My Treasure Coast Report: 4 September

[ColonelDan]

I was at the Treasure Coast on Wednesday 4 September...right after Dorian left our area.

All along A1A many, if not most of the small access points were locked and some actually had police cars blocking entry. Surfers were parking along the road side and making their way to the beach through heavy thicket!

We were able to get to Bonsteel and it was a bust. Mushy sand throughout. The expected erosion was just not there. Numerous detectors were there however. Comparing results, only one that I met found anything of note. A small silver Reale about thumbnail size and paper thin.

Obviously, I couldn’t see the entire Treasure Coast but Dorian did us no great favors where we were and we covered a pretty extensive distance. Other areas may have been better suited for hunting but again, the areas we saw were covered with soft mushy sand and no notable targets other than a few modern coins.

The most important favor Dorian did for us Florida coast dwellers however was staying so far off our coast and sparing us the damage it could have done. Having gone through my share of hurricanes, I am eternally grateful for such favors! Thank God!

 

[sonnar28]

Thank you very much for the info!

There is no surfcam that is as good as an experienced boots on the ground assessment

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I agree with sonnar28: Thanx !

As for the meager results (mushy sand, yuck !) : Not sure about Florida, but here in CA, when we get whopper storms that rake our coast, I have seen where sometimes we have to try several beaches, before we find one that mother nature eroded. It's bizzare. One beach will have seemingly no change. Soft sand (indicating it's been coming in, not going out). Yet another beach, a mere half mile away, with SEEMINGLY ALL THE SAME INGREDIENTS (eg.: pointing the same way to the ocean, etc...) will have great erosion.

So we have learned to scout several beaches. If one isn't going off, then the next one, a few blocks or a mile away, might have eroded. It's as if mother nature picks a "burr in her bonnet" at a certain coastal point, and doesn't necessarily erode in a consistent uniform fashion for all the miles of coast-line. One beach has soft sand pushed up, while another close by is eroding.

Also: For those beaches that didn't do well in your reconn : Might want to check back in a few days. Here's why : Sometimes the erosion is happening slightly OFF shore, where you can see. Just beyond the surf-line. If so, then in the coming day's tide cycles: Mother nature can pull sand off of the inter-tidal zone, to "fill those off-shore voids". Mother nature moves sand around, even in the days following an event, even when the rough seas have passed. Because she has to recontour her slopes and so forth. Sometimes those "re-adjustment" days can be good.

 

[ColonelDan]

Tom, agree, we always check multiple beaches and on multiple days whenever possible as things do change. That’s SOP with us.

Soldier on....

 

[Sanderling]

Good to know Colonel Dan. Saves me a trip down that way. Very little erosion in the New Smyrna/Daytona area and none that was perceptible in Jacksonville Beach. Like you said, Thank God Dorian went wide, wish they all would.