Ring Daddy #117.....

Twas the day after Christmas and the beach was still sanded in. But perhaps, just perhaps, if I swing long enough I will be able to weasel another ring from the sand.

Another day in the 60's and the beach looks the same as yesterday and the day before and the day before...How about some wind??!! Where are the famous noreasters the old timers talk about??

An hour into the swing session this dandy ring pops out. I don't need no stinkin noreaster!

Ran into Rick today. We chatted and then he went south and I headed north. Plundering, plundering, plundering all. Fair number of targets today.

Diana and I are going fishing in the morning. But I'll see ya on the beach tomorrow afternoon.

Santa came to MB.....

Dear Santa, I have been very, very good this year. Just ask Diana, she will tell you. Please, oh please bring me one more gold ring before the end of the year. Foiled Again Jim

Diana and I ran to the room where our stockings were hung with care and there...there were some great gifts. Next, Diana made cinnamon rolls and I squeezed oranges for breakfast.

We headed for the beach. Low sixties. The winter seagulls gathered in gangs. The large seagulls with the mottled grey-white, the laughing gulls and the black billed seagulls all mingling and talking about the nice weather. If only we could all get along like they do.

Pelicans, my favorite sea bird, flew north in loose flocks.

I found a spot with a few targets and told Diana I was going to beat that area before I moved on. She gave up shell collecting and headed down the beach at a brisk walk. I watched her go and smiled at how lucky I am.

Then I began gridding in earnest. Most of the targets were mid beach. I saw another detectorist in the distance...kind of looked like Charlie.

A potpouri of targets with plenty of pulltabs. At last low signal and a silver gray ring is visible in the sand.

I heft it and grin. I began my Thank You note to Santa in my head. I am looking for the 14K inside the band, with my not so young eyes, moving the ring to just the right distance.

Plat....

Dear Santa, you are the best!!

I swung down the beach to show Charlie the prize. We ended up talking a good twenty minutes.

Here is the Christmas day mess. A very nice mess.

When I got back to the camper I threw the ham in the oven and made scalloped potatos. Diana made the crescent rolls, dressing, deviled eggs, and cranberry sauce.

"Shall we eat on the picnic table?"

"Sure."

As we sat down we held hands and gave thanks for all that we have been blessed with. And then the mega meal began.

A two hour nap followed.

After I get this posted we will have pumpkin pie and whipped cream.

Merry Christmas to all!! Diana and Foiled Again Jim

BTW it got to 76 degrees today!!! Eeeehaaaa!!!!

Ants in the Pants......

The beach was soooo sanded in today. After an hour with a dime and a penny I decided to go to all metal. I cranked up the sensitivity and started digging trash. I was trying to keep track and somewhere around 23 or 24 targets I got confused....but at that point I only had four more coins for 23 or 24 targets. PI's or going all metal is great if you need stationary supplies like paper clips or staples. They're pretty good for finding sparkler wires or pieces of sand fence or if you need some nails.

I ran into Dick and he was just out for a walk. He was just getting over pneumonia. My dad died from pneumonia. I didn't mention it but only because I didn't think about it at the time.

I pointed out a hole in the surf down the beach. "Yep, I'm going to go change into my wetsuit and give it a try."

I got back to the VW and pulled out the still damp wetsuit. Amazing how a wetsuit can still be damp after four days in the backseat of a VW. I thought the VW smelled kind of gamy but I had a cold so I really couldn't tell.

Well the wetsuit was inside out and when I went to turn it right side out I ended up with ants all over my hand. "What the....!!!!" There were thousands of ants all over the outside leg of my wetsuit. I don't know if they hatched inside the VW or all the ants just decided to get together in my wetsuit.

I'll try that hole in the surf tomorrow.

Ear Ring Day....and gold

The first signal on the beach was my only gold for the day. I got all excited when this gold ear ring showed up early. Oh what a gold and glorious day it would be....Not.


The other gold colored ear ring is a maybe...but I have my doubts about it being gold.

Kind of cool today, but not bad. Sunny.

Got to watch the dredge crew that is doing the renourishment move a mile long section of pipe down the beach using four boats. Quite an operation. They got it where they were going exactly at low tide.

Detecting the beach has cured my cold. I am now running at 90%.

The beach was more sanded in today than yesterday and I only found two small places with any targets. Everything seemed lightweight today. Not one quarter.

Four hours of swinging got me five ear rings, one toe ring, two junk rings and a couple of pendants....oh, let us not forget the 84 cents in change.

Myrtle Beach is not paved with gold.

But you know what...I think I will celebrate anyways. Diana and I will see you at the Huddle House.

Luggies and gold rings.......

Well this morning my cold was a bit better so I went to the beach without drugs. I had the Dayquil in my pocket just in case but I didn't have any water to wash them down with so. It would take a real man to swallow two Dayquil without water.

10:00. Absolutely gorgeous day. As I walked on the beach I saw Rick swinging by and yelled at him. "Doin any good?"

"Two dimes."

We talked a bit and then we get to swinging. After an hour Rick was headed back my way and passed on the surf side. A minute later I got a midtone and out pops this little beauty.

I yell to Rick and he turns around to see me hold my hand up in the air. He comes back and checks it out.

Why is it that you think you really know something about beach detecting when this happens?

We get back to swinging and I run into a real nice couple and we start talking...and talking... and talking... and we pretty much solved all of America's problems right there. That had to be the longest I've ever just stopped and chatted with strangers. We probably talked close to an hour. They were really nice folks. I hope I run into them again.

Sometimes my head would stuff up and I would hold one hostril closed with my finger and blow a big lugie onto the beach. "Don't slip on that," I thought. Then I would blow the other side out.

After a couple of hours I headed for Subway to get a sandwich. Then I thought about a spot I have never beach hunted although I have surf hunted it quite a few times.

When I get there it looks interesting down near the low tide line but there was nothing. I headed up and found a spot with a few targets. I beat it up until it gave me this ring. Alrighty!!

Now I see a spot down the beach that looks interesting. Walked a good half mile and ended up with one penny in that section.

I took off my jacket. What a super day!! A few people trying to fly kites but there really wasn't enough wind. When I got back to the VW the thermometer said 61 degrees.

Here is the mess. $3.34 in change. The worlds largest fishing weight. Fishermen kill the fish by hitting them with that weight.

I can't wait for tomorrow. Just think what I could find if I get over this cold.

Using drugs to find the treasure.....

This morning I felt slightly better than death. But I knew that if I did not go to the beach I would regret it. After a couple of Dayquil and blobbing Vicks Vapor Rub in my moustache I was off...like a herd of turtles.

It rained hard early but by the time I hit the door the weather map was showing clear....but cloudy.

The beach looked very similiar to yesterday. I headed left today.

I see Rick swinging from the south. When he gets up to where I am gridding he has that "I hate you" look. He saw the bracelet that I found yesterday on the forum.

We talk a while and then I get antsy and I'm back swinging. I am getting quite a few coins again today. About two hours into the session I get a foil sound. I love foil sounds. Out rolls this little ring. It may be small but it counts!!

Here is the mess. $2.60something.

Have a terrific day!!

Sun, Fog, Rain, Sun, Fog, Rain...and some gold...

I've been a bit under the weather and I contemplated not going out this morning...but in the end I put my wetsuit on and headed out the door. It rained last night and was foggy this morning, kind of warm, low 60's early this morning.

The beach looked horribly flat when I stepped onto the upper sand. And the flatness ran into the surf. I spent the first hour wading around in search of a hole and ended up with two pieces of foil.

The wind and low tides have reached up and taken some sand from the top and sloughed it off into the low tide area and the surf. The extra low tides the next few days may do more of the same.

At the beginning of the second hour I abandoned the surf and headed higher on the beach. A few targets started to show. I finally found a line and kept beating on the door. It began to rain. Then within ten minutes the sun came out. I was burning up in my wetsuit.

The temperature was headed for 70. Then the fog came back in and I couldn't see a hundred yards.

A fake sparkler ring popped up and then a few targets later a mid tone came into the headphones...not exactly a pulltab sound. As I lifted the sunspot scoop I could see the gold bracelet. I plucked it from the sand, not wanting to damage it with the scoop. 24.2 grams. 14K.

Quite a few targets on the upper wet beach. $1.94 in change. Those Canadian dimes sure give a crummy signal.

Tomorrow I will carry the wetsuit in the VW and swing the upper beach first. If I see a hole I will change into the wetsuit. Changing into a wetsuit in the VW will be challenging.

I've changed in a Geo Metro before...but low tide was almost over and the windows were all fogged up. I glad the police didn't show up.

No pictures, only images....

Does it seem strange to see a lone man wading into the sea before dawn? The darkness must play on one's mind, posing questions.
As I wade naval deep, something catches my eye in a small flopping wave. I watch closely and at last a small diving duck bobs to the surface. A coot perhaps. I wish I knew the names of the ducks. I wish I knew so much more.
I look at the large motel and see a woman come out on the veranda in her housecoat. She is there to witness the birth of today. It is overcast and clouds are in layers and I know that the soft pinks in the east will meld and blend and catch fire in a few minutes.
A signal comes into the headphones. It is deep and indistinct. Three scoops and I am looking at a green quarter. I have found a low spot, a gentle depression in the scheme of the ocean bottom. My next signal is a silver ring. There is hope. I crisscross the area. I can feel when I am leaving the productive area because I become shallower.
There are not many targets.
A shrimp boat is to the north, black on the sea of black.
The red sun peeks over the sea and lifts. I should not watch but I do. As the sun rises behind the clouds it becomes distorted, oblong, squeezed in the center, an hourglass shaped time piece in the heavens.
The woman on the balcony is satisfied with the sky painting, takes one last look and goes through the sliding glass door. I see the sunrise in the glass door and in the glass of all of the doors and windows of the motel.
A couple more targets and I see a detectorist coming down the beach, the sun glinting off his metal shaft as he swings.
I wade in and we talk. It is Rick. We've met before. He has found a ring. We discuss and cuss the beach. And we talk about the impending doom, the renourishment.
Beachcomber once said, "Low tide waits for no man."
My session in the waves has been short this morning and yet....what can one say when one has seen another sunrise? I have been given another day to feel the cold saltwater run down into my wetsuit, to smell the ocean, to see what so few see and I am thankful.

Ring Daddy #112....a five minute ring

Low tide was 6:06 this morning. I was on the beach at 6:15. 33 degrees and almost no wind. The horizon was rimmed with a chain of clouds, black against red. I turned on the machine and walked a few feet and retrieved my first pulltab. I looked up and down the surf line and nothing looked promising. Oh well, I'm here...and not in some cube. The ocean was mellow, a few soft waves lazily pushing ashore. I waded into the ankle deep water and get a foil signal. I am sure it is foil because it is at the low tide line, a lightweight target that floats around. I dig it and shake the scoop. All of the sand runs out. What the..... Even in the predawn darkness I can see it is a gold ring. Totally unbelievable. I left the car less than five minutes ago.

Only once before have I ever had a ring in an empty scoop. Always, always there are shells in the scoop.

This is the type of gold ring that I think gets moved around in the surf or on the beach. It is lightweight and has a large surface area. I feel extremely lucky to have gotten this one.

So now I am hunting the filled in, ankle deep water. After an hour I have one more pulltab. I watch the sun poke an orange hole in the clouds and then take flight.

There are no holes in the surf this morning.

I moved up on the beach and found a few more pulltabs, coins and a couple of small pieces of jewelry. Here is two plus hours, most of it in the surf.

Time to celebrate at McDonalds. I'll get the two for three bucks and a senior coffee.

Verification Day and Gold

Yesterday was verification day. First I stopped in the coin shop. Yep, the 1911 $5 gold coin is real. Eeeeeedoggie!!! The coin guy was kind of mystified by the stain on the coin where the clasp is from the bezel. He considered the coin damaged because of this stain. I will not try to clean it until I am sure I won't bugger it up.

Next, I went to the mall to Reeds Jewelers and the nice lady put the diamond tester on the man's ring I found last week. "Yep, it's real," she said, "Nice find." She eyeballed the diamond and said it was about 3/4 of a carat. Dear Santa, I need a carat gauge and a jewelers loupe. :)

Then as low tide time approached I made a radical departure from my norm. The thirty mile an hour wind out of the SW influenced my decision to hunt the "beach". It has been ages since I hunted the beach....but I thought maybe the wind would move some sand and I might end up with something in the wet sand area.

Well, I did not get a gold ring. But I was not disappointed either.

It was definitely a hunt. I would swing for a quarter mile without a beep and then I would get quite a few targets together. Three hours gave me a gold ear ring, a silver ring and a silver chain.

Here is the ear ring. As you can see it is fairly heavy...heavier than quite a few of the gold rings I've found this year.

I threw the silver chain and ring in the tumbler.

Just after dark I broke out the binoculars and Diana and I viewed the Moon, Venus and Jupiter all dancing in the sky together. "It looks like a diamond," said Diana. I had to agree that Venus was a sparkling jewel. The sky was crystal clear and the crescent moon's craters seemed so close you could touch them.

The moon, Venus and Jupiter will be visible together the next few nights. Enjoy!

1911 $5 Gold Coin....

Well, I ate too much turkey and dressing and spinach souffle and .......and it makes my wetsuit too tight. "Diana, do I look fat in this wetsuit?"

Didn't know what to expect on the beach since I took yesterday off to eat and eat. But with no real wind I didn't expect anything good.

Stood at the top of the beach and could not see anything that looked holy. Turned on the detector and bam, there was a penny right there.

Headed into the surf and found a spot that might have been a tad lower. My fourth target sounded midtone and I always hold out hope when I hear this.

Up comes the scoop after three tries. Alright!@!! A gold necklace!! And look it has one of those coins in it. Looks gold....but it is probably a copy. At least that is what I thought out on the beach.

I have looked and looked and can not find copy on it anywhere. 1911 Five Dollar Gold Coin. So, if it is real...and I am starting to think it is...I did pretty good. No, not pretty good. Real Good.

I have to let this one sink in. It really hasn't hit me yet.

Here is the mess. 38 cents and a five dollar gold coin. Not many targets for three and a half hours in the surf.

I am not sure who to take it to have the coin verified. Maybe I will take it to the coin shop in town tomorrow morning.

Ring Daddy #110 and #111.....EeeeHaaaa!!!!

Well yesterday was a bust...my Excaliber went phitttttt, phittt, gargle, phit, gargle. The battery wire that I had welded came loose. Resoldered the wires and put a new connection on with new prongs. Tested it at the house and it seemed fine.

I was hungry for some real detecting. The day was sunny and 50's. NW wind that helped knock down some of the wave.
I jumped in the hole I found a couple of days ago and worked the Heck out of it. It wasn't that big and I just kept beating on the door. On the fourth pass over the same area I got one of those hmmm, not high, not low sounds. On the second scoop I waved the detector over the area and it nulled??? What the.... I turned the Sunspot scoop sideways to take a look before I dumped it. There it is!!! Man, what a beauty!! One of the best men's rings I have found in a long time.

After three hours of beating up a hole that was maybe 40' x 40' I thought of heading for the house and then a spot that has been good to me came into my head. I drove about 20 blocks north. When I walked out on the beach I was encouraged by what looked like a little bit of a hole exactly where I wanted it.

This spot is weird. I have never gotten very many targets here but even with a low target count I end up finding gold rings.

I walked into the surf and waded around fifteen or twenty minutes before I got my first nickel. The fourth target was this pretty ring.

The pic isn't great. The stones are dark red, ruby. The total targets for the second spot was five.

The last target was the piece of chaise lounge chair.

Here is the mess. $1.84 in change.

Those fishing weights that have the prongs on them ought to be outlawed. Talk about a good way to have a wire stuck in the bottom of your foot!! That fishing weight is on the right side of the picture.

Oh yeah, almost forgot. I did get one silver ring.

I feel like I live in a wetsuit this time of the year...but when I have a day like today I really don't care.

Diana and I are going to the Apache Campground Thanksgiving Dinner this evening. I'm a happy, hungry boy!!

An ugly gold ring???? Is there such a thing?? Yep!!

It has been tough here in MB. I cannot seem to find a hole. I hunted in the surf three hours, two before low tide and one after, and had one dime. Then suddenly I was in chest to neck deep water and had targets. Since I did not have my weight belt on I got pushed around. All of the targets in the mess pic came after I got in the hole.

The low tide was a memory when I finally got some targets. I hung in there about an hour and a half. This is where I will start tomorrow.

I got this ugly ring....gold???????? It has to be the ugliest gold ring I have ever gotten. No markings and it looks like it has been in an acid vat. Even the purple stone looks beat up. I will try to find some one to test it.

Here is the ring cleaned up some. Still looks ugly. I really have my doubts about this one.

Ring Daddy #108 and #109......Brrrrrrrrrr!!!!

Yeah buddy, it was cold!! I checked the temperature before I got into my wetsuit. 28 degrees with a NW wind. Man, I am tired of living in a wetsuit. I will be neoprene man until May of next year. I've got a Farmer john (7 mm) and a Shorty (7 mm). I've also got neoprene gloves and boots...and it takes a while to put all this stuff on. I feel like its Halloween every day.

This morning I tried a new spot...brand new...never detected this stretch of beach. My other choices had been pretty lame for the last couple of days and I needed to change things up.

Low tide was 6:02 and I was on the beach at 6:05. The eastern sky had a tint of light to it. The Atlantic Ocean looks like a large lake with such small waves. I wade into the surf and on about the third swing I get a target. I can't see what I have in the scoop and walk it up to the shore and dump. A quarter. My right hand is aching from the cold. I swing for fifteen or twenty minutes before I get another quarter. Then I get a pin of some kind.

Five pelicans fly overhead in the darkness.

I hear a siren on Kings Hwy. and hope that they are not coming to rescue me again.

I step on a flounder or skate with my left foot and he bangs into my right leg trying to escape.

Man, my hand is cold. I move down the beach to the next little depression. A guy bundled to the max shakes his head as he walks by. It is close to sunrise. I get a small signal. Two scoops later it is sounding interesting. The third scoop has the target. The sun breaks the ocean line. I move the shells around and see Ring Daddy #108.

Suddenly, I don't feel nearly as cold. I continue to grid the surf area. Already I feel warmer from the sunshine on my black wetsuit. A few more targets and I venture a bit further out. Another sweet sounding signal. One scoop and I am looking at diamonds!!!! The ring is turned upright and the diamonds are all aglitter. OMG!!

Now the cold has no meaning. I am doing the ring dance in my head.

The low tide is gone and yet I hate giving up. I dig an electric box and call it quits. 8:30 when I get to the car.

This has to be the least amount of targets per gold ring that I have ever gotten. Two quarters...no other coins.

Yesterday, I hunted the 14th Street Pier area. They are in the middle of dredging that section. There were hundreds of conch and snail shells scattered on the beach. I love the snail shells. Everytime I see one I am transported millions of light years away or looking through the Hubble Telescope at a new swirling galaxy.

I went to McDonalds to celebrate. You know where I will be tomorrow morning!!

No Gold Rings Today....but still a great day!!!

I knew I only had an hour and 45 minutes to hunt today. I needed to get home and put the meatloaf in the oven.

I headed for the same spot that has been producing. I've been coming onto the beach and walking north but today I walked out and there was a hole directly out front. The NW wind today had beat down the waves and the waves were less than six inches. 60 degrees and sunny. Wonderful conditions!!I jumped into the surf and started digging. The fourth signal was a nice foil sound. After digging through the shells I started pulling out this gold bracelet. Alright!!! I've been needing some gold with some weight to it. 14K.

Not a lot of targets but then again I was not out there very long. The bullet took me forever to corral. Thank goodness I put that mesh in the bottom of my scoop.

Explain can bottoms. Why is it that the sides and top disappear and the bottom is the only thing left?? Is it that some hateful engineer makes the bottom thicker? And every case that leaves the factory makes the engineer smile, knowing that you and I will eventually dig up some of those can bottoms.

Ring Daddy #107....astounding!!

Today I headed back to the same spot I hit yesterday. The ocean was rough but the sandbar was doing a very nice job of breaking the waves before they got to me. The sandbar is my friend.

There were only a few targets in the first hole. I moved north and the next hole had a few more. I started to get that "it ain't gonna happen today" feeling.

I looked further north and it looked like there might be a very small hole that direction. Oh well, I jumped north again and found a small hole about the size of a bathroom. I get a target and scoop up a silver ring. Then within a couple of feet I get a nice midtone. Two scoops later I was looking down the barrel of my scoop and I am astounded. How can anything look better than a gold ring in a scoop??!!!

How can I still be astonished when I look in the scoop and see a gold ring? Is it that the gold ring is so out of place laying there among the shells...so totally gold...so totally beautiful??

And here is the mess. Had to use the flash so the pic isn't that good. Not many targets today. But you only need one.

I love the tunnel vision of my scoop with some gold in the bottom.

Gators and Ring Daddy #104, 105 and 106.....

Wednesday, Diana and I headed for Sunset Beach...really Bird Island. Diana hunted shells and I hunted with the detector. She had a huge bag of shells and I got a nickle and a penny. On the way back to MB, as we were passing a golf course, Diana says, "I think I just saw an alligator." I spun the VW around and parked. I got two pictures before some golfers scared the gator into the pond.

Can't we all just get along?? I love this pic of the golfer, gator and turtles.

"Whoa, that's a pretty good size gator." This guy is hurrying to the next hole.

I don't think I would go after the golf ball just to the left of the gator.

Yesterday I hunted or was going to hunt just north of the 14th Street Pier but part of it was blocked off for the renourishment program...where my hole was. I knew of a another hole to the north and headed there. Dick, one of the guys down for the winter, was in that hole. He and I talked and he told me about a huge gold military ring he got out of the hole the day before. Grrrr.

I headed north and found another hole about the size of a cadillac and did OK for about an hours worth of detecting.

Today I headed for the same spot. I got two silver rings out of it before it dried up. Another detectorist, Chuck, stopped to chat. He was having no luck on the beach. I told him about the two silver rings and then he headed north.

I moved to the next hole to the north and found a nice waist deep hole. The waves were not too bad today; very tolerable. Soon I heard a foil sound and visualized a gold ring. A few shakes of the scoop and I was looking at Ring Daddy #104.

Then the very next signal sounded funky. Hmmmm. As I dug through the shells I spied a dime and a gold ring right next to each other. What an itty bitty ring!! Half a gram!! If the gold ring would not have been next to the dime there is a good chance I would have turned the scoop over and never knew that there was a gold ring.

I worked the hole from the deepest point out and finally ran onto this really nice heavy wedding band. Yeah Baby!!!!

Here is todays mess. $3.01 in change. Quite a few sinkers today. Also, a Watkins Glen lighter.

One of the silver rings was heavily encrusted so I threw them in the tumbler with the silver clad coins and Voila!!

Ask me if I am excited about tomorrow!!! Eeehaaaa!!!!!!

Ring Daddy #103

Well it was another wonderful sunny fall day...mid 60's. I headed straight back to the same hole. The first and second signals I had to give up on, they were just too deep. Then I got the smallest of small signals. Only one little blip. I could not make it repeat. I switched to all metal and got the signal. Two scoops later I was staring at a gold ring in the bottom of the scoop. It happened way too fast.

This always gives me hope of having a double or triple ring day....but it was not to be. The ring is small; it will not even start to go on my pinkie but it is stout!! No markings but I suspect 10K. 6.8 grams.

This is the fifth gold ring out of this one hole. Sounds pretty incredible that there can be that many in one hole but I know that I have only been scratching the surface. The hole is too deep to work effectively without going scuba and then the viz would determine whether or not you could do any better. The viz at MB is usually less than a foot and many times less than 6". Imagine trying to fan targets in a closet with the door closed. Oh yeah, did I forget to say there is current running in the hole.

The hole is filling in and everyday I get less, not because I have found it all but because it is filling in. Here are the meager targets retrieved for three plus hours.

How many gold rings are in the surf at MB??