12/10/15 Report - Out-Of-The-Way Cut Beach. Gun Flints. Comparing October To November.

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

Nice Old Out-Of-The-Way Beach.

Remember the day I ran out of batteries?  This is the direction I was headed then.  I went back Wednesday to do some scouting because I didn't have time to do much detecting because of another commitment.

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Here is a neat story on some very early gun flints.

Archaeologists have revealed the results of a 15-year archaeological investigation into a tiny Scottish island, including the discovery of the earliest gun flints discovered in Britain, representing the first evidence of armed skirmishes on a Clan stronghold in the Hebrides.

Here is the link for the article.

http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art542730-clan-gun-flints-dun-eistean-hebrides

Did you know you can sometimes tell the nationality of a gun flint from the color and shape?  You can.

Timothy McGuire's book An Identification Guide to Recovered Colonial and Revolutionary War Artifacts has a bunch of illustrations that show the differences.

I really like gun flints - probably because the first one I found I didn't recognize quick enough and I still regret it.  It could still be out there on a steep hillside on a Caribbean Island along with the rusted gun cock that was dug right beside it.  That is one of those things that taught me a lesson about how important it can be to quickly identify things in the field.

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As promised, I am going to compare the October poll results with the November poll results.

The blog polls showed that 7 people found one or more cobs or treasure coins the last couple weeks of November, while only two reported finding cobs in the October poll even though the October poll had many more participants.  There were cob finds in October that I knew of that were not reported in the poll.  I suspect the same thing happened in November.

As percentages, only 1.5 percent of the respondents who reported detecting the Treasure Coast during last two weeks of October found cobs.  18% of the November respondents found cobs.  That is a big difference.  The last half of November was evidently a lot better than October for finding cobs.

In October about 10 percent of the respondents found artifacts.  In November it was more like 23 percent.  It appears that November was much better than October for finding artifacts too.

In summary, while there was a big difference in the total number of respondents for the two polls that I do not know how to account for both October and November produced both cobs and artifacts, but goind by the numbers, November was a much more productive period.

The surf will be decreasing and remaining small for a few days  I am going do decrease my beach detecting conditions rating back to a "1."  There may be a few left overs to be found anyhow.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/9/15 Report - Poll Results - A High Percent Of Those Who Detected Were Successful. Noodles All Over The Beach.

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

Here are the poll results for those responding to

If you detected T. C. beaches during the last 2 weeks of November, what did you find?

One or more cob or treasure coins.	3 (8%)
Old shipwreck artifact of some sort.	5 (13%)
Both treasure coin and artifact.	4 (10%)
Neither.	25 (67%)

The most recent poll has concluded and the results are in.

November was a good month for detecting shipwreck items on the Treasure Coast.  I don't believe we've had better opportunities in quite a while - maybe a couple of years.   The opportunities, though, depended upon where you hunted.  Most beaches produced nothing in the way of shipwreck treasure, while a few were very productive.

According to the poll results, more people reported finding artifacts than cobs or treasure coins. About 23 percent of those who hunted a Treasure Coast beach during the last two weeks of November found at least one artifact of some sort.  That was determined by adding the number of respondents selecting response number two to the number of respondents selecting response number three.

Some of the artifacts were very nice.  I showed an old button that was found during that time period, as on example.  I also know of musket balls, spikes and  shards that were found.  Those are some of the types of artifacts that were found. 

I know of a a good number of musket balls that were found  by one detectorist already in December too.

Fewer people found a cob or treasure coin than an artifact.  About 18 percent (number of respondents selecting response number one and number three) of the responding sample reported finding at least one cob or treasure coin.  That isn't bad.  In fact it is very good for what I called level "2" beach detecting conditions.  To put it another way, close to one out of every five of those responding to the poll as having detected the Treasure Coast during the last two weeks of November actually were successful in finding a cob or treasure coin.

The poll doesn't tell how many coins were found, just the number of people who found cobs or treasure coins.

As I've consistently found from previous blog polls, if you find one cob or treasure coin, there is a very good chance that you will find more than one.  I'll have to look that up to get the numbers, but I know that is true from past polls.  About ten percent of this sample, reported finding both an artifact and cob or treasure coin.

To look at it another way, almost two thirds of those who reported detecting on the Treasure Coast during the last two weeks of November did not find either a cob, treasure coin or artifact.  That isn't bad at all, especially considering the fact that only a few beaches were actually producing, and if you were not one of the better beaches, your chances were slim.

No matter how good you are at detecting, you still have to be at the right place at the right time and put your coil directly over that one or two square inches that holds a good item.

One thing I have to report about these poll results is that the number of respondents was unusually small.  Some of my previous polls had nearly twice the number of respondents.  I'm not sure exactly why that is or what it means.  It could be that fewer people actually detected the Treasure Coast beaches during the last two weeks of November than detected during the periods covered by previous polls.  The last two weeks of November was the Thanksgiving holiday when people are doing other things, but I would think more people would also have some time off to detect then too, so I'm not sure why the sample size was so small this time.  It did seem to me that I was seeing the same guys on the beaches.  It seemed that a lot of the hard core guys were out.   The blog had plenty of readers while the poll was running, so I can't attribute it to that.

Overall, I have to conclude that despite the relatively low beach detecting conditions rating (level 2) and the small number of detectorists responding to the poll, a very good amount of treasure was found.

A lot of the hard core guys read the blog daily, and they are sure to get out and find the right beaches when conditions do improve.  If a higher percentage of those who detected during the last two weeks of November were the hard core detectorists, that could also explain the good amount of success reported by the relatively small sample.

I am convinced by the poll results that my upgrade in the beach conditions rating for that time period was very accurate, and if anything, a little conservative.

The poll numbers helps me evaluate and improve my conditions ratings.  It also helps me continue to learn what is going on around the Treasure Coast.  In the future I'll compare the last two weeks of November with some previous periods for which I have poll data.

Thanks much for your participation.

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For the third day in a row I had obligations that prevented me from being able to detect where and when I wanted.  I did very little detecting today, but took a look at a very out-of-the-way beach that looked promising.  Unfortunately I could only go at high tide when I needed to be there close to low tide.

The surf looked higher than what I expected from the predictions.  Still pretty rough.  There was however some new erosion at one location.

There were Ramen Noodles all over the beach for several miles.  Evidently a cargo ship dropped some of its shipment.

I was thinking how convenient that would be if you were stranded, doing a Survival TV show, or shipwrecked on a deserted island.  Most of the packages were still sealed.

The other thing I was thinking was how far the noodles floated.  I saw the packages at two beaches which are at least six miles apart.  Items that float could be found many miles from a shipwreck.  In the old days that might include wood or closed containers and probably some other things.  And this was nothing compared to a hurricane.

I'm sticking with my "2" beach conditions rating for another day.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/8/15 Report - When Things Go Wrong. Still A "2" Beach Detecting Conditions Rating.

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

The pictures above show some cuts.  They aren't big cuts, and they aren't even good cuts.  They are only about a foot high and the sand directly in front of these cuts is mushy.  The beach in front of these cuts is convex.  There is a hump and a then the slope is steeper near the water line.  The sand is separating from the beach and becoming a bar.  This beach has not been producing old items.

The beach shown in this picture looked better than the beach shown at the top of the post.  The front beach here is broad and flat and low.  I was eager to detect this beach, but I didn't get the chance.

I had a frustrating day.  First off, I had an obligation that didn't leave me enough time to drive to the beach I most wanted to detect.  I therefore decided to try a nearby beach.  It didn't look very good, but I spent a little time there.   In a very short time my batteries ran low so I decided to go back to the car, change batteries, and then go somewhere else.  That was no big deal because I knew my batteries run down on this outing and I brought some backup batteries.

I drove to another beach I wanted to check out, but I couldn't park close by because of a construction project, so I drove back a ways and thought I'd walk all the  way down to where I really wanted to detect.

I parked and got my detector out (with the changed battery pack) and walked a long distance as quickly as I could to where I wanted to detect.  Then when I turned my detector on, nothing happened.  It wouldn't turn on.  I played around a little, hoping to get it turned on, but had no luck. So I made the long walk back to the care without getting any detecting done at this spot that I really wanted to check out.

When I got back to the car, I put the first set of batteries back in, and the detector turned on.  At least the detector wasn't dead, but there wasn't enough power left in the used up batteries to detect for any amount of time even if I did want to make that long walk again.  So I gave up and headed home.

It seemed the problem was the replacement batteries.  I guess in the future, I'll make sure to check the backup batteries too.

So that is the way it goes.

PS: After a little testing at home, it seems the problem might actually be the second battery holder rather than the backup batteries.

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I issued a "2" beach detecting conditions rating for the Treasure Coast yesterday.  That rating is heavily based upon a couple beaches that are producing.  Most beaches are not very good right now. If I was to rate the beach that is producing the most own, it would get something more like a 3 or 4 rating, but my overall rating takes into account the overall condition of beaches along the Treasure Coast, so that rating is lower than if I rated only the beaches that are producing.

In the past couple of days some nice shipwreck finds have been made.

Conditions are spotty.  Most beaches are not producing - only a few are.  I'm sticking with my "2" beach detecting conditions rating for now.

Some beaches have been opening up for a few days then closing for a few days and then opening again.  That isn't all bad, especially coming off of a couple very slow winters.  I think this winter is going to be pretty good.  At least it is off to a better start this year.

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The surf will decrease tomorrow, and for several days we will have a 3 foot or less surf.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/7/15 Report - More On The Wreck Of The San Jose. Detecting Etiquette. Beach Conditions Rating Upgrade.

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

Neat Tiny Shell That Would Fit On A Dime.

This shell is very tiny and I don't think I've ever noticed one just like it.

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The most read post of November was the 11/30/15 Report - Saturday and Sunday Metal Detecting Finds.  Old Buttons Found.  Big Surf Predicted Next Weekend.

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Here is another article on the discovery of the San Jose shipwreck near Cartagena.  As usual there is a dispute over ownership.  A U. S. court ruled in favor of Columbia over a salvage company (Sea Search Armada) that did some work to locate the San Jose.

Here is the link for more about that discovery.  Photos are included.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/holy-grail-of-shipwrecks-has-been-found-off-colombias-coast-2015-12-05?link=MW_popular

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I received a question about beach etiquette.  In my 4/13/15 post I presented what a number of readers had to say on the subject.  You might want to check it out.

Just the other day I was detecting a beach with no one else in sight.  Eventually another detectorist showed up and even though there were a hundreds of yards of beach, the recently arrived detectorist walked towards me and got so close that my detector started to chatter.   I could reset my detector to stop the chatter, but that isn't the point.  There were hundreds of yards to search, why would anyone feel the need to start detecting right on top of the only other person on the beach?

This has been discussed, and it is impossible to come up with a specific distance that suits all situations.  There is a lot of beach out there.  It is only common courtesy to give other detectorists a wide birth.  Definitely don't jump in and detect the same dip or hole unless you are invited.  Also, the beach is big enough that you definitely don't need to pass so close to other detectorists that you cause detector interference.

Most detectorists are considerate.  Most of the detectorists that I've seen lately have been very considerate.  There are always a few who just don't get it though.

You might want to go back and read the 4/13/15 post in this blog for more on this subject.

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The surf will be decreasing for a few days.  However, the wind today changed, and for the good.  Today it was from the north, and the swell is from the northeast.

I'm upgrading my beach detecting conditions to a 2.  This one will probably be short-lived.

The predictions show another increase in surf coming in about a week though.  I hope that one pans out.  If looks like it might be a decent winter for beach metal detecting.

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Only a few hours to respond to the blog poll.  Thanks for your responses.  We'll be able to compare the better days of October with those of November

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/6/15 Report - More Wind And Rain And A Little New Erosion. Billion Dollar Wreck of the San Jose Found.

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

Above is what I saw this morning.  This beach had cuts of up to about two feet.  The front slope was unusually steep.  I've seen other beaches like that lately.

Most targets were near the bottom of the slope.  I found the same thing at a beach quite a few miles away yesterday.

I wouldn't be surprised if something interesting pops up somewhere, but from what I've seen I'm sticking with a 1 rating on my beach detecting conditions scale.

With all of the wind and surf we've had lately, you could easily expect more erosion.  The tides have been very flat though.  I was also noticing how there is still a lot of sand in front of the beach.

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BBC has been reporting that Columbia has claimed that it found the San Jose, which has a treasure estimated to be in the billion dollar range.

The San Jose was discovered near Cartagena.  The wreck has been described as the "Holy Grail" of shipwrecks.

"Great news! We have found the San Jose galleon," the president tweeted.

The San Jose was carrying gold, silver, gems and jewellery collected in the South American colonies to be shipped to Spain's king to help finance his war of succession against the British when it was sunk in June 1708.

Here is the link for the rest of the story.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-35014600

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I'm glad we've been getting a little weather.  The sand has been stirred up a little.  Hopefully there is more to come.

Only ond day left to respond to the blog poll if you did any detecting on the Treasure Coast the last couple of weeks of November.  I really appreciate your responses.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/5/15- Continuing Wind But Little Erosion On Treasure Coast.

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

Here are pictures of three treasure beaches as seen this morning.  Despite the continuing wind, there was very little in the way of cuts.  Yet one spot that I could measure accurately lost about one foot of sand from the front slope since yesterday morning.  That was near a spot that was producing a week or so ago.  Since that time it had filled some, but was now about back to the level it was at when it was producing.  One big difference is that the tides are not as big now and the water is not getting up as high on the beach.  You'll notice the sea weed near the top of the slope.

The top and middle of the beach was pretty clean.  There was some black sand.  Except for some big junk, most targets, and all the good targets that I found were down at the very front of the beach where you could only get at low tide.

One interesting thing I noticed was that down about a foot under the surface of the sand was another layer of black sand.  The deeper level was heavy and thick.





Although a lot of you have been reading this blog for years, some of you have not.  As a result I need to describe my beach detecting conditions rating scale.  The rating scale does NOT rate the chances of finding modern coins or items.  The rating scale is for old cobs and artifacts.  It takes better conditions to find the older materials, and it happens much less often.

You'll often find more modern items whenever the beach gets stirred up a little.  I've written quite a bit about coin lines and coin holes, which most often hold more modern items.  It takes much more to produce items that are hundreds of years old. My rating scale is not about finding pennies, nickles, dimes and quarter.

A "1" rating, as you probably know, indicates poor conditions for finding a cob or treasure coin on a Treasure Coast beach.

I have been pretty conservative with my "2" ratings and probably will be a little more liberal with that rating in the future.  I often found myself struggling over the rating when things were improving but I wasn't sure that cobs would be found.  I will use the "2" rating to indicate exactly that type of borderline or transitional situation when conditions have improved and probably will produce a a FEW cobs on at least one beach.  Most likely only some of the Treasure Coast beaches (maybe only one) will end up actually being productive. Some beaches will be better than others, and conditions will be such that they could change at any time, either improving and becoming productive or becoming unproductive.

A "3" rating indicates conditions that will definitely produce some small number of cobs on some beaches.  A "4" will indicate conditions expected to produce larger numbers of cobs and on more beaches.

A level "5" rating indicates conditions similar to those typically found after hurricanes or extremely good conditions such as those produced by the famed Thanksgiving storm.  Those will be rare.

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The wind and surf will be about the same tomorrow as it was today.  I'm sticking with my 1 rating on my beach detecting conditions scale.  I still wouldn't be at all surprised if a few cobs were found.  I only looked at a few beaches today.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/4/15 Report - Wind and Surf Increased Today. No Detecting Conditions Rating Increase Yet.

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

I went out this morning to see what the beaches were doing.  Unfortunately the batteries on my camera were low and I didn't get any pictures.  There wasn't a lot to see anyhow.

I looked at four beaches this morning - two in the Vero area and two on South Hutchinson Island. None had significantly changed for the better.

Turtle Trail had more sand on it today than the last time I was there.  It appeared that most beaches had more sand this morning than a few days ago.

A couple beaches had some fairly good scallops near the water line.  That is one thing I wish I was able to photograph.   A couple had a good number of shells at the high tide line.

The wind increased this afternoon.  The surf was supposed to be about 4-5 feet today and will be increasing a foot or so the next two days up to about 5 -8 feet.  During that time the wind will be northeast.  Following that the surf is supposed decrease again.

The tides are not big now like they were back around the fool moon.  That won't be any help.

I'm not really expecting much the next couple days.  The biggest surf is supposed to be Sunday.

I'm sticking with my beach detecting conditions rating of a 1.  I don't know if we'll get anything better before this is over.

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Please respond to the blog poll.  Looks like we might get some interesting results.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net