11/30.21 Report - John Brooks Showing Deteriorating Cuts. Shooting the Breeze At McClarty Treasure Museum.

 

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

John Brooks Beach.
Jeremy M.

I received these photos and the following email message from Jeremy M.

Hi! I’ve been following your blog for a few months and loving the pictures and info you share. I’ve been on Hutchinson for the month and got out to Colored Beach for a last hunt. Here are some pictures…

This cut is about 4’ with loads of shells at the base.

A view of the beach looking south. From the surf to the first flat is heavily scalloped. The flat to the cut is about 25 yards. Above the cut is about 10 yards to a secondary cut. Hard to explain and I didn’t get a good picture of it....

John Brooks Beach.
Photo by Jeremy M.

I believe the trouble with Brooks in recent years has been all the renourishment sand which has been washing down from the Fort Pierce inlet area.  As you probably know, they've been dumping a lot of sand up there and it just won't stay.  It was a more productive beach in the past.

Beach Art.
Photo by Jeremy M.

I told Jeremy I don't know if the fellow has a name but it reminds me just a little of the old Christmas Tree landmark that stood at John Brooks beach for decades.

It seemed to me the Christmas Tree disappeared after the 2004 hurricanes, but maybe some other storm took it out.  Who remembers when the Christmas Tree disappeared?

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Discussion at McLarty Museum  (Rex at left, and Cory to right)
Photo by JamminJack.

JamminJack stopped at McLarty Monday.  Here is what he said about that.

I really did not feel like going out today. I decided to visit Cory at McLarty Museum and give him some more research material on 1715 Fleet. 

Rex dropped by with some friends, and was really enjoyable to listen to someone that had a direct impact with Reale 8. Those who do not know him, he found the famous Golden Dragon and Chain. He said it was found in a ball of clay and submerged halfway in the sand. Someone else, who was part of the Reale 8, actually passed over it. Rex is related to Kip Wagner and was very young back then. He later salvaged some of the wrecks.

Rex pointing to map where they found a lot of stuff on the Cabin Wreck

Some finds you always remember. 

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The surf predictions don't give a lot of hope for the coming week.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

Happy hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

11/29/21 Report - Beaches Refilling. More On How Sand and Things Move On A Beach.

 

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

JamminJack has been on the Treasure Coast for a couple weeks or so and has been providing beach photos.  That has been helpful.

In these photos, taken by Jack Saturday, you can see a bit of the history of the beaches.  Above you can see where the beach eroded when the surf was higher.  Unfortunately we didn't have good high tides to go along with the higher surf and the water didn't get back to the dunes in a lot of places.

In these pictures you can see where the sand has filled in again since the erosion.  You can also see the seaweed, which is what you will often see when the beach is building.  Since the surf has decreased the water isn't getting as far back as it did when the area eroded.

In the above photo you can see a convex beach.  The sand is building on the beach.  You can see how the water slows down as it spreads out over the new sand and drops even more sand.  The sand that is being washed up is the same sand that got washed out some days ago.  

At the back of the beach you can see the white/grey renourishment sand.

Here is one of the most helpful illustrations I've ever posted.

See The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 6/28/16 Report - How Water Sorts Things On The Beach. Gold and Emerald Finds.

The illustration shows the relationship between the current measured in centimeters per second, which increases from left to right on the chart, and the size of the particle measured in millmeters, which increases as you go from the bottom to the top of the chart.

While the chart is very helpful, it leaves out very important factors if you are concerned with other types of material besides geological substances, such as sand and pebbles.  In fact there are other variables that are important for even geological materials.  The density and shape of the particles is also important.  Density is an obviously important variable but so is the shape of the grain, which affects cohesion.

When you are including other types of items such as coins, density and shape are very important factors that determine how the objects will be moved by water.  I've discussed that some in the past.

Sand will be moved relatively easily and quickly and will move to some extent with every wave and tidal cycle.  The sand that is exposed to the flow of water will move a lot more than objects such as coins.  The amount of force required to move coins is a lot greater than that required to move the sand.  When the amount of force is sufficient to move coins, it will move sand a lot more.

To complicate matters more, I've talked about the various ways coins will move, including flipping, rolling and others, however they will generally move less quickly than sand and other materials such as shredded aluminum, which moves a lot, not only because of the relative low density but also because it is generally found in thin sheets, which will be more easily moved by water than if you had a round chunk, for example.

All things considered, it will take a lot more water force to move coins than sand.  However, when the sand is moved, the coins will also move to some extent - generally moving in the direction of the vacated sand.  The easiest example would be coins sitting in the dunes.  When the sand is washed away, the coins can fall to the beach below.  The same type of thing happens, but less obviously. when the sand on the front beach or in the water moves.

When they identify sand to be used for beach renourishment, they often find where sand has built up, such as in front of inlets.  The funny thing is that when they find sand that has built up in places like that, they are choosing sand that is among the most mobile, and it will not stay on the beach very long either.  Very often it is a fine grain sand that will be quickly eroded away.

Anyhow, I could go on about that all day, but I'll quit there.  It gets very complex, but it helps to understand how beaches and things on the beach move.

---

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

Not much to look forward to this week.  Just a 3 -5 foot surf on Tuesday.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

11/28/21 Report - Treasure Coast Beaches Not Great. Short Mudlarking Venture On The Treasure Coast.

 

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

Two Views of Turtle Trail Saturday.
Photos by JamminJack.

Jack sent the above photos with the comment Too much sand!

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I stuck close to home yesterday and wanted to do a little mudlarking, or the Treasure Coast version, which I call sandlarking.

You can find some interesting things just mucking around.  Whatever you call it, you can occasionally find some good stuff without a detector.  Most of the time it isn't real good - maybe just interesting.  If you are a detectorists, mudlarking can provide some clues to potentially good metal detecting sites.   And if you are interested in local history, you might be interested in the items that tell you about the what people were doing in the area years ago.    I often find something that I consider useful, whether it is a brick, piece of lumber, lost hat or PVC pipe.

Here are some of the items I found yesterday.

Miscellaneous Items From a Short Sandlarking Venture Yesterday.

At the top is an item marked Cory.  I didn't know what it was, so took it home and researched it.  I found out it is a vintage vacuum filter part from a coffee machine.  Not very interesting, but learned some trivia.  They list similar ones online for $10 to $15.  Seems it would be mid century.

I often pick up copper scrap.  Copper prices are good, recently hitting as much as $4.50 a pound.

The Coca Cola bottle is a Fort Pierce bottle, but a very common one.

Then there is the unremarkable stopper top bottle and the copper item which seems to have a thunderbird like pattern.  Have no more info on that one.

The piece of stoneware is marked Western Stoneware.

In 1906 the Western Stoneware Co. was formed by the merging of seven different stoneware and pottery companies, these companies were now known as Western Stoneware Co. Plants One Through Seven. This new company kept the same style of maple leaf logo that the Monmouth Pottery Company had used previously.

I've found some nice stoneware items in the past and saw some other pieces yesterday, but nothing very good.

It was the first time I did any sandlarking for probably a couple of months.   I'll be doing more of that in the future.  There have been some nice finds, but not yesterday.

---

The FDA does provide some guidance regarding the Covid-19 vaccine.   Here it is.

WHAT SHOULD YOU MENTION TO YOUR VACCINATION PROVIDER BEFORE YOU GET THE VACCINE? 

Tell the vaccination provider about all of your medical conditions, including if you: 

• have any allergies 

• have had myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) or pericarditis (inflammation of the lining outside the heart) 

• have a fever

 • have a bleeding disorder or are on a blood thinner 

• are immunocompromised or are on a medicine that affects your immune system 

• are pregnant or plan to become pregnant 

• are breastfeeding • have received another COVID-19 vaccine 

• have ever fainted in association with an injection.

That is from

VACCINE INFORMATION FACT SHEET FOR RECIPIENTS AND CAREGIVERS ABOUT COMIRNATY (COVID-19 VACCINE, mRNA) AND THE PFIZER-BIONTECH COVID-19 VACCINE TO PREVENT CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 (COVID-19) FOR USE IN INDIVIDUALS 12 YEARS OF AGE AND OLDER.

---

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

The tides are pretty flat.  And the surf isn't big.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

11/27/21 Report - Looking At More Treasure Coast Beaches. Minions Are More Than Cartoons.

 

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

Cabin Wreck Beach.

All the beach photos today were submitted by JamminJack,  The beaches shown today added to those shown yesterday provide a good long list of Treasure Coast beaches.  You probably never hunted some of those, and you might want to check some of them out.

Jack said that despite the erosion near the Cabin Wreck (shown above and below) only aluminum and junk was found yesterday.

Note the seaweed.  

Cabin Wreck Beach.

In the above photo of the beach just south of the Sebastian Inlet, the sand looks pretty mushy.

Thanks again Jack.

---

Minions are simple, funny and you might even find them cute.  They don't talk in complex sentences or talk about complicated subjects.  They have a language of their own.  They remind me very much of toddlers - except toddler's often show a definite lack of respect for authority.

Minions are not just cartoons.  According to a dictionary definition I found online, a minion is someone who is not powerful or important and who obeys the orders of a powerful leader or boss.  

Minions are generally authoritarians.  They follow their leader.  They don't ask questions.  They don't reason, or even think very much.  They aren't very serious and are generally not harmful until they get their marching orders.

Real-life minions are useful to those who they follow.  They accept the answers they are given and aren't bothered by questioning, reasoning, evidence, or fact.  They are totally predictable and easy to identify.  It is no use to trying to discuss anything with a minion.  Their single-track cognitive style rejects complexity.

Sometimes they are not so cute.  They create chaos and destroy.  Without minions the holocaust could not have happened, and minioins distributed the kool-aid at Jonestown.  

In the cartoon version, Dr. Nefario produced PX-49 as an antidote to PX-41.  PX-49 changes Evil Minions back to regular Minions.  Too bad we don't have a real-life version of that.

You can always predict what real-life minions are going to say or do because without exception they will conform to the party-line, no matter how uninformed or dishonest that narrative might be.  They aren't independent thinkers.  They'll get all their answers from the external approved sources.  They can somehow remain blind to any contradictions and accept whatever their approved authority says as fact.

When you are confronted by someone who has all the answers but can't show you convincing evidence, and the answers are too neat and simple, there is a very good chance you are talking to a minion. That is like talking to a recording.  The recording won't change, even in the face of the most compelling facts.  The answers they think you should accept because they say so, are not actually convincing - they are symptomatic. 

Reality is wonderfully complex   The wonder of nature deserves respect.  Only the simple can be satisfied with simple answers.  Real-life minions not only demand consistency and conformity, but they find disagreement and mature discussion dangerous.  They want everyone else to think what they think, even though they fail to grasp the reality.

If you are a truth seeker, every time you come to an answer, there should be a more questions awaiting you.  Be open to the vast overwhelming number of possibilities.  Try to consider various sides of an issue before coming to a decision.   Don't be bullied.  Be willing to consider all the evidence - especially that which is contrary to popular opinion.  Don't miss the joy and wonder of life.

There are more things in heaven and Earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.  (Hamlet)

---

Recommended reading -both by Milton Rokeach.

The Open and Closed Mind: Investigations Into the Nature of Belief Systems and Personality Systems

The Three Christs of Ypsilanti.

===

Nothing exciting in the forecasts right now.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

11/26/21 Report - Treasure Coast Beaches Looking Pretty Mushy and Messy During Thanksgiving.

 

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

Frederick Douglass Thrusday.

All the photos today are courtesy of JamminJack, who helped me out a lot while I took the day off for Thanksgiving activities. 

First is Frederck Douglass.   

Bit of a Cut at Frederick Douglass.

A gay ago, or so, I showed John Brooks, which is usually similar to Frederick Douglass.  Looks like it was this time.  When I saw it, Brooks had some cuts like this one, and also seaweed.

The next spot is an area where Jack used to hunt a lot north of Brooks.  He says it isn't so easy to access now.

Mystery Berach.

Pepper Park looked similar.  Notice the seaweed again.  

When the seaweed is building on the beach, sand is also usually accumulating.

Pepper Park.

Round Island.

Seaweed at Round Island too.

As you look at these beaches, most have a bunch of renourishment sand remaining from projects conducted in recent years.

Rio Mar.

Rio Mar was once a lot lower.  

Tracking Station.

You can see some remains of a little erosion there, but not much.  It was also renourished not too long ago.

Turtle Trail.

Turtle Trail isn't looking too bad, but it isn't looking good either.  There have been a lot of people there this past week.

Turtle Trail.

Overall, we're back to poor conditions again.

Thanks much to JamminJack for the virtual tour of many of our beaches.

Surf Predictions.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Looks like there won't be much exciting for the coming week.  That will give you a chance to get your holiday shopping or whatever done.  It will probably be very nice weather, but not so much for metal detecting.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

11/24/21 Report - Some Treasure Coast Beaches As Seen Today. Great Coin Cleaning and Conservation Process.

 

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

John Brooks Wednesday Afternoon Before Low Tide.

There was some sand loss at John Brooks in recent days.  There were even a few two-foot cuts, especially up around the bend, but the beach was fat.  That is the best word I can think of.  Most of it was convex and not very firm.  There were some buried shell layers containing aluminum and similar junk.  Sea weed was washing up, so at that time the beach was building.

John Brooks Beach Wednesday Afternoon.

John Brooks wasn't my first choice today, but I didn't have time between obligations to do anything else.

JamminJack visited Seagrape and Turtle Trail Today. Below are the photos he sent. 

Seagrape Trail Access Wednesday.

Jack said, Talked to them today and they are still not sure about Turtle Trail. They are finished with Treasure Shore area, but I was told Sea Grape will be closed for almost 6 months. Very nice person allowed me to go on the walkway and take some photos. I thanked him for letting me do that. They understand the frustration. The lot will be empty thru Thanksgiving, but remains closed. There will be a guard.

Seagrape Trail Beach Today.

Seagrape Trail Beech Wednesday.

Here are a couple pictures that Jack sent of Turtle Trail.  They were taken about 1 PM Wednesday.

Turtle Trail Around 1 PM Wednesday.

Turtle Trail Around 1 PM Wednesday.

Thanks to Jack.

----

Here is a link for an an article you will want to read.  

Jayne Godfrey | University of West Florida - Academia.edu

The title is "Coined" in the New World: The Conservation and Importance of Coins from a 1559 Spanish Shipwreck"

Here is the treatment they used.

Pre-treatment: • Concretion was immersed in a 10% hydrochloric acid solution • Remained in the solution until the concretion stopped bubbling • Thoroughly rinsed artifact 

 Treatment: 

• Dissolved 40 grams of sodium hydroxide into one liter of water 

 • Added 60 grams of sodium hydrosulfite to solution 

 • Placed concretion into solution in a completely filled container that allowed no oxygen to enter 

 • Put container in the oven (set at 50 degrees Celsius) 

 • Agitated daily to ensure all surfaces of the artifact were exposed to the solution.

 • Immersed in solution for 7 days 

 • Upon removal, the concretion was rinsed allowing the encrustation to peel away with ease, leaving behind a beautiful 16th-century coin 

 • To remove the dull look of the artifact the coin was gently polished with baking soda 

 • Rinsed in a series of deionized water baths 

 • Finally placed on aluminum foil to air dry. 

 • Remaining concretions were consolidated in a 5% solution of Acryolid B-72 and air dried

---

The surf tomorrow will be a foot smaller, but otherwise very similar.

Happy hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

11/23/21 Report - North Wind But Smaller Surf Today Still Some Older Finds Made. Bigger Surf Wednesday.

Written by the Treasureguide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

Turtle Trail Tuesday Afternoon.

You probably noticed the change in wind direction.  This afternoon it was blowing strong north to south.  Angles are important, but today the north wind was accompanied by a smaller surf, so it didn't create much good erosion.  The tides were pretty flat now too.

As I recently mentioned there were locations where old layers of sand were barely covered and some older items were being dug.

Today I saw a square nail that was dug and I heard of a piece of pottery that was found.  I'm sure there was more in the past few days. 

There were at least a half dozen detectorists at one beach just before low tide.

If you compare the above photo with those taken Monday by JamminJack, you'll see that there wasn't much change.  

In fact the best location I saw a couple days ago was slightly filled in today.  When the wind and angles change, old low spots can fill in while new spots are eroded.

Black Sand At Turtle Trail Monday.
Photo by JamminJack.

Turtle Trail Monday.
Photo by JamminJack.

Turtle Trail Monday.

Alberto S. stopped at Turtle Trail yesterday and talked to some other detectorists there that day.  He sent the following photo.

Turtle Trail Monday.
Photo by Alberto S.

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Predicted Surf.
Source: magicseaweed.com.

The surf will be bigger tomorrow, then a little bit smaller on Thanksgiving.

Notice the wind direction on the above chart shows the wind changing from north to more easterly Wednesday and Thursday.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

11/22/21 Report - Some Beaches Showing Reduced Levels of Sand and Getting Down To Older Layers. More Surf To Come.

 

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

Tracking Station Beach Sunday.

Cliff R. sent in this report and the pictures from Tracking Station.  Below is what he said.

I planed to go early but got delayed because of the rain. A

Thought I'd share beach conditions from Sunday at the tracking station beach at low tide. Some scalloping of the beach north of the lifeguard tower. Odd how it was only visible north of the tower.

Found a few Zincoln cents and a clad dime at the intermediate weed line.

Tracking Station Beach Sunday.

Layers At Tracking Station Beach.
Illustration by Cliff R.

Thanks Cliff.

The only photo I got Sunday was the one below.  I planned to take more but got hit by a thunder storm.

Turtle Trail Sunday Afternoon.

It was one rainy day, but there were targets, including a lot of old lead pieces.

The beach was a little lower than Saturday at the first flag pole - but very little.  Farther south down by the bend there was more sand loss at one area where the orange/brown sand was near the surface.

Dug Bits of Lead and A Couple Bits of Copper or Copper Alloy.

Other dug items are being cleaned.

I've been busy and haven't had much time the past two days.  I didn't get out today, so I don't know how things have changed since yesterday, but yesterday there were some interesting areas and I wouldn't be surprised if a few cobs were found.  There were some spots were some old items were dug.  

I'd say that beach metal detecting conditions are now at least somewhat improved even though I didn't get to see any beaches today.   Beach conditions are slightly improved, and it looks like there could be more to come.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Notice the four to seven foot surf predicted for Wednesday.

Happy hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net