Ring Daddy #100 !!!!!!!!!!!! Eeeeehaaa!!!!

At precisely 8:52 EST I looked in my Sunspot scoop and saw the small glitter of gold among the shells. Ring Daddy #100. I would have yelled "Yahoo" or something but my head was partially underwater and it would have sounded like "Yapfffttt".

The morning was windy out of the SW and the waves were semi-large....yes, they were as big as semis. But when you have spent half the morning getting into your wetsuit and weightbelt you have no choice but to follow through.

I was in the water before seven. You could hear the dredging operation to the south and the water was a silver gray from the sand being pumped. And this morning the water tasted different and I think it was due to the suspended silt. Water visibility was near an inch. This is when the bull sharks can't see what they are striking at.

I worked shallow for a few minutes and then waded deeper. I didn't get any targets until I was chin deep. The weight belt didn't seem to help me as much as I had hoped. I only have thirty pounds in it. I was still getting twisted around by the waves and looking something akin to a strand of DNA. Perhaps I should double the weight in my weightbelt. At what point, amount of lead weight, do you sink in the sand??

It took me a good half hour before I put my first dime in my pouch. Not that I didn't dig some holes. Holes is not an apt description. Craters??

Eventually, as it got closer to low tide I was able to actually retrieve some targets not just dig them.

When the gold ring showed up I hurried to shore and put it lovingly in the empty side of my nail apron. I checked the time and it read 9:52. But I realized that I had not reset the Timex so I knew it was either 8:52 or 10:52....I just had to think about it a while. Fall forward...uh no...uh...jump back jack....uh...I'll figure it out when I get back to the car.

After low tide the waves got bigger. Hard to believe. You know that you are working pretty deep water when you have to hold your scoop above your head to sort through the shells.

Here is the mess for three hours. $2.32 in change and one token.

And here is the one I have been looking for. Ring Daddy #100. Kinda small but it's a keeper.

I think I might take Diana out to celebrate this achievement. "What do ya say, Taco Bell or Burger King? We could just go to Sam's Club and walk around and eat the samples. Your choice."