January beach hunt (!)

Zot

I already thought that I was done for the season for sure.
However, it's been warm and raining non-stop for a couple of days, melting away nearly all of the snow that fell some time ago. We live in strange times...

As the weather was bad, with heavy rain forecasted shortly, I decided to take my water machine and just do a beach hunt. (This proved to be a good idea, as it started pouring down shortly after I got to the site. It was nice to have the water machine and waterproof clothing on the beach rather than be struggling away in the woods with the machine covered in plastic ....)

I was delighted to see that there was an opportunity to detect a strip of the beach that I thought would still be frozen. I have never seen it like this in the middle of January before...
This area is usually under water, so I thought I had a very good chance to pick up some jewelry....



Unfortunately, I quickly noticed that the ground was still largely frozen. I could only dig about two inches before coming to a hard stop.
There were numerous targets out here, but nearly all were much too deep for me to get to. I picked up a few shallow targets, which were mainly trash. Very frustrating...

The dry sand could be dug, so I headed higher up on the beach. This would probably be a really boring hunt, as I've never found any jewelry in the dry sand here, and could realistically expect a bunch of modern coins only...

My good deed of the day was to clean the beach of unpleasant things like these....



I also found some examples of my least favorite targets, which tend to cause a quick reaction sequence of -->
They are:

washers...


...and gold colored pulltabs! HMMMMMPH!
The curve at the bottom can really look like a gold ring if that end happens to come to light first..


As expected, the finds were boring. At least most of the coins are high denomination --> battery money..

I picked up EUR 10.06 --> $14.88


Happy hunting!

-Z

ricko

Well.. the trip was not a total waste... and those targets in the frozen sand could hold promise for the spring. Cheers, RickO

lordmarcovan

You are at least lucky with the Eurocoins being high-denomination, like you said. I was talking to an Aussie detectorist on another forum this morning, telling him I'm envious of their circulating dollar (and 2-dollar!) coins. It definitely makes digging the modern change a bit more worthwhile.

Thanks for the frozen beach picture. I don't know why it appealed to me- it just did. Jethro Tull's "Dogs In Midwinter" is playing on the computer speakers right now.

I've not seen the gold-colored pulltabs here- that sure could give you a cruel adrenaline rush, if the proper end peeked out first! Ugh!

Maybe I should post a beach hunt here this week, as a study in contrast. That could be interesting, yes?

Maybe not.

The pics would be interesting, anyway. Aside from two nice gold rings, I have never found anything of much interest on our beaches, and haven't hunted them in years. But they're always there. And the Garrett has a salt elimination feature my old one didn't have. Hmm...

goldrush00013

Nice work Erik!

lordmarcovan

BTW, Zot, I attempted to fulfill my promise to do a beach hunt yesterday morning. I arrived at the old Coast Guard Station on St. Simons Island a little after 8:00 AM, and it was a pretty day with the sun getting higher in the sky over the water. However, I discovered to my disgust that my camera would not cooperate, and part of its problem was a dead battery. The spare battery in my pack, which I'd fully charged before putting it in the bag, was also dead- drained somehow. Grrr.

I was also underdressed. It having been warm the night before, I had worn only a long-sleeved shirt in to work on the overnight shift, but the temperature had fallen during the night, and since I'd come straight from work, I had no jacket. It was not exactly freezing cold, but chilly enough, with the wind off the water.

So I postponed it. I do need to do a beach hunt soon, for a change of scene, even though it's not my usual thing. I have never found anything old on our beaches. They were "renourished" with sand brought in at some point since the 1980s. I am sure there is old stuff to be found under the right conditions, like a storm, but I have yet to master beach hunting. I did get a couple of nice rings once, though, as I mentioned. That's always a possibility. Besides, the digging is easier on the beach- so much so that I can "dig everything" there without working myself to death.

I'll give it a go, soon.

Zot

Looking forward to seeing the results!
Clothing is key.... waterproof on the outside, and several layers...
I must have been quite a sight on my beach hunt ... it was pouring down, and the only area of me exposed to the elements was a silver dollar-sized opening that I could peek through...

DUBBA

you are a "trooper" for sure!

lordmarcovan

I think we need a "beach hunt pictures" thread when I finally get mine done. The Baltic, Atlantic, Pacific, and who knows what other bodies of water. Could be interesting.

Edit to add: seeing Zot's "Baltic Sea in January" photo makes me think of the Wilhelm Gustloff sinking. Brrrr.

Not the kind of water you'd want to find yourself swimming in!

BentFork

Brrrr my butt!

Nice going Erik.

G.