. If you are a beach hunter, you might want to get a waterproof unit.

You can mark a spot so you can easily return to it later. You can easily find locations given in latitude and longitude. And you can even map your scan pattern so you can tell exactly what area you covered by looking at the display screen. You can also mark spots (way points) along your path.

Overall hand held GPS units can be quite handy, but some are difficult to use. Some are not exactly what I would call intuitive.

You might or might not benefit from having one, but you might want to look into it.



It looks like the 2012 beach renourishment budgets are in place. Congratulations to Indian River County who won't get any additional money for drowning our beaches in sand.

Martin County's is getting $2.96 million to dump sand from the St. Lucie County border to Indian River Plantation.

$890,000 more will be dumped south of the Fort Pierce Inlet. We saw how well the last project lasted there. They created a nice eight foot cliff. And some people complain about six inch deep holes. The world is full of craziness.

A request for a project to dump sand on 3.6 miles of shoreline, stretching from the Florida Power & Light Co. nuclear plant south to the Martin County line was not funded. I'm really glad about that. It would have been a shame to cover the reefs and rocks where all the wild life is flourishing now.

If you want to read more about where sand will and won't be dumped, here is the link.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/jun/18/despite-162-million-set-aside-by-state-to-fight/?print=1



I said a few days ago that gold was headed to $1700 per ounce. That didn't take long. It has passed that already. It is amazing how quickly gold is rising. It is seen as one of the few safe havens in this time of high uncertainty and economic turmoil.

We'll see what the downgrade in credit rating is going to do the US dollar in a short while.

I'm afraid that if you are one of the many people that have a 401K or retirement program, that it might take a hit. Again, we'll see what the day brings.

When the people voted for change, it must have been in place of dollars - as in pennies and nickels.



Here are a few shipwreck and salvage definitions.

Flotsam are goods lost from a ship which has sunk or otherwise perished which are recoverable because they have floated.

Jetsam are goods cast overboard in order to lighten a vessel which is in danger of sinking.

Derelict is property which has been abandoned at sea by those who were in charge without any hope of recovering it. It includes both vessels and cargo.

Anything sunk in the sea, but attached to a buoy or the like so that it may be recovered.


Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions.


There are no cyclones out there now. Emily disappeared again. And not much else stirring in the tropics right now. At least we got a little rain out of it.

The wind, what there is of it, is from the west. The seas are calm and predicted to remain that way for several days.

The rating on my Treasure Coast TBDCS is a 1 (poor).

The water should be calm enough for easy water hunting for the next few days. Look for dips or moving sand bars.

Some people on the Treaure Coast have been picking up a good bit of clad lately.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/6/11 Report - Spanish Armada & Remains of Emily Lingering

Back of Religious Medallion Found on 1715 Fleet Wreck Beach.

I've been working to get a better photo of this medallion. I've shown the front before. The back, shown here, has a prayer on it in Latin.

Getting good photos of artifacts has a lot to do with the lighting. Sometimes the lighting is just right and all of a sudden you can see things you never saw before.

When I originally dug this medallion, it was so encrusted I thought it was another encrusted coin. It wasn't until much latter when I partially cleaned it that I could see that it was a medallion rather than a coin. Since that time, it has been cleaned a lot more.

There is some remaining gilt on it.



Underwater archaeologists are exploring a shipwreck that appears to be from the Spanish Armada of 1588. The wreck is located in shallow waters in Rutland Harbour, near Burtonport.

Here is a link to that article.


http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/armada-wreck-discovered-off-donegal-16032885.html#ixzz1UHMOCN00


For more information on the Spanish Armada and its wrecks, here is a great article that includes artwork and maps of wreck locations.

http://factoidz.com/shipwrecks-of-the-spanish-armada-la-trinidad-valencera/


Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions


The remains of Emily are now poorly organized and just east of South Florida this afternoon. Maybe we'll get a little rain from it. It has a 80% chance of becoming a cyclone again.

On the Treasure Coast, the wind is from the east and there the waves are just a touch higher. The seas are up to about 2.5 feet. That's not much, but it could be enough to freshen up a few of the better low tide spots.

Conditions for finding shipwreck treasure coins on the Treasure Coast remains poor.

We'll have to see if Emily reforms or what and what other storms may come along.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/5/11 Report - Emily, Henry Morgan, and Blackbeard

Latest Press Release from Sedwick Coins.


You can still consign items to the upcoming auction but not for long. See the press release at the right or the Sedwick Coins web site for more details.


Five of Henry Morgan's ships have been located near the mouth of the Chagres River near the coast of Panama where they were lost in 1671. One clue is the six iron cannons that appear to be 17th Century.

The ships were lost when Morgan attacked Panama city and attempted to capture Castillo de San Lorenzo.

Here is the link to the article that includes a video and some nice photos.

http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/08/04/7245795-capt-morgans-lost-fleet-found

Thanks to Morgan's Rum and all of their happy rum drinking customers for financing the project.

I wonder where government would get money to spend if there were no evil capitalists?



And here is an article about a another legendary figure from the past - Blackbeard. This article is about some of his weapons.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43358478/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/artifacts-reveal-blackbeards-

I received an email from someone asking about coil sizes. As I always recommend decisions are best made from experimentation. Use your detector and test targets to see what works best.

Of course you can't always do that. Sometimes you want to know about a detector or piece of equipment that you don't have access to and sometimes you won't have a test target that is just like what you want to find. As I've suggested in the past, you can manufacture test targets to be very similar to the real thing when you can't get the real thing. When doing that try to use the same type of metal, or as close as you can get, and form it into the same size and shape, as close as you can.

But about coil sizes - generally speaking I've had the best results with coils around the ten inch size. I might tend a touch smaller if the object is a less conductive metal such as platinum or if the the size of the object is small, such as a quarter reale. Going smaller though, might not be necessary, depending upon the sensitivity of your particular detector to the targeted metal.

Of course there are advantages to larger coils, such as simply providing coverage of more area, however in many cases, the signal becomes a bit less defined on certain types of targets.

Generally speaking, I prefer detectors that are especially sensitive to small pieces of precious metals. As I've said many times, most cobs found on the beach are not deeply buried. They are more likely to be found within a few inches of the surface.

I've done way better with smaller coils, down to around seven inches, than with large coils.



Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions.

I didn't show the track of Emily today. It seems she fell apart after passing over Hipaniola. They say she could develop again, but at this point it looks like all we'll get from her is a little rain and perhaps some waves.

The wind is out of the south/southwest right now and the seas are calm. If the surf web sites are correct, don't expect anything more than 2.5 foot seas this weekend. So it looks like more of the same again. Poor conditions for the next several days.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/4/11 Report - More on Emily & Gold & Coins & Detector Repairs

Emily's Projected Path This Morning.

Not much change here. It still looks like Emily will pass through the Bahamas. We'll probably get some wind and waves, but from the surf web sites it doesn't look like we'll get very much in the way of waves. I have to believe we'll get some benefit from this storm, if only for a short duration.

It looks like when Emily passes North Carolina, she'll be a hurricane. I thought for a while that the Outer Banks might be the place to be when Emily passes there, but the surf web sites aren't predicting very high seas there either.

This is a slow moving storm, and there is still a lot of room for uncertainty.

I'll keep watching and get out to see what is really going on for myself.


Want to find emeralds on the site of the Atocha? You can, and it might be easier than you think! Investors in Mel Fisher Expeditions now have the chance to either dive or sift through air-lifted sands for nice green emeralds. That is one of the fun things about being an investor. Investors have to reserve their spot now to join the hunt September 12-18, 2011.

Talking about investing in a treasure hunting companies - the share price of Odyssey Marine common stock (OMEX), which is publicly traded, has fallen to around $2.70 per share from over $4.00 a share where it was back in early July. It has been very volatile. You might be able to do well if you can pick the bottom.

With the dramatic and continuing increase in the price of gold along with the decreasing price of home values, the average US home is now priced at 103 ounces of gold, or one gold bar.

Gold and silver just keep flying. While I once found it hard to believe, I now think gold will hit $1700 before long.

Most of the world is now devaluing its currencies and accumulating gold. I heard Thailand added a number of tonnes to its reserves. Everybody is trying to make their dollar cheap so other countries will buy their products. This can't go on forever, although I don't see any change coming soon.



Here is a link to a great US coin value guide.

http://www.numismedia.com/fmv/fmv.shtml



I received an email from someone asking if there are any local metal detector repair people in the Treasure Coast area. I don't know of any these days, but would like to create a list if there are any that you could recommend. Send me an email if you know of anyone that repairs metal detectors in Florida or on the Treasure Coast. Include contact information if you can. Thanks.

I believe there are probably some electronics technicians that could do the job. I used to know a man that restored old radios that was good at fixing metal detectors.


I posted a new poll on this blog. Make your voice heard.


I'll be watching to see what if anything Emily is going to do.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/3/11 Report - Emily and the Beach Detecting Conditions Scale

Emily Forecast.

If you compare this track with the one I showed yesterday you will notice that the track is now a little farther to the east and only the East Coast of Florida is now in the cone.

If this track is correct, that would put the center of the storm over the Bahamas, quite a few miles away. They do show it turning into a hurricane, but not until it is much farther north.

The wind is now from the northwest and the waves, what there are of them, are coming in directly from the east.

The surf web sites are now, once again, predicting an increase in waves for this weekend, but not peaking until Sunday.

They are not predicting the eight foot seas that were predicted earlier this week. They often predict high waves and then back off as the time approaches. I've talked about that a lot in the past. I think their models have a systematic error.

Anyway, if the surf web sites are right this time, we'll be getting 3.5 foot seas on Saturday and 4 foot seas on Sunday. That isn't nearly what they originally predicted, but it still could produce some erosion if the waves hit the beach at the right angle.

It is worth watching. You never know. Things could still change very significantly.



AFTERNOON UPDATE

THE SURF WEF SITES ARE NOW PREDICTING SIX FOOT SEAS ON SUNDAY. THAT SOUNDS A LITTLE MORE PROMISING.



I haven't been giving daily beach conditions ratings lately. Things haven't changed enough to bother. I'd be getting tired of issuing "1" ratings everyday. But since I haven't even referred to my rating scale much lately and with the possibility of some new storms coming during the hurricane season, it is probably a good time for me to go over my scale for those of you who haven't been reading this blog since I last explained it.


First I refer to my scale as the Treasure Beach Detecting Conditions Scale (TBDCS)* . It is a five point scale indicating how good conditions are for finding old shipwreck treasure cobs or coins on a beach. When referred to in this blog, I am usually talking about the Treasure Coast treasure beaches and refer to the scale as the Treasure Coast TBDCS.

The scale describes current conditions for finding old treasure cobs or coins, but also includes other small items composed of precious metals, such as shipwreck jewelry. The scale does NOT provide an estimate of the probability of finding other types of items, such as those made of other materials, such as iron, glass, pottery, wood, etc.

The beach detecting conditions rating is always specific to a geographic area. The Treasure Coast is just one example.

When applied to a particular location, the scale will usually be preceded by the name of the area for which it is being used, such as the Florida Panhandle or Florida Keys.

Using the TBDCS, a rating of "1" indicates poor conditions, "2" indicates fair conditions, "3" good conditions, "4" very good, and "5" excellent.

Poor conditions are defined as virtually no cuts or erosion, with building beaches and mushy sand extending east into the water. When I say virtually no cuts or erosion, there can be small (less than one foot high) superficial scattered cuts on some beach fronts.

Fair conditions and a "2" rating means that there is some scattered cuts or erosion confined to the front beach areas, usually three feet or less and only found on some of the beaches.

Good conditions and a "3" rating indicates extensive three foot or greater cuts cutting back into the middle beach area either on several beaches or very extensively on one or more well known treasure beaches.

Very good conditions and a "4" rating indicates three foot or greater cuts moving far back into the middle beach often with some water hitting the back dunes and possibly some slight erosion of the back beach or dune areas in a few areas.

Excellent conditions and a "5" rating indicates extensive movement of sand from both the front beach and middle beach with significant erosion of the back beach or dunes at many areas.

The above descriptions are general and an represent an average. As you probably know, one beach can be very cut while another builds. I average conditions, weighing the primary treasure sites most heavily. There can be site-specific special situations in which one site is considerably different than the others, but that can affect the overall rating.

The rating scale can be used to rate other beaches that are not shipwreck treasure beaches. In that case the scale is different because it takes a lot less to open the door to modern treasures.

When the scale is used to describe beaches where the primary target is not shipwreck treasure, the "Treasure" is dropped from the name of the scale. It is then simply the Beach Detecting Conditions Scale (BDCS).

I'll describe the modifications to the scale for coin and jewelry hunting some other time.

NOTE: Treasure Beach Detecting Conditions Scale and TBDCS are trade marked, as are Beach Detecting Conditions Scale and BDCS.


Gold is over $1670 per ounce today and seems to be heading for $1700.


I'll keep watching Emily.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/2/11 Report - More on Emily, How Often People Detect the TC Lately, & Steamship New Albany

Projected Path of Emily.

Emily is now a named storm. As you can see Florida is within the cone. That is according to the 5:00 AM Tuesday forecast.

The center of the storm is now projected to be just off the coast. "Storm" is the key word. Emily is not strengthening quickly, and is now projected to be a tropical storm, not a hurricane, when she reaches our area on Saturday.

She is expected to pass over Hispaniola, which will slow the rate of strengthening. I believe that could also cause some wobbling from the projected path.

If Emily goes as now projected, the entire coast should get some good waves, and hopefully not hurricane force winds. Strangely, though, the surf web site that predicted eight foot seas for the weekend yesterday, are now showing nothing but 1.5 seas all the way through the weekend. I find that very hard to believe considering the predicted path of Emily. I've expressed some doubts about those surf web site predictions in the past. Of course we are still a few days out and they might change their predictions by the weekend.

For me, I would expect to see some good waves if the path of Emily goes as NOAA is now predicting.

As I've mentioned before, but it doesn't take a hurricane to really rip the beaches. The angle of the waves is important, as is the duration.

I would expect to see northeast wind and waves for only part of a day. It looks like Emily will pass us relatively quickly rather than lingering around.

As you know, a cyclone turns around a center, so as it passes over, we'll first get the wind from one direction and then the opposite direction. The beach could erode and then fill in again. It all depends upon a lot of different factors.

Maybe things will be clearer in a couple of days. I wouldn't be surprised if this thing weakens or change path after it goes over Hispaniola.


I'll keep you up to date on any significant changes. So far nothing has changed.

I might post an update to this post if the predictions change before tomorrow.



The most recent blog survey has concluded and the results are in.

The percentages changed a bit during the course of the survey. It seems the first respondents were more of the people who weren't detecting very often on the Treasure Coast. I guess that makes sense. A lot of the snow birds and people from outside the Treasure Coast read the blog so they know what is going on and to know when they should make the trip. They are the ones that aren't detecting the Treasure Coast very often.

The final results show that 17% of the respondents have been detecting twice or week or more. That shows that there are a lot of hard core detectorists on the Treasure Coast that aren't letting the heat, mosquitoes, or poor conditions deter them. It also means that some of the best beaches are getting cleaned on a regular basis.

A little over one quarter of the respondents detect Treasure Coast beaches a few times a month, between once a month to once a week.

And 53% have not detected Treasure Coast beaches in the last month. Again, we have a lot of snow bird readers as well as readers from other parts of the state that probably make up most of those. And there are probably some people that are only interested in treasure coins and only detect the Treasure Coast beaches when conditions improve.


1860s Square Nail From Steamship. Clipped Photo from BastropEnterprise.com

This nail is one of those types of find that could easily be a signal find that points you to something bigger and may help you identify the age of the site and other items found in the area. It comes from what archaeologists believe might be the New Albany, a steamship that was lost in the 1860s.

The steamship was recently exposed in Bayou Bartholomew by a drought. It is now submerged again.

Here is the link to the original article.

http://www.bastropenterprise.com/features/x555031272/Archaeologists-give-tentative-name-to-shipwreck?photo=0

Changes in weather conditions often provide opportunities, whether it is drought, high water, or something else.

In the past I've reminded you to check the banks of waterways during droughts. You never know what might catch your eye.


Keep tuned to see what Emily might do.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/1/11 Report - Big Seas Predicted

Possible Tracks of Latest Tropical Storm Emily


This wave has not been named yet, but if it does develop into a tropical storm, it will be named Emily. It is now east of Martinique.


Yesterday NOAA said it had a 100% chance of developing into a cyclone, but today only 90%. When they sent out the hurricane tracker plane it wasn't as developed as previously thought. It will probably still develop.

I heard that if it remains weak, it will more likely take a more southerly track and possibly go into the Gulf, but if it strengthens considerably, more likely out into the Atlantic.

This one bears watching. There is still a lot of uncertainty about what it might do.

Here is the link where I got the projected paths.

http://www.mogilo.com/pages/tropical-storm-emily-2011-track


The blog survey has changed a bit since the first few days. Generally speaking, the bigger the sample, the more reliable the results.



Yesterday I talked a little about the Canadian coins that are often found on Florida beaches where many Canadians winter.

Here is a link to a web site that discusses some of the most valuable Canadian coins.

http://www.2-clicks-coins.com/article/rare-canadian-coins.html


I ran across a great web site about the historic shipwrecks around England. It provides a map with wreck locations as well as information about each of the wrecks.

Here is the link.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/discover/maritime/map/

The web site also shows two wrecks that are visible at low tide and accessible to non-divers.


An Encrusted Penny and Nickel.

I couldn't tell what these were until they were cleaned. Any coins that have apparently been on the beach for a while can be signal coins that tell you that older items are there and are either washing up or out.


Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions.


The wind is now out of the south and the seas still calm. However - and here is the really big news - big seas are predicted for this weekend. Saturday it is supposed to get up to about six or seven feet and then eight feet Sunday. That would be from Emily.

That is the most that we have had for quite a while. I can't really remember the last time we had eight foot seas.

It usually takes about eight foot seas to really improve conditions. It depends partly upon the angle of the waves though. If the waves hit directly from the east it usually doesn't do much. The water just washes up onto the beach and then back down. That is what happened during hurricane Andrew. There was very little, and almost no erosion to the South Florida beaches from Hurricane Andrew even though the water got very high.

So if we get eight foot seas coming from the north/northeast, conditions could improve dramatically. We'll just have to wait a little longer. But keep a watch on this one.

Get your equipment in good order This could be what we've been waiting for.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net