First time at the beach with the BHID 300 and questions

[comisoas]

Well here is my report. I went to Onslow Beach at Camp Lejeune. I detected 5 solid hours both in the surf and out. The next day, I went out for about another 3 hours, but most of the time at Emerald Isle. My first 5 hours I did not find much, to my suprise. I know beach conditions are everything, I think the beach was sanded in. Not many signals in or out. I saw a nice runnel that was down to the peat for about 10 feet toward low tide. No coins or much at all, which was a suprise. Alot of work with little result. I think the final tally was 1 small silver ring found on the upper beach, one quarter mid beach in the wet sand, for 3 quarters total, 3 nickels, 13 pennies and one dime at the upper beach mainly, with many pennies found in the wet sand, most of the other coins upper beach. Several shell casings from Onslow. It was frustrating seeing all the folk in the surf, yet finding no gold. No jewelry, save for the ring. I know timing and perseverence is the key though. I found that ground balancing the BHID 300 was a bit frustrating, because when I would lower the coil from about a foot to the ground, there did not seem to be much difference when I made changes to the GB control, particularly in the wet sand. I was looking for the steady threshold, but it would always seem to quiet when it got closer to the sand, so I just did the best I could. Any advice/experience would be appreciated. Overall I had a blast, at 51 yrs old, was totally sore in my calves after about 8 hrs total of hunting, and a bit upset that I could not prove to my wife that I would come home with the gold. Winds were E@5, so the wind was blowing in toward the beach at a very slight angle which perhaps would give credence to a sanded in beach and the lack of signals. Are there any other persons with experience in the areas I searched and perhaps with the BHID that can share some experience? Also, when you are GB the machine for in the water, do you GB IN the water, or on the wet sand? Thanks for listening to my rant. Bryan