Surf cam, could help you out.???

[beachguy777]

I know I'm probably reaching for it here, but I was talking to Mike in Virginia Beach the other day, and he was talking about the surf being up there in Virginia Beach. Well I wrote him back and asked, "Is it surf to grind up the beach a bit to expose more targets, or surf you're gonna ride on a surf board, basicly" and I got to thinking. Hey, I"m into surf video, and I belong to a surf cam web site called Surfline, why not see if there's a cam in Virgiinia Beach, and there is. The long and the short of it is, we use the surf cams to check out the surf, the size, shape, etc., me to see if it's good enough shape to go video the surfers and the surfers look at it to see if it's worth going out there to surf or not. What I got to thinkin' is you could at least check it out to see if there's any big surf that might stir up the beach enough to expose some treaure or not. I know that't not as good as actually going down there but it's just a possibility for one more small tool in the arsenal of metal detecting. Hope I didn't bore you to much with that one, but there you have it. Beach guy, (not "Beach Boy", unfortunatly, their the guys making all the money, I'm the guy that buys all their records and never has enought money)
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[Sand Shagger (NMB)]

Hello,

They are used for that purpose. Unfortunately there are not a lot of them around here. There is one about 3/4 mile down the beach here that I check, but quality is not "too swift". I can see any major "cuts", "puddles", etc. There are a couple in Virginia Beach that some look at too, as there are in at Daytona Beach. I will pass on a few links for your "viewing pleasure". These have been posted on the Beach and Water forum.

VA Beach;
http://www.oldcoastguardstation.com/towercam.htm
http://www.surfline.com/surfline/livecams/report.cfm?alias=virginiabeachcam

NMB:
http://www.beachcove.com/webcam.cfm?refreshCount=5#imagetop

Daytona Beach:
http://volusia.org/beach/daytona.htm

 

[Mike (Virginia Beach)]

Marc, I WAS talking about beach erosion for metal detecting. Although I HAVE surfed many years ago, it's not one of my current sports.

And indeed, when the currents, tides, and winds are right, it can and does stir up and uncover major goodies. After Hurricane Isabel I found 17 silver coins going back to the late 1800's, including a Barber half dollar, at a local beach on the bay where you couldn't BUY a silver coin normally. They were heaved up from offshore as well as uncovered when the dunes were completely removed. And there was also a guy in Florida who found like 178 coins from the 1715 treasure fleet...Spanish Reales and whatnot...scattered all over the beach in one relatively small area. They'd been missing for almost 300 years. So yeah, when the surf is heavy and the beach erosion is visible, it's a great time to hit it. Look for "cuts", where the sand is chopped off and there's a ledge or drop-off going down to the wet sand. Hunt the area from right below the drop, down to the water. In cases where there's been a few feet or more of sand moved, you can find stuff that's been there for a LONG time.

 

[beachguy777]

That's a very exciting message. I'm jabbin' miself in the ribs because I wasn't sure about the surf thing, but that's neat to hear about you being an old surfer. I am too, but the last time I surfed was when I was about 16. I just turned 56, so I better get in shape first if I'm ever gonna try it again, but this erosion thing is really exciting. I just read another article by a guy named seaweed from The Beach Hunters Guide, and he pretty much said the same kind of stuff. He talked about that old treasure like you say that guy in Florida found. Wowie, zowie, how exciting would that be to find some old Spanish gallion stuff or pieces of 8 or whatever they're called. I'd probably need some heart pills to stay afloat on that one.!!!. We don't get too many harsh storms here in San Diego, but we do get some good erosion sometimes and some pretty heavy surf. I'm sure gonna keep my eye on that stuff and keep reading the weather reports and tide charts. This guy who wrote the Beach Hunters book lives here in San Diego, or at least wrote most of it about San Diego, I recognize all the places he talks about, and I'm just kicking my self for not getting another detector years ago. I missed so many cool storms and conditions that he talks about, but, Oh well, all I can do now is try and catch up and be ready for the hot spots. You sure found some great stuff from those stroms, I'm dying to find some old stuff like that. I know I need to keep at it and do what you say, hunt near the cuts and so forth. I appreciate you sharing that with us, again, Mike your very generous with your information, and man is it good information. Well, you have a nice night there, Surfer Joe, I mean, Surfer Mike.

 

[beachguy777]

Thankyou, Shagger, I'll check em out again in the morning when it's light, but they're kind of cool looking at night with all the neat lights around. Thanks again.