I took a mini-vacation to South beach this last weekend hoping the location would yield better than other Florida beaches I have tried.
Fri afternoon I went into the water although it was way too rough. Waves 1-2 with whitecaps due to easterly wind of 15 mph gusting to 22.
Area hunted generally was 1/4 mile north and south of 15th street. (not that I covered all of that ).
Very hard hunting in the washing machine. My method was mask/snorkel and weights, although I had not enough weights for this.
Excal II set to Disc -"1", sensitivity - 12 o clock down to 2 o clock .
Machine would not hold a steady threshold no matter what sensitivity but only on day 3, can't figure that one out.
Diving to the bottom I had a hard time staying on the target spot, and the Grey Ghosts were barely audible - future modifications needed there.
Within an hour I had a fake gold bauble from a bracelet, fake toe ring, a silver.925 ring looking like it had been there a month or so, tiny gold disc from a bracelet or whatever.
The good part is although targets were few, at least a third were jewelry of some sort.
That beats anywhere else I have hunted even though no gold was found.
Tried again next day - water was worse, waves breaking overhead in 4 feet of water constantly knocking me off balance or tearing headphones off.
Gave up after an hour of this and hit the high tide line on the beach.
This area was paved with clad coins and bottlecaps but I managed to find a decent, although water logged dress watch called a "Titan edge" with SS mesh band and saphire crystal.
Also found what looks like an antique silver pendant with a link above it with a bead that looks like onyx.
And a fake gold bead chain with enameled pendant, all thin gold plated.
Thunderstorms put a stop to the hunt.
Next morning hunted the beach again - nothing of value.
Afternoon the winds diminished a bit so I hit the water, still rough.
After an hour the water calmed then a ocean speedboat race started just off the beach.
3 classes of racers including unlimited nitro powered.
And 6 helicopters following the boats, filming.
Noise was louder than my Grey Ghosts so could no longer hear targets.
And besides - it was awesome watching from a hunderd yards away.
Only a few clad coins on that hunt.
Verdict: My sampling was too small to judge as far as water hunting and bad conditions but I think the gold sinks fast here due to the wave action.
It is very worthwhile and I will return when I can be sure wind is from the west.
I could only cover about 25 percent of the area I would normally cover in same amount of time.
A lifeguard told me he knew of 4 people that work the water regularly so as large as this beach is there will be unrecovered finds to be .. err .. found.
Finding the jewelry at the waterline up to ten feet above tells me there's more there too.
Next time I will :
Wear at least 20 lb of weight including ankle weights.
Try to soundproof my Grey ghosts against outside noise and water noises.
Add a chin strap to the headphones.
Check the weather and avoid easterly winds.
Bring my scoop to hit the knee deep zone in case the weather goes bad.
DC, Orlando
Fri afternoon I went into the water although it was way too rough. Waves 1-2 with whitecaps due to easterly wind of 15 mph gusting to 22.
Area hunted generally was 1/4 mile north and south of 15th street. (not that I covered all of that ).
Very hard hunting in the washing machine. My method was mask/snorkel and weights, although I had not enough weights for this.
Excal II set to Disc -"1", sensitivity - 12 o clock down to 2 o clock .
Machine would not hold a steady threshold no matter what sensitivity but only on day 3, can't figure that one out.
Diving to the bottom I had a hard time staying on the target spot, and the Grey Ghosts were barely audible - future modifications needed there.
Within an hour I had a fake gold bauble from a bracelet, fake toe ring, a silver.925 ring looking like it had been there a month or so, tiny gold disc from a bracelet or whatever.
The good part is although targets were few, at least a third were jewelry of some sort.
That beats anywhere else I have hunted even though no gold was found.
Tried again next day - water was worse, waves breaking overhead in 4 feet of water constantly knocking me off balance or tearing headphones off.
Gave up after an hour of this and hit the high tide line on the beach.
This area was paved with clad coins and bottlecaps but I managed to find a decent, although water logged dress watch called a "Titan edge" with SS mesh band and saphire crystal.
Also found what looks like an antique silver pendant with a link above it with a bead that looks like onyx.
And a fake gold bead chain with enameled pendant, all thin gold plated.
Thunderstorms put a stop to the hunt.
Next morning hunted the beach again - nothing of value.
Afternoon the winds diminished a bit so I hit the water, still rough.
After an hour the water calmed then a ocean speedboat race started just off the beach.
3 classes of racers including unlimited nitro powered.
And 6 helicopters following the boats, filming.
Noise was louder than my Grey Ghosts so could no longer hear targets.
And besides - it was awesome watching from a hunderd yards away.
Only a few clad coins on that hunt.
Verdict: My sampling was too small to judge as far as water hunting and bad conditions but I think the gold sinks fast here due to the wave action.
It is very worthwhile and I will return when I can be sure wind is from the west.
I could only cover about 25 percent of the area I would normally cover in same amount of time.
A lifeguard told me he knew of 4 people that work the water regularly so as large as this beach is there will be unrecovered finds to be .. err .. found.
Finding the jewelry at the waterline up to ten feet above tells me there's more there too.
Next time I will :
Wear at least 20 lb of weight including ankle weights.
Try to soundproof my Grey ghosts against outside noise and water noises.
Add a chin strap to the headphones.
Check the weather and avoid easterly winds.
Bring my scoop to hit the knee deep zone in case the weather goes bad.
DC, Orlando