After getting my new Beach Hunter I.D. 300, I felt a trip to test it out was in order. South coast of TX seemed to be about the best bet for me. Galveston has a history about it, so I started making my plans. After reading the Golden Olde I further narrowed down the trip to coincide with the Feb. Minus tides. They normally get about a weeks worth in Jan. & Feb. but Jan. was out of the question. At first I was going to drive down there but flying wasn't much more expensive. Spent some time viewing the airline website and TSA website for baggage dimension and weight info along with the do's and don'ts of traveling by air today. Spent lots of time at Google Earth checking out the area. By the time Feb. 3 rolled around, I was ready.
Struggled with one carry-on and one checked bag on the way down. Didn't make the same mistake coming home and shipped it all U.P.S. Trip was smooth both ways and Galveston was about the way I expected it to be. Found Galveston to be visitor friendly and fairly secure. The minus tide was occurring at 4:00 A.M. on Wed so I was on the road toward the beach site by 2:30 A.M. Police appeared to be all over the place and at least one time rolled up along side to get closer look. Started out on the beach to the West of the Flagship Hotel. It's a large hotel on a pier that appeared to be closed. The concrete driveway from Seawall Blvd to the pier had been destroyed. After finding lots of coins but no jewelery I decided to try Stewart Beach. First day there I found enough to pay for most, if not all, of my trip.
East Beach was out of the question because of the rebuilding effort on the Seawall beaches from 61st to 10th streets. My understanding is that they won't get past 45th this time around. While all that new sand kept me from hunting that area, I marveled at what a good job they were doing to rebuild the beach. Prior to the rebuilding there wasn't much beach left. Noticed on the weekend that those rebuilt areas were crowded with beach goers really enjoying the replenished sand. The Stewart Beach area was kind of an oasis in the middle of this commotion. Looked like most of the light sand had been washed away leaving the heavier material. Found lots of coins just laying on top of the dry sand. Some new and some corroded. Apparently, they were not light enough to be washed out. The sand was very fine and packed like clay. Makes me think that the sink rate in the area might be less than Florida beaches with coarse sand.
I had hoped that the minus tides would team up with an offshore wind allowing me to get at some seldom hunted areas but it was not to be. Surf was reasonably strong and very loud with the onshore winds. Used a headlight set to red most of the time for better night vision. Carried a couple of surprises in case they were needed. Beach Hunter I.D. 300 worked great both in the surf and on the wet sand. Spent most of my time on the wet sand as there seemed to be more non-ferrous targets there. The 12" coil seems to float effortlessly on top of the wet sand. Hip mounted the control unit which was comfortable and not tiring. Hunted in the A.M. Gobble - Gobble setup exclusively. Had to give up on some targets as they were just too deep for the scoop. When I started using my shovel with the 12" blade, no targets were left behind. Although the A.M. tone on the BHID remains the same, the way it's presented varies with different types of targets. Between the excellent depth on the BHID, the lights which are very accurate and the varying sound (duration, ramp-up, ramp-down, delay) of A.M. targets, you get a sort of cross-reference as to what to dig or not dig. Add to that the ability to cover large areas of beach quickly and you have a real beach hunting machine.
Used lightweight breathe-able stocking-foot waders with Bantam wading shoes. Also used a Mustang auto-inflating PFD for out in the surf. Might also add that I used solvent proof, light weight, rubber gloves. Scoop is a 6" Dia. X 11" deep with 5/8" holes. Weather was just right with temps around 50 Deg. in the morning. Afternoons were warm and sunny. Saw only two others MDing the beach. After hunting Stewart Beach for a few days, my opinion is that there are lots of good targets there to be had by someone able to cover a lot of beach. Maybe I'll see some of you down there for the Jan. or Feb. minus tides next year.
Ron
Struggled with one carry-on and one checked bag on the way down. Didn't make the same mistake coming home and shipped it all U.P.S. Trip was smooth both ways and Galveston was about the way I expected it to be. Found Galveston to be visitor friendly and fairly secure. The minus tide was occurring at 4:00 A.M. on Wed so I was on the road toward the beach site by 2:30 A.M. Police appeared to be all over the place and at least one time rolled up along side to get closer look. Started out on the beach to the West of the Flagship Hotel. It's a large hotel on a pier that appeared to be closed. The concrete driveway from Seawall Blvd to the pier had been destroyed. After finding lots of coins but no jewelery I decided to try Stewart Beach. First day there I found enough to pay for most, if not all, of my trip.
East Beach was out of the question because of the rebuilding effort on the Seawall beaches from 61st to 10th streets. My understanding is that they won't get past 45th this time around. While all that new sand kept me from hunting that area, I marveled at what a good job they were doing to rebuild the beach. Prior to the rebuilding there wasn't much beach left. Noticed on the weekend that those rebuilt areas were crowded with beach goers really enjoying the replenished sand. The Stewart Beach area was kind of an oasis in the middle of this commotion. Looked like most of the light sand had been washed away leaving the heavier material. Found lots of coins just laying on top of the dry sand. Some new and some corroded. Apparently, they were not light enough to be washed out. The sand was very fine and packed like clay. Makes me think that the sink rate in the area might be less than Florida beaches with coarse sand.
I had hoped that the minus tides would team up with an offshore wind allowing me to get at some seldom hunted areas but it was not to be. Surf was reasonably strong and very loud with the onshore winds. Used a headlight set to red most of the time for better night vision. Carried a couple of surprises in case they were needed. Beach Hunter I.D. 300 worked great both in the surf and on the wet sand. Spent most of my time on the wet sand as there seemed to be more non-ferrous targets there. The 12" coil seems to float effortlessly on top of the wet sand. Hip mounted the control unit which was comfortable and not tiring. Hunted in the A.M. Gobble - Gobble setup exclusively. Had to give up on some targets as they were just too deep for the scoop. When I started using my shovel with the 12" blade, no targets were left behind. Although the A.M. tone on the BHID remains the same, the way it's presented varies with different types of targets. Between the excellent depth on the BHID, the lights which are very accurate and the varying sound (duration, ramp-up, ramp-down, delay) of A.M. targets, you get a sort of cross-reference as to what to dig or not dig. Add to that the ability to cover large areas of beach quickly and you have a real beach hunting machine.
Used lightweight breathe-able stocking-foot waders with Bantam wading shoes. Also used a Mustang auto-inflating PFD for out in the surf. Might also add that I used solvent proof, light weight, rubber gloves. Scoop is a 6" Dia. X 11" deep with 5/8" holes. Weather was just right with temps around 50 Deg. in the morning. Afternoons were warm and sunny. Saw only two others MDing the beach. After hunting Stewart Beach for a few days, my opinion is that there are lots of good targets there to be had by someone able to cover a lot of beach. Maybe I'll see some of you down there for the Jan. or Feb. minus tides next year.
Ron
