Treasure Hunting the Surf

Ring Daddy #31 in the rain...

2009-10-16T11:24:00.000-07:00

I have to admit I have been very discouraged lately with the detecting. It has been ages since I found over a dollar in change. The beach has been super sanded in. Yesterday I hunted for an hour and a half and found four targets; a bottle cap, a pull tab, a penny and a brass screw. This has been typical for weeks.
Today I tried a spot that I hit every couple of weeks. It looked about the same as everywhere else.
As I left the car it started to drizzle. Half an hour and I’m out of here.
On the first line off the top of the beach I got a dime. Hmmm. A couple of more lines and I got another dime. This was way more than normal. It started to rain harder. I kept gridding the upper one third and kept getting a few coins.
From where I was at I could see that the pier had quite a few fishermen today. Detectorists and fishermen in the rain. Then in the middle of the top third I got a mid-tone and out pops this nice gold ring. Finally!!!

I hung in the cold rain for about two and a half hours and finally called it quits. I got well over a dollar today. Lots of pennies.

The Dreaded Hump and Ring Daddy #30

2009-09-30T00:04:00.000-07:00

I've been hitting the beach almost every low tide lately. Found a nice fossilized horse tooth yesterday and a nice sharks tooth today. I usually give the sharks teeth to kids on the beach...but there were no kids today.

Yesterday we had some heavy SW wind and I thought it might move some sand. I've been dealing with the dreadful hump lately. The beach slopes down and then humps back up before it goes into the sea. All I ever find on the hump is dimes...the wanderers. Dimes seem to move around and will line up on the side of the hump. The other day I got 5 dimes in a row on the hump. Well, I should have gone out last night but I was stupid and watched the Panthers get beat.

This morning I stood at the top of the beach getting set up and I noticed the hump was gone. The ocean was glassy smooth, nary a ripple. I walked down from the top and got a so-so deep target. It definitely was not a smooth signal. After three giant scoops of the sunspot scoop I was looking at a gold ring.

If you get a gold ring on the first target you should just pack up and go home. But you will not. You will now beat the beach and yourself to death trying to find another one. Not a lot of targets but I did get one gold ring, one silver ring, a toe ring, four pair of sunglasses and 80 cents. Here is the mess.

I did go back and get the Excaliber and waded around out in the giant pond for half an hour. No targets. None. This is how the surf has been since the renourishment. You need a hole in the surf to find targets and this year I have not seen a real hole all year.

Ring Daddy #29

2009-09-24T10:27:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago I found an Iron Cross.

This is a German metal given for bravery. I have no idea if it is real...I hardly think it could be, but I don't see copy on it anywhere.

Yesterday, I slogged out to the beach with very little hope of finding anything. I was not in a good frame of mind for treasure hunting. It has been almost three weeks again since I found my last gold ring and I hunt almost every day, sometimes twice a day depending upon when low tide is. My enthusiasm has been crushed by the renourishment at MB. And the wind, oh the wind…there is none. I checked the forecast, the ten day outlook, for wind and the windiest day is 11 mph. A good bean fart has registered at 14 mph.
When I arrived a fair size crowd was at the waters edge watching the melee in the surf; an acre of baitfish, hundreds of small fish flipping, leaping into the air hoping to survive another few seconds while the bluefish tore into the school. And then a shark, three or four foot long, cleared the water and splashed down into the frenzy. Whoa! What a show!
I put the headphones on and went to work, enjoying the late summer heat that has lingered into the first days of fall. Amazing that it can be upper 80’s and three months from now it will be lower 30’s and snot flying out of the sky. I hate winter.
I don’t really know why I have been going out at low tide lately. The beach is hugely humped up at the low tide line and I rarely find anything there. For the past few weeks almost all my finds are from the upper third of the beach. I always wander down on the lower beach to make sure nothing has changed and it has not, a few pennies and pull tabs.
It takes me ten or fifteen minutes to find my first pull tab. Not good.
I look up and down the beach trying to read the beach. It all looks the same, nothing to give me hope. I slog on. And on.
I pick up a few coins along the same line that I have been hunting for weeks, on and on I go, bouncing like a pinball, zig zagging the upper beach, a coin here, a pull tab there.
Halfway back to the VW I get a nice foil sound. It is less noisy than a ketchup packet, close to a wadded up gum wrapper…but it sounds more wholesome, like the girl next door with the big blue eyes. Before I dig this signal I am already smiling. I could be wrong but I am pretty sure it is a thin banded gold ring. Out comes the sand. I kick the sand around and spot the gold ring. Bingo!

It looks as though it is part of a set with the thin curved band. Who cares!! It’s the first gold I’ve seen in ages. The diamond is a wannabe, cz.

Here is the mess from yesterday. $1.91 in change.

5:30 this morning I was out again. I headed north of where I hunted yesterday. The beach was empty and the darkened sky held a few stars and one planet showing in the cirrus clouds. I see wet beach to the north but I have done better to the south…so I go south. South was the wrong decision. I spend the first hour getting a few coins on the upper one third and then finally head north. I should have listened to myself and done the wet sand first. This part of the beach is not humped up; more flat with a slight incline and there are targets all the way to the encroaching low tide line. The sky is beginning to lighten and there are mountain clouds the color of dried blood at the horizon. A few folks with cameras have come to see the dawn. Three men are casting their lines into the surf. I glance to the east and a cloud has taken on the look of a B-17 Flying Fortress complete with props. A shrimp boat in the distance with its arms spread and the rigging give the impression of a pirate ship in the half light. It turns north to intercept the rising sun. I don’t see any gulls following the ship, not a good sign for a shrimp boat. Far to sea, dark large birds, ten perhaps, pelicans perhaps, are loosely flying as a flock. Pelicans are usually more organized.
The last two planets are gone, lost in the bluing sky.
I dig a key and think about the tourists. They’ve lost their prescription glasses and keys on the beach. They have to hotwire the car and then drive home blind. I’m chuckling and digging and watching the dawn.
The shrimp boat becomes a major player for the photographers as it heads into the red sun inching over the sea.
Good Morning America.

Quite a few targets this morning but no gold. $4.74 in change in three hours. One Canadian dime that gave a horrible signal.

Ring Daddy #28

2009-09-03T14:17:00.000-07:00

Couldn't sleep last night so I went detecting for about 2.5 hours this morning, 2-4:30 a.m. The sky was deep black with clouds and the breeze was out of the NE.

When I got out there I could see where someone had already hit the area, quite a few holes. Now, I usually don't pay too much attention to such things but this caught my eye. The person gridded the area exactly like I would have...the grid lines were exactly the same spacing as mine. Then I noticed that the drag mark was exactly like mine, from a larger scoop. I felt like I was following me. I could not see another detectorist on the beach. My clone was out there. He's out there in the darkest of night, walking zombie-like, swinging and digging all the gold before I get there.

Got about the same amount of coins that I have been getting. Also got a mood ring and a kids ring that has light blue and yellow rubber diamonds.

This afternoon I tried a bit further from the campground.

Everything I've been finding is on the top 1/3 of the beach. Not my favorite place to hunt...but there are targets so you go with the flow.

I was out there about an hour and a half when I see Gene Patrick coming down the beach swinging his Sov. We stop and chat. He shows me a small white gold ring with a blue stone and then he takes off. I swing about three times and get a low pulltabby signal. Bam, out comes this nice little gold ring. I yell at Gene and hold up one finger. He nods and keeps getting it.

After I beat up this little section of beach I go to Taco Bell, get something to eat and some tea. I'm feeling better so I head further north and detect for another couple of hours. Lots of coins and one ear ring. Here's the mess. 104 targets, $6.60 in change in about four and a half hours.

When I dig the upper 1/3 of the beach I know it will be mainly coins but somewhere in that mess is usually a gold ring. Sometimes you have to dig a couple hundred coins before you get one. Keep swinging!

Remnants of Hugo; Boolets, Gold, and Platinum!!

2009-08-30T12:52:00.000-07:00

Last night I hunted for about two hours. I was not impressed with the beach but I was impressed by the wind. First real wind in ages, coming out of the SSW. Thought maybe it would move some sand. I thought this wind might be the remnants of Hugo.

This morning I was trying to have happy thoughts. A bad thought would come and I would overpower it with a good thought. Pretty soon I was in a pretty good mood.

Tried a section of beach that used to be one of my favorite places to hunt before the renourishment.

Looked like a possibility of a couple of holes in the surf. I grabbed the Excaliber and waded in. Neither hole had squat. One pull tab and one bottle cap.

The beach looked interesting with a fairly steep angle and then smoothing out. Started gridding up and down. A few targets started to pop, kind of like when popcorn first starts to pop. Then I started picking up some 50 caliber shells and bullets. One hole had four or five in one hole. Then the clouds parted, the heavens opened up and a gold ring showed itself. First gold ring in three weeks! I could read the 14K.

I was working my way back towards the parking lot to trade the Excaliber for the Sov because the Sov has the 10" coil. I was at mid-beach and I got a loud signal. I am staring at another ring. I pick it up and almost grunt it is so heavy. My mind is spinning and the word "Platinum" sprints through my head. I can't read the inscription. Then I remember that Tungstun Carbide is really heavy also.

When I get back to the VW I try to switch arm cuffs, steal the one off the Excaliber and put it on the Sov...but I lose the screw. Matter can neither be created or destroyed but a screw can sure get lost in the back of my VW.

I stick the arm cuff off the Goldquest back on the Sov. I try one more time to read the inscription and am pretty sure it says PT950. Maybe I won't starve to death.

I hunted a couple more hours, for a total of five. Some more change, a couple more bullets and one little piece of junk ear ring.

Three 50 caliber shells, ten 50 caliber bullets and one smaller caliber shell.

Here is the mess.

At last, I can use the magnifying glass on the ring in question.

Here is the ring on the scale. 21.9 grams. EeeeHaaa Baby!!!!

Platinum is at $1245 an ounce. I'll let you do the math...but I had a great morning!!!!!

I stopped by Taco Bell and celebrated.

Low tide is only six hours away.

Tenacity or Insanity...Ringdaddy #23, #24 and #25

2009-08-10T16:59:00.000-07:00

This morning I hunted for three hours at Surfside Beach. The reason I went to Surfside is that MB has not been giving me anything. It is horribly sanded in. Still quite a few folks on the beach but the sand is heavily mounded up. Surfside gave me 51 pull tabs and $2.01 in change. That might be a new personal record for pulltabs.
Ran into Gene Patrick, another detectorist, in the campground and did a lot of complaining and whining.

51 pull tabs will make you do some soul searching...like what the hell am I doing?!

Decided to try MB again this evening, the same place I got my last gold ring. When I got there the beach looked almost exactly like it had a week ago. I waded down the shallow trough with the Sovereign and picked up an occasional coin. When I got to the spot where I found my last gold ring I had to play with the sensitivity to get the Sov to act right in the water. A few seconds later I got a signal...but not much of a signal. Two scoops later I was looking at the first gold ring in a week.

A short time later I got a foil sound and my mind says Gold Ring. Bingo!! Another one. This one had me thinking for a moment. Is it silver? and then I remembered the foil sound.

I was wearing out and finally turned around and headed for the car, still sticking to the shallow water. About halfway back I get another foil sound. This one put a smile on my face...could it be??

As a reality check; here is the mess.

Not many coins or pull tabs this evening. I'm not complaining after the 51 pull tabs this morning.

A lesson learned and Ring Daddy #22

2009-08-03T13:27:00.000-07:00

The other day there was a post on the Surf and Sand forum from a man that had lost a platinum ring with a one carat diamond solitare in front of one of the motels in Myrtle Beach. This was his post...

My wife and were staying at the Ocean Reef Resort in Mytrle Beach SC last week. The resort is located between N 71st Ave and N 72nd Ave. She lost her diamond in the edge of the surf. We meet a gentleman who was searching the area, but found nothing, he told us to put a post on here and if anyone came across the ring they would probaly contact us and return it. It is a wide platimum band with baquettes and a 1 carat princess solitare. There is a ring sizer on the ring which may help with the description. If anyone happens to find it we would be forever greatful.

Well, I jumped up and ran out the door to find the lost ring. I post said it was lost at the edge of the surf. I misinterpreted that to mean at the edge of the low tide surf. Duh!!!

After two low tides I asked Glenn what day the ring was lost and what time of the day. Glenn gladly gave me much better information and narrowed down the area where the ring was lost. Low tide three found me hunting hard with hopes of finding the lost ring. I found quite a few coins and trash but no ring. The area may very well be sanded in since the ring was lost or someone else has found it.

Lesson learned; ask for details!!! and don't assume anything!!

I will check this area in the future but I no longer have a good feeling about finding the ring.

Today I ran behind and finally got to the beach right at low tide. I chose the Sov. Very little wind today but very dark storms working through the area. When I got down on the beach the waves were very small and the area in the surf looked promising...lots of shells showing. I waded in about knee deep and got my first target of the day...a fairly loud signal. I dug around in the shells and spotted a ring. Must be a mood ring or some ill begotten piece of junk. I picked it out and immediately knew I had either gold or platinum from the weight. The very first target was gold!!!

I hung in the surf with the Sov until it almost got drowned. Went up and grabbed the Excaliber from the car. Waded around until a wave finally went over my head.

Not a lot of targets but enough to be interesting. I will have to spend some more time in the surf.

Diana and I are going to celebrate at Chalupas. See ya there.

Ring Daddy #21

2009-07-31T11:08:00.000-07:00

Low tide was at 10 so I was on the beach by 8. Good strong breeze out of the SW. Hope it continues to blow today.

Hunted a bit to the north today. Just because.

As I stood on the top of the beach I noticed a huge difference in beach in just a few blocks. To the south the beach sloped down and then was flat. To the north the beach sloped down to a runnel and then was humped up before finally dropping off into the low tide ocean. I went south.

I got out in front of one of the motels that has been a favorite spot of mine. One of my nicest rings came from out in front of this motel. I began to grid and started to find a few targets, most were about 2/3 of the way down the beach. At last I got a nice somber whole low tone. I said, "That's a gold ring." I was visualizing a thin gold band with a nice diamond. I was half right.

The sound of this gold ring is the same as half a pull tab. We have all found half a pull tab. What a nice sound! You have to wonder about the person that not only has to tear the pull tab from the can but has to then torture the poor pull tab until it breaks in two.

I found a nice silver ear ring a bit later. Then the beach seemed to get hot. And I was getting thirsty and I had forgotten my water bottle. I felt like I was left to die in the Mojave Desert. I barely made it to the car and the water bottle. I filled the water bottle and put it on my army belt. It weighed too much and started to pull down my swim trunks. I kept having to pull up the belt and trunks. I drank the water to lighten the bottle. Then I got this tiny wisp of a signal. And the digging began. After twelve or fourteen huge scoops of sand this monster brass thing comes out of the beach. What the heck is it!! And what is it doing on the beach?

I also found a piece of plumbing. Add the brass thing and then my belt really wanted to pull down my swim trunks. I headed for the car and to taco bell for lunch. On the way back to the campground I decided to hit one more spot. I got silver bracelet just before I looked up and saw a wall of water coming down the beach. I ran for the car in the rain.

Four plus hours. Here's the mess.

Today I also found two 50 caliber shells and one 50 caliber bullet. I may try to sell them at the flea market for two bucks a piece. I've found a bunch of these since the renourishment. These are from when there was a target range at MB during WWII. The sign will read, "Buy a Piece of Myrtle Beach History". I may make up a sheet that states that it was found after the renourishment and was likely on the ocean floor for the past sixy five years.

Ring Daddy #19 and #20

2009-07-30T02:50:00.000-07:00

I have been helping my girlfriend, Diana, work on her house in NC. The place is close to a lake that has two swim areas. I snuck away before the sun cleared the trees. The first swim area was disappointing to say the least. Either it does not get used much or someone has been hitting it pretty hard. And lots of trash...pull tabs and bottle caps. But if there are lots of pull tabs I don't think it is being detected

The second swim area was full of targets. In two hours I found $6.97 in change and this small gold ring. Ring Daddy #19.

This swim area was full of bottle cap nulls. There has to be another gold ring in this mess...but I am back in Myrtle Beach and may not get back to that swim area.

Last night was my fourth low tide assault at Myrtle Beach since I got back. I hunted an area that I don't particularly like because it never seems to give up a decent ring...just low class gold rings. Having gone three low tides and still no gold I was ready to try this spot out of desperation.

The rain and thunder had pulled away and as I put the headphones on I noticed a nice rainbow out to sea. I began swinging at 7:00. The beach was full of people enjoying the evening after the rain. I was surprised at the number of targets. Darkness began to take the day and I had to kick the sand around more to separate the targets. At one point I got a nice little signal and began digging...and digging and digging. I was becoming part of the hole and I finally had to let it go. But it bugged me. Since I was gridding I returned to the spot in about twenty minutes and resumed my ditch digging. At last a cell phone came out. Dadgum!! I now hate cell phones as bad as cans. The breeze was out of the SW and the number of people walking and playing on the beach in the dark seemed to increase. Heat lightning worked through the clouds where the sea joined the night sky and I had a few falses from the far away electricity. At 11:00 I took the headphones off and slogged up the beach to the car. In four hours I got $6.36 in change , two silver rings, two silver ear rings, one silver St. Cristopher medalion, one gold wedding band and the key to a BMW. An excellent night! Ring Daddy #20.

Here is the mess from last night.

This morning was nothing close to last night. I knew as soon as I walked onto the beach that it had filled in during the one high tide. I did enjoy the morning but targets were rare and I did not get one piece of jewelry in three hours.

We need some wind and waves.

I'm going to have to take a shower sometime this week. Getting kind of gamey.

Ring Daddy #18 and a pouch full of disappointments

2009-07-14T18:29:00.000-07:00

Long day. At 4:45 I was on the beach. Heat lightning was flashing in the clouds at the horizon. Amazing how quick the lightning would flash and I would register the false in the headphones. No thunder, just flashbulb lightning showing the vivid white clouds for an instant. I hunted hard this morning and found very little...maybe a dollar in change. Went down the road and tried another spot and it was just as bad. One dime.

Went and did my laundry and someone stole my laundry basket. Amazing that people will steal a five dollar item knowing that they could get beat up. This is the second laundry basket I have had stolen.

Forgot to put the battery on the charger and stuck it on for about an hour.

Headed north this evening. Found the gold colored bracelet first and then about ten minutes later I found the gold colored ear ring. I was getting pretty excited and then the battery quit and I had to walk back to the car and get the battery you stick AA's in. Mutter, mutter, mutter. Found a spot with quite a few coins and was beating it up when the silver colored ring showed up. Felt heavy, thought it might be white gold (It wasn't).

Stayed close to where I found the silver ring and finally a real gold ring showed up.

Here is the mess.

I picked up the Heinz bottle buried half in the sand. The big beach rake would run over it and crushed it and then there would be glass on the beach and I would cut myself and my foot would get infected and then I would get gangreen and then it would go up my leg and they would have to amputate me at the belly button. So I picked it up.

Here is the gold ring. One of the diamonds is missing. Reminds me of a person with a front tooth missing.

Went to Taco Bell to celebrate and they gave me a cheesy rice burrito instead of a chicken burrito.

I'll be out there in the morning.

Ring Daddy #16 and #17....long day

2009-07-12T16:09:00.000-07:00

Hit a beach south of MB this morning at 6:00. Detected there till about 8:30 and then went even further south to Pawleys Island. OMG. Pawleys Island is severly sanded in. Detected for a while and was about to leave when a man asked if I would look for a bracelet his wife had lost. He promised me $25 for the search. I hunted the area for almost an hour and did not find the bracelet. Bummer. The guy tried to give me the $25 and I took the five and handed him back the twenty. Total for four and a half hours was $4.38 and the five for the search.

I noticed that gas was $2.21 in Surfside and $2.49 in MB. Can you say gouge the tourist?

This afternoon I stayed close to home. When I walked out on the beach I noticed that the hump at the low tide line had almost disappeared, so I started hunting down low for a change.

The wind was blowing hard out of the south. Kind of fun watching people chase their hats.

Within about 15 minutes I got another should I dig it signal, similiar to the cross signal I got a couple of days ago. Out came the first gold ring of the day. Very low tone. I believe the diamonds are real.

Kept swinging at the low tide line and after about an hour another gold ring pops out.

Thought I should check out a motel a few blocks down the beach and spent some time there and this silver ring showed up. I thought maybe it was white gold but it is 925. I don't see very many silver rings engraved with their names and an inscription.

Here is the mess for the three hours of swinging this afternoon. Dug the can at 2' easy...it wasn't exactly easy. Oh yeah, there is also a silver necklace in the pic. $2.26 in change and a real nice batch of pulltabs.

Maybe this hard south wind will help things. I'll be there in the morning.

Ring Daddy #15 and feeling small

2009-07-11T15:35:00.000-07:00

Two and a half hours this morning netted me $3.17 in change and a five dollar bill. Also, some glow in the dark condoms. But they look huge. I'd fall right out of them. I could do a contest on the forum and give them away. The package says you have to expose them to light for 30 seconds and then rise and shine. What are you going to do, take your flashlight with you to make them work on the beach. My luck, the flashlight would be dead.

A bird just flew into my camper. I had the door open. I told the bird to git and he flew back out.

Anyways, no jewelry at all this morning.

This afternoon I hit another spot and after about 15 minutes of swinging I get this nice low tone. Bingo!

Just to make sure you don't get the impression that this is easy, here is a picture of the evenings finds. Only 40 targets dug in two and a half hours. $1.43 in change.

The top of the beach seems to be sanding in and the bottom of the beach is horrendously sanded in. And I forget the last time I saw a hole in the surf.

The renourishment has really killed detecting at MB. Oh well, I'll try another spot in the morning.

Cool morning in July and gold

2009-07-10T07:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I hunted early morning and late afternoon for a total of seven hours. I dug 123 targets for $11.07 and a silver chain.

I had to flog myself to get out of bed this morning but I was on the beach by 6:00. The past three mornings have been something almost fall-like. Cool with a nice breeze. Wow. This does not feel like summer mornings. I actually had to find a blanket last night.

What a delight to be out when it is just a tad cool, watching the sun pink up the horizon and then witness the red-orange ball climb into the sky.

Dig, dig, dig. 82 targets this morning...oops...84 targets. I threw a couple of cans up onto the upper beach where the beach machine could eat-em-up.

Somewhere in the three hours this morning I got an almost nothing signal. Scratchy, gnarly, just a bit of something there, should I dig it or should I not dig it. I did not hear any null so I dug it. One scoop and the signal was out of the sand. I had to kick the sand around a bit before I saw Jesus. 14K 2.8 grams

I went to all metal and tried to find the chain but like most of the time I did not find the chain.

All of the targets are on the upper beach just below the dry sand area. There must have been some erosion on the upper beach last week while I was in NC.

I'll be back out there this evening.

Ring Daddy #14

2009-06-18T01:52:00.000-07:00

No trash picture today. I mixed yesterday mornings hunt trash with yesterday evenings trash and they had babies.

Jason from Tenn. is down and swinging hard...every low tide and yesterday morning he got a nice ladies gold ring.

Jason has a new Whites Dual Field PI that he let me use yesterday morning. The waves were big smashers; make Jim suffer waves. But I had to try the PI so I waded in to get slapped around. There were some holes but they weren't deep enough and I waded around listening to the sound of each wave coming through. This is very annoying. I am not sure how to set the dials to eliminate or at least lessen the wooOOOOoooo noise of each wave.

I was out of town for a few days and when I got back I see that the beach is more sanded in than when I left. Someday I will go out to the beach and it will be a desert of sand for as far as I can see. It will happen.

Low tide last night was nine something. Went out in the failing light and gridded in front of the blah, blah motel. This is a huge motel.

My Excaliber is still not back from Minelab so I was using the Sov on the beach. Down and back, down and back. I was picking up a few coins and strangely enough, no pull tabs

After an hour and a half I got a signal, a brash, healthy, here I am signal, much too big a signal for anything good. I dug it and kicked the sand. Even in the dim light I could make out the gold roundness.

I should have quit when I found the wedding band but gold makes you crazy so I had to keep swinging for another hour.

If someone knows how to set the PI to eliminate the woooOOOOoooo I would appreciate the input. Thanks, Jim

Ring Daddy #13 and a little perspective

2009-06-11T15:31:00.001-07:00

Hit the beach about 4:30 A.M. this morning. Quite a few people wandering the beach at 4:30. Tried to avoid them as much as possible. I did not take my camera and was kind of kicking myself because the clouds looked like they might give an outstanding sunrise. Worked basically the same area as yesterday. Detected about a mile down the beach and was almost back to where I started when this lightweight gold wedding band showed up.

Here is the mess for this morning. Just under three hours of scanning the beach.

Yesterday, I got a little bit of perspective. I was detecting and not finding much and kind of in a funk, cussing the renourishment and how sanded in it was and...then I spotted her. At first I was not sure exactly what I was looking at. Maybe the young lady was turned at a wrong angle...and then I realized this young lady with the smile had no arms. She waded out of the surf and walked up the beach. She was enjoying the day and the beach and what she had.

I detected past her and then in a couple of minutes looked back. There she was, walking down the slope with a plastic shovel held with the toes of her right foot. She taking a child a plastic shovel.

We can sure get all caught up in ourselves and how life isn't treating us right. Sometimes it takes a woman carrying a shovel with her foot to make us appreciate what we have.

Ring Daddy #12 and the 4 A.M. Assault on the beach

2009-06-10T15:35:00.000-07:00

Two o'clock this morning MB had a major thunderstorm. It seemed as though it was a continuous rumble and lightning for two solid hours. I got up and did some writing, wondering when the lightning would transform my computer into mush. Just before 4:00 the storm quit. I checked the radar on the weather channel and it looked like clear sailing.

Oh, heck fire, I might as well go detecting. I ate a bowl of cereal with yogurt and headed out the door.

I got to a nearby beach, parked and headed into the darkness. When I got a ways down the beach my stomach started to grumble and then I started having the urge. I tried to work through it but the urges kept getting stronger. I thought I might have to dig a hole in the beach.
Finally, I quit and headed for the car. Walking seemed to awaken the urges. At last I got to the car and headed home. Now, of course, the urges went away. Dadgum.
I got a quarter and a dime on the upper beach between bouts of gritting my teeth.

This afternoon I stayed close to home and detected.

Lots of high school, college kids, and finally it seems like the families have made their way to MB.

Fairly good crowd and I was actually finding a few targets.

My Excaliber is in Las Vegas and so I was hitting the lower beach and shallow water with the Sov.

Nice breeze, little bit of cloud cover; a really nice day.

Here is the mess. This is three hours of swinging.

About a mile down the beach from where I started I got an iffy, crackly signal. It was this 10K ring. Now, why would this ring give me such a s0-so signal? I almost passed on this one.

Someone needs to write a guidebook, "Public Bathrooms and Porta Jons at Americas Favorite Beaches". I would buy a copy.

More Blah Blah Blah and Ring Daddy #9, #10 & #11

2009-05-30T09:17:00.001-07:00

Yesterday afternoon the wind was blowing hard and I tried a section of beach that actually had some people on it. I found three pieces of can in an hour and a half.

This morning I dragged my poor body out of bed a bit after five and injected some coffee intravenously.

At 6:02 I pulled into the parking lot near blah blah blah. There was a cloud bank and the sky yellowed and oranged and it took a while for the sun to make its appearence. My third or fourth target right at the water line was gold ring #1 for the day.

OK the pressure is off. I wade into the small depressions and work the bottom of the beach. At 6:45 I dig my second gold ring. It was just above the hole I worked a couple of days ago and got the gold class ring.

Now, I start to do the math. Let's see, two gold rings every 45 minutes and I have to be back to the parking lot by 9:00. I should end up with at least six gold rings by 9:00.

The clouds moved in and at one point I thought maybe we'd get some rain.

Quite a few coins and cars today. Here is the mess.

At 8:15 I got a nice sounding target and out pops #3 for the morning.

It says 585 and Titan. I am 95% sure it is gold and ?? titanium??maybe. 14 K is 583.3. This is 585. It has the weight of gold. I will have it checked but for now I say it is gold.

I hurried back to the parking lot and took my hard earned quarters out of my pouch and fed the meter to give me another hour and a half.

I went south and found gobs of pulltabs. Also, the digger. Pretty nice digger.

Four plus hours and my best day of detecting this year. Low tide is 7:36 this evening. I will be back at blah blah blah trying to add #4 for the day.

A Tip from a friend and Ring Daddy #8

2009-05-28T07:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon Gene Patrick and I hit a stretch of beach that was so dismal that Gene called it "pitiful". I told it him it didn't come up to being pitiful. Last evening I got a call from Dwayne Patrick, yep, another Patrick and he told me he had gotten a gold wedding band at blah, blah, blah. Well, blah blah blah is not too far of a drive from the campground so I headed there this morning, long before the sun showed up.

I have only hunted this area a couple of times in the last ten years so I didn't know where to park. I passed the blah blah blah and didn't see the parking lot. I went on down a long ways and finally parked. Now the question is which detector to take, the Sov with the 10" coil or the Excaliber with the 8" coil. I debated and grabbed the Excaliber.

Out on the beach I was not seeing any holes and started digging pulltabs and shell fragments. The shell fragments came in with the renourishment sand. I kept moving down the beach toward blah blah blah. It seemed that blah blah blah was a long way down the beach. More pulltabs and shell fragments. I was cussing Dwayne. I was starting to hate hearing the signals because it was all junk. I saw some small depressions with water in them and ran through them but got nothing. "Why, that no good Dwaye."

I went over a little hump in the beach and suddenly I was looking at a hole in the surf...a fairly deep hole.

I waded in and got a nickle, then a quarter, then a penny, then it was targets everywhere. Shells in the scoop and that dark grey sand that means you are where you need to be. I start feeling better about things. And the targets kept coming. I got a little foil sound and smiled...maybe a thin gold ring. Nope, but it was a small gold charm. Alright!! More coins and at last I am looking at a gold class ring in the scoop. Now, I am excited!

Maybe I can get another one. The lifeguards start putting out the chairs so I know it is 8:00. I need to be back to the parking lot before nine, when you have to pay. I am swinging and the tide is rising. At last a wave goes over my head. I get out and hike back to the parking lot. I make it back with 15 minutes to spare.

Here is the mess. Eight sinkers, $2.28 in change.

And here is the class ring. 13 grams. The gold charm to the left of the ring above is 1.3 grams.

I called Dwaye and thanked him for the tip. This was the most fun detecting I've had this year. Finally a real hole! It seems like it has been at least six months since the last time I was in a real honest to goodness, filled with treasure, hole.

It is my daughters birthday so I will not make the evening low tide...but I will definitely be back at blah blah blah tomorrow morning before the sun comes up!

Shocking! and Ring Daddy #7

2009-05-26T17:19:00.000-07:00

Good Golly Miss Molly has detecting been horrible!!! The beach is mega-sanded in. I was hoping that the Memorial Day crowd would liven things up with a few new drops.

But the crowd never materialized. Saturday there was a fair crowd, about like we had here on Easter weekend. Sunday was sparce, and Memorial day was "shocking". I didn't say that, another metal detectorist said that.

In fact I was so disgusted after yesterdays thirty cents that I told myself I was not going out until we got some wind.

But I found myself grumbling and had too much energy not to detect, so out the door I went.

I hit a stretch of beach that used to be very good. It is now so sanded in that the pier only has six pilings still in the water at the end. 90% of the pier is out of the water. Shocking.

Definitely no people at MB. You look up at these 100 room motels and see one or two rooms where the door is open or there is towels on the rail.

I got over a dollar today. Three quarters. Man, I was lucky to break a dollar. $1.34

Here is the mess. Better get Maaco! Got two 50 Caliber bullets and two sharks teeth. The one sharks tooth is quite large but really beat up.

On this section of beach there was only one motel that had a small crowd in front of it. I decided that it probably had a good crowd over the Memorial Day weekend and felt like it was the only chance to find that needle in a haystack.

I beat up the area in front of this motel for at least two hours and finally this ring popped out.

My first gold ring in almost a month. And I detect almost everyday. It was the 27th of April when I found my last gold ring. Three and a half hours total time today.

The renourishment has really killed MB. And now the economy is really hurting this city. I might get a four wheel drive and give Ghost Town Tours.

Maybe Ring Daddy #6

2009-04-27T16:41:00.000-07:00

Do you ever wake up and the birds are singing and the air is just the right temperature and you just feel like you could conquer the world?

Today started off that way.

Went to the bank with my coffee container of pennies to put in the money machine. As the machine got going it seemed to be running awfully slow. I hear some hits down in the reject pocket. A couple of quarters. Huh?? I hear some more hits and more quarters and dimes. I start dreaming of filling my pockets with quarters and dimes until my pants fall off. It finally quit but I ended up with almost five dollars in freebie money. That is better than the best day I've had this year on the beach as far as change.

When I get to the beach I see Dick down the way. I hurry down that way and we talk about how bad conditions are.

I told him I would go back the other way, to a part of the beach that has been renourished. I am kind of discouraged. I'd not gotten one piece of gold off the renourished beach. Not one.

As I swing down I get a couple of junk rings. When I get near where I am going there is a little hole and I wade in. Bingo...maybe Ring Daddy #6. Then a ways further and I pick up the fossil watch still ticking. It looks fogged though??

Here is the mess for the afternoon. The watch looks pretty nice, I should have taken a better picture.

And here is "maybe" Ring Daddy #6. No markings but it feels the right weight. I will get it checked out tomorrow.

All in all, a beautiful day! Have a good one!!

A little more gold today...

2009-04-24T13:43:00.000-07:00

Finally it is starting to warm up!! Dadgum longest winter I can remember! 6 months of winter is way, way too long!! And everybody on earth knows about the fire in MB. I'm Fine!! Now leave me alone!!

Was out in the sun and water for about 3.5 hours. The water is still cold enough that it takes your breath away when it hits you above the waist. But some folks are finally getting in. Pretty good crowd on the beach today. Supposed to be a super weekend.

Found one area with some signals and got everything there.

Started throwing my coins in the tumbler and then remembered that I had found this chain. Sure didn't look like gold...but it had the right feel as far as weight.

Went and used the toothbrush and toothpaste on a section of it and it cleaned up nice. You can see the clean part to the left of the scale. 7.4 grams The end link says 14K, Italy.

Almost got a gold ring today. Three guys were throwing a football and actin a fool. One makes a crazy dive for the ball and hits the sand. A couple of seconds later they asked me to help them find the guys wedding band. Started gridding where I saw him hit and wasn't coming up with it. Then one of the guys spotted it off to the side. It got flung quite a ways from where he hit. I was glad to see him get it back.

That diamond ring Dan SJ found is magnificent. Someday....someday....

Ring Daddy #5 and a little bonus...

2009-04-18T10:59:00.000-07:00

Went to Banner Elk, NC. yesterday. Six and a half hour drive from MB. Total of 13 hours driving yesterday. I was whipped!

Checked the tide time this morning and out the door I went. Cold! Not cool. Cold. This seems like the longest winter ever!!

Wore my swim trunks so I could get in the water and my sweatshirt. At first I was too cold. But the sun popped up and soon I was just right.

Found a little runnel with some small holes. Waded in and found a few targets...only a few. Moved down the beach staying in the water and finally got a mid-tone.

Ring Daddy #5 for the year.

The next signal was the silver ring and on the way back up the runnel I got the bonus, 14K ear ring. 1.2 grams.

Ended up getting way too hot. Amazing how you can freeze to death and a few hours later, roast.

The water is starting to warm up. Six more weeks and even Mom and Dad will be in the water.

All in all a very good morning.

Ring Daddy #4...I'm not getting rich....

2009-04-14T16:50:00.001-07:00

Well, I hit a renourished section of the beach early this morning and got maybe a dollar, no jewelry. This afternoon I opted for part of the beach where I got my last gold ring a couple days ago.

The little hole was still there but it looked shallower. I got one quarter and switched over to all metal to see if I could pick up something. And I did. Lots of crap!! Bobby pins, pieces of itty bitty wire, paper clips and a bunch of black metal chunks and finally one silver ring.

I moseyed on down the beach to another low spot and started digging more junk and the little gold ring popped out. 10K .8 grams

Then I got one of those largish signals. You always wonder if you should just let it go...but I am hard headed and start digging. I was starting to go in the hole when the walkie talkie showed up. It must belong to a life guard....I wouldn't think it would be the MB police. Oh yeah, 61 cents.

Would there be a chance that the walkie talkie would be worth returning? Here is the other side.

I didn't believe it....

2009-04-12T17:32:00.000-07:00

Bleak...Detecting has been very bleak at MB since they renourished. It has been so bleak that when I dug up a gold ring today I didn't believe it was real.

I had been digging mountains of pull tabs and when the ring showed up I hefted it and said to myself that it seemed too light. I thought it was titanium and stuck it in the pocket with the other junk ring.

When I finally used the magnifying glass and read 14K I was kind of shocked. When I put it on the scale I was more shocked. 7.1 grams. My biggest ring of 2009.

The sharks teeth and fossils are from this mornings walk on the beach.

You can't always get what you want...and sometimes that's OK.

2009-03-15T00:08:00.000-07:00

This treasure hunt started last fall. I had posted some of the sharks teeth that I find at Myrtle Beach along with some of my metal detecting finds on the Treasure Depot. In response to this I received an email from Kirk in Hampstead asking if I would be interested in hunting the Aurora mine in North Carolina for fossils.

I jumped at the chance. The Aurora mine is known for giving up some outstanding megalodon teeth. If you are unfamiliar with the hugest shark that ever lived do a google search and also http://www.fossilguy.com/trips/aurora_feb2009/aurora_feb2009.htm

But sometimes things don't work out. The open pit mine filled with water and we were not able to hunt last fall. Kirk let me know that he would contact me in 2009 when we could go.

A few weeks ago Kirk again emailed me and said he had three openings for March 14th. I asked Diana if she wanted to go and she said yes but I could tell she was a bit apprehensive.

So we were set for the 14th of March.

Now I should have mentioned that I had never met Kirk, he was just one of the guys that posted from time to time on http://www.thetreasuredepot.com/. But there is a comraderie amongst treasure hunters and the treasure detecting forums are a place where we share our stories and finds and lives. It is more than treasure, it is people. Over the years I have had the pleasure of meeting quite a few treasure hunters from the metal detecting forums. What a great bunch of folks!! And what a great bunch of stories I have heard.

As the 14th approached Kirk let me know what Diana and I would need to bring and what we could expect. I was stoked! Visions of 7" long megalodon teeth sticking out of the soil continually bounced around in my head.

But I was getting strange vibes from Diana about the trip. Finally she said she wasn't all that keen about going deep into a mine with the bats and spiders and faulty flashlights and eternal darkness. I almost laughed out loud...but I knew better. Somehow I had forgotten to mention that it was an open pit mine. After we visited the fossilguy website she felt a lot better. Just for the record I'm not too keen on the eternal darkness thing either.

The plan was to drive two hours to Hampstead, meet Kirk, and then drive two more hours to be at the mine by 7:30 in the morning. I did some sharp mental calculations that went something like; drive four hours in the dark, hunt six hours and then drive four hours home. Something about this 14 hour day thing bothered me. I'm not very good at 14 hour days.

On Friday, the 13th, I decided it would be much better to drive to New Bern, NC, get a motel and then only have 40 minutes to drive to the mine. I let Kirk know and he agreed that would probably be better.

I tried to find a motel online in New Bern but was not impressed so I thought we would wing it.

When we got to New Bern, Diana and I found a motel, not so reasonably priced called the Days Motel. It seemed nice enough.

When we got to the room I noticed little things, like the small burn hole in the bed sheet and a cigarette burn in the carpet. Some of the light bulbs were missing from the fixtures.

We asked for a wakeup call at 5:30. They had continental breakfast at 6:00. We would have plenty of time to get to the mine by 7:30.

I set the alarm in the room just in case.

Just as I turned out the light I noticed cobwebs in the corners of the room. I slept for a few minutes and then I heard a car on the street below; boom, boompa, boom, boom, boompa, boom. Think Rap. Then I heard something that was between a squeak and a squeal. At first, it sounded like far away cats mating. The sound would stop and then return every few minutes. What the heck was that! Boom, boompa, boom, boom, boompa, boom. Police sirens. Squeeek. Boom, boompa, boom. I stared at the alarm clock's irredescent numbers. The hours dragged by. Boom, boompa, boom. Squeeek.

At 2:00 I got up and read my book for a while. At 3:00 the noise seemed to increase. I wasn't sure how that was possible but I speculated the bars closed at 2:00.

At last it was 5:15 and I got up, not quite refreshed. I think I felt better after running into that deer on my bicycle. That's another story.

We went down to get the continental breakfast. We were the only ones looking for breakfast. They had not turned on the lights in the dining room. The bagels looked old. I opted for one of those little boxes of cereal. The coffee was strong...probably several days older than the bagels.

When we got back to the room the TV was on. We had not turned it on. Hmmmm???

We packed up and checked out. When I went to check out there was a $4 charge for the room safe and about $12 in taxes added to the bill. "What the ....was this?!" The manager took off the room safe charge. It took for ever to print out the receipt.

We were now running a bit behind schedule. I reviewed the map for ten seconds and hit the road.

Kirk had told us that the mine bus left at 7:30 and if we missed it we'd be out of luck.

"Slow down!" said Diana.

I slowed to 65. I tried to call Kirk on the cell phone. No Service.

I needed to turn on road 33. I pulled into a little convenience place and asked where 33 was. "It's right at the end of the building." There was no sign. If I wouldn't have stopped and asked we would have been somewhere north of Virginia by now.

I tried the cell phone again. No service.

"Oh, look at the deer," said Diana as she pointed into the darkness.

After I tried the cell phone three or four more times I got a signal.

I asked Kirk about where I needed to turn in Aurora.

He said, "You need to turn left at the Wayside cafe..." The phone went dead.

Diana spotted the Wayside cafe and we made the turn. The sky was beginning to lighten.

At 7:20 we pulled into the parking lot. We got out and met Kirk.

Kirk looked worried. "There's hardly anybody here. I wonder if they cancelled for some reason."

At 7:45 the lady that drives the mine bus shows up and tells us the ramp into the mine was under water on Thursday so they cancelled. They had sent everyone emails. Kirk and five or six others had not gotten the email.

This might have been a real bummer...but Kirk said that there were piles of material across the street from the Fossil Museum in Aurora. We headed into town to hunt the piles.

When we parked I was kind of disappointed. The piles looked a bit like a big sand box. Kirk let us know that he had found some nice teeth in the piles.

Diana and I watched as Kirk used a trowel to skim some sandy material back and forth. Soon he showed us a small tooth.

Diana and I started hunting. Soon we both had small teeth. Mine was microscopic. I didn't think sharks teeth could get that small. I put it in a plastic bag and had to look twice to see it in the bag.

We hunted till about 11:00 and Kirk took off towards Hampstead. He said he wanted to get home to metal detect the beach. Diana and I ate a PB and J sandwich and then visited the fossil museum. What a great little museum; full of fossils from the mine and indian artifacts from the area.

Diana and I went back out to the piles and hunted some more. I found some more sharks teeth and two vertebrae. There were some others hunting, some using screens to sift the material. I think that's cheating. I'll bring a sifting screen next time.

It was really nice to see parents with kids digging in the piles. What an education!! I think the parents enjoyed it just as much as the kids.

These are just the teeth, bone fragments and vertebrae that I found. I think the tooth below the two vertebrae may be a mesosaurus tooth, maybe not.

At about 1:00 we headed back to Myrtle Beach. What a fine adventure!! And it was great to meet Kirk. Thanks Kirk for everything!!

Someday...someday maybe I will find a megalodon tooth...but if I don't I will still have had the adventure and met a new friend.

Weird Day, Large Sand Flea and Ring Daddy #2

2009-03-07T18:20:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning I met the sunrise and got this picture.

This morning I headed for the beach with a sliver of hope. There was some wind yesterday so it brought my spirits up to about a two on a scale of ten.

The beach is terrribly, mega sanded in. Everyday I go out it looks like more sand has come in. And there are no holes in the surf.

I am over winter. Done with it. Don't care one twit about seeing anymore cold.

This morning was gorgeous; high fifties, maybe low sixties and sunny. Lots of people on the beach today. Many come down just for the weekend when it's nice weather.

After about a quarter mile of swinging I found my first target, a kids car...deep. Another half a mile of swinging and I finally get a signal. I didn't pay too much attention to the signal, just a mid-tone. I kick the sand around and spot this silver ring. No way! As I picked it up I knew from the heft, the weight, that it was gold. Two targets in 3/4 of a mile and one is a gold ring. Go figure! Well there were a few coins and I ended up with 17 cents, seven pennies and one dime. I only got one pulltab today. Amazing!! I have been averaging way over twenty pulltabs everytime I go out.

While digging one of the holes a sand flea rolled out of the sand. This had to be the largest sand flea I have ever seen. A monster sand flea. Probably works out and uses steroids. An inch and a half long. He looked disoriented so I picked him up and put him back in the hole and put the sand back on him. It must be hell to live under the sand all your life. I wonder how the economy is down there.

Gold Ring #1 on a cold, cold day

2009-03-02T18:46:00.000-08:00

I don't know if the temperature got to 40 today. It's been a few days since I went detecting. The beach is still terribly sanded in. I've been very discouraged every time I go out. Pennies and pulltabs are what I normally bring back. It has been at least a month since I found more than one dollar in change.

Even today it took a long walk before I got into an area with a few targets. Found at least 35 pulltabs today. Also, 59 cents and finally my first gold ring of the year. I wonder how many hours of detecting it has been since I found my last ring on Dec. 26th. Way over one hundred.

Also found a rare blue pulltab and a sharks tooth. I might put the blue pulltab on Ebay.

How do you like my three pieces of paper light box?

Definitely not very big. Will not even go to the first joint on my pinkie. 1.9 grams There are 3 itty bitty diamonds on each side of the star diamond.

Man, we need some wind. I hope this is not how the whole year goes. Diana tells me to be grateful, so I'll shut up now.

Lots of First Today...First Gold of the Year

2009-02-08T13:27:00.000-08:00

I have been more than discouraged with the conditions lately. I decided to detect yesterday and when I turned on the detector it was doing the Minelab "I'm dying" moan. Ran into Rick and he was hunting dry sand with his new Sov. He and I both commented on the new 5' deep sand covering everything. Said that there was a little trough on the other side of the pier that he and Charlie had been beating up.

I have gained too much winter weight and so yesterday I went for a walk to the beach and then ran up four flights of steps at one of the motels.

This morning I grabbed the camera and headed for the beach to celebrate the sunrise. After a few pictures the camera quit because of a low battery. Oh well, at least I got my walk.

At eleven today I stood on the beach and cussed the sand. Dadgum. The last gold I found was Dec. 26th. I went through this last year. I did not find one gold item until April.

I began swinging without enthusiam. I picked up a quarter and a penny, both shiny, near the low tide line.

Finally I got to the small trough that Rick had told me about. There were quite a few holes with water. I walked up the beach and took my shoes and socks off and rolled up my pants. Sure, I looked dorky. Not only that, I had my shovel instead of my scoop. You ever try to push on a shovel with bare feet. Duh!! So, I am a dorky mental midget.

I picked up a few coins and then a junk ring. At least I was getting a few targets. Then I got a very small washer, one of those that give a pretty decent sound. Then within 6" I get another target with almost exactly the same sound. I expected another washer. I pulled the shovel out and the target was still in the hole. I set the shovel and moved it. Gold, I see gold. I reached down and tugged. I am pulling and pulling and pulling. I hurry the chain into my pouch.

18K!!

Later Rick came by and I showed him the chain. I told him I thought it was 30 maybe 40 grams. I was wrong. Cha ching!!!!

68 Degrees today. I can feel the heat in my skin. As I was trudging across the dry sand a dark colored butterfly swooped by. The first butterfly of the year.

Diana and I are going to Huddle House or Waffle House to celebrate. See ya there.

Sunrise Pics and Man vs The Sea

2009-01-31T17:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning I hurried to the beach in hopes of some good sunrise pictures and never snapped a shot. It was heavily clouded and the sun rose somewhere out there beyond the veil of gray. The MB maintenance folks showed up with a huge dozer and began digging a channel from Withers Swash out to the ocean. They wanted to divert it from taking the sand out from in front of the motels. I watched for half an hour while the dozer tried to reroute the stream.

This morning I jumped on the bicycle to capture the elusive sunrise. I was not disappointed.

This morning I was surprised. Two low tides and the channel that the city of Myrtle Beach had dug was gone. Yep, filled in. Did we just pay to have someone dig this channel yesterday? We sure did! Is all the work gone? Well, if you look at the next pic you can barely see where the channel was.

You can see that the water totally ignored the wishes of Myrtle Beach. Amazing how we think we can rule the sand and the sea. Here is the water back in the original trough as it esses out to the sea.

Now, if only we would get a real storm, a noreaster. So far we have not had any wind this winter. None. All it has done is sand in the beach and the surf area.

At least it has given me some time to write on my surf book.

A lover of the morning........

2009-01-19T09:27:00.001-08:00

I am a lover of the morning and the sea
When all else is awry
This is where I want to be

The day unfolds

And turns to gold

Ice Skating at MB....

2009-01-17T12:14:00.000-08:00

It was 18 degrees this morning in Myrtle Beach. I think last year we had one morning of 19. I spent most of the day trying to make words appear on my screen as I worked on my surf book. This afternoon I took my bicycle and rode down to check for mail at the Post Office. As I came back into the campground I noticed a skater on the waterway.

The heron was stepping gently, he seemed uneasy on the ice. Long ago in a land far, far away when I was very young we would ice skate on Lollypop Pond in Denver, Colorado. Often you could see through the new ice, a window into the waters below, and see fish. The heron looked as though he too could see the fish but was puzzled by not being able to get at them.

So what does this have to do with hunting the surf? Everything. The heron is the hunter and today the dynamics of his world changed. Where everyday he snatched small fish from the waters he will have to hunt elsewhere or wait until the ice melts.

The heron and I, we are hunters.

Myrtle Beach has changed dramatically in the past year. The renourishment has put six feet of new sand on the beach and mother nature has added some more lately. The beach is beyond sanded in. I too am faced with questions much like the heron. Where can I hunt to find the gold? Myrtle Beach is dead as far as detecting goes.

Why do I linger here. I should move...move to where the beaches are white and the breezes are warm. And I may.

Today the heron seems to be enjoying the different world and in a day or two the ice will be gone, the waterway will be a place for him to hunt.

We are hunters.

What is a billion?......

2009-01-12T03:06:00.000-08:00

My friend, Phil Alexander, sent me an email about what is a billion.

A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.

I was not impressed. Here is my list.

There are billions of misquitos in Florida.
I have dug a billion holes in the sand of Myrtle Beach.
I have swung my coil back and forth many billions of times.
I have dug up a billion pulltabs.
I have dug up a billion eaten up zinc pennies. Some from the Jurassic period.
I have answered the question, "What's the best thing you've ever found?" a billion times.
I have been stung by jelly fish many times...maybe not a billion.
I've peed in my wetsuit a billion times.
I've had kids pester the hell out of me a billion times.
I've said WTF a billion times
I've gone to the beach with high hopes of finding a gold ring a billion times.
I've come back from the beach without finding a gold ring a billion times.
The humdity in the summer is a billion percent.
The wind chill factor on the beach in the winter brings the temperature to minus one billion.
The chances of me making any money are one in a billion.
My wetsuit has been put on the Superfund list.
There are a billion crotch rockets in MB during Black Bike Week.
MB paid 40 million dollars to renourish the beach. This put billions of cubic feet of sand over everything I want to find.
There are a billion Bounty Hunter metal detectors sold in MB during the summer.
The chances of me having a car that has a headliner that hasn't fallen down is one in a billion.
What are the chances of having air conditioning that works in my car? You tell me.

Nope, a billion doesn't impress me. Foiled Again Jim

Hope.....

2009-01-09T02:49:00.000-08:00

My last gold ring was found the day after Christmas, two full weeks ago. That seems like years ago. I have hunted the beach and surf almost everyday since then.
The beach is quiet, it is the seagulls and I. These are wintering seagulls. They gather here and there in large flocks. Sometimes as I approach they will grudgingly take flight and then circle and land behind my path. I look back and see the shovel or scoop line in the sand wandering aimlessly, checking out anything that might have even a remote possibility of harboring a coin. There are no dug holes behind me. It has been this way for the past two weeks.
I wish I would see the seagulls with the fancy hairdos, all slicked back, the 50's look. I have not seen them all winter. Where are "The Fonz" seagulls?
The beach is flat, a desert of sand. It was this way last winter for three months. I don't know if I can stand three months of swinging the detector without a gold ring. Sometimes I cuss. I start to dig iffy signals, the burps, which I know are bottlecaps. I think about getting out my PI detector and digging bottlecaps, hairpins and paperclips...and then I know it will stay in the closet.
Florida comes to my mind. But I hate to travel to hunt. It is the expense and knowing that I am burning fossil fuel to get there and back. Damn the oil, the dirty oil. Someday we will learn to do the right thing. I have hope.
I read about windfarms on the internet and I wonder if I will ever see it. I have seen the wind turbines in Colorado, blades spinning out across the prairie and I have hope.
Standing on the end of the pier will make you dream of wind farms. Endless wind. I have hope.
Lately I have dreamed of wind, hoped for wind; lots of wind to change the beach.
And the wind came two days ago, out of the south. A muscular wind, thirty miles per hour, perhaps more. All day it blew and into yesterday.
There is a wooden box nailed to one of the pilings on the pier. I use it to gauge how much sand is on the beach. There were six more inches of box showing yesterday.
I think the box is part of a project to monitor the amount of oxygen in the water. I talked with a guy a couple of years ago that was working on this. He was very concerned. The oxygen levels are not good.
I saw a couple of holes in the surf yesterday. The waves were far too big to work them.
But today the wind is soft out of the NW. I should be able to explore the holes with my detector. I have hope.
Someday I will look far out to sea and catch glints of sun bouncing off windmills and I will get in my electric car and feel good about driving someplace. Someday I will get a check in the mail from the electric company because I invested in a windy dream.
Today my goal is much smaller, much more achievable. I will enjoy the beach, the sun and if I am lucky....I guess I am already lucky.
A thought was emailed to me yesterday.

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...
It's about learning to dance in the rain.

Where are "The Fonz" seagulls?

Gold...but not for me...

2009-01-02T03:27:00.000-08:00

Happy New Years!!! I know, I am a day late. Yesterday Jason from Tenn. and David from MB and I plundered the beach. Well, not exactly plundered. The beach is far too sanded in for any real plundering.

Jason had a new monster coil, 15" x 18" I believe, on an E track. I was impressed on how light it was.

David had his Garrett Mark II.

And I was armed with my Excaliber and wetsuit. I had seen a couple of potential holes in the surf on the last day of the year and cussed because I was not in my wetsuit.

I jumped in the first hole and got one can. Ran into Rick and we discussed how badly the beach was sanded in.

So there were four of us, a small army, plundering, swinging on a cool sunny day, the first day of the year.

I picked up a couple of pennies and some pulltabs on the beach before I got to the next hole. That hole was not deep enough and I ended up with a can bottom and one pulltab from the surf.

When I got out of the water David was showing a nice little gold chain. He put it on the sand and neither Jason or I could get a beep. Jason made some adjustments and got the smallest of signals. David let me use his Garratt and I could get a signal at 2 or 3" above the chain.

So the Minelabs lose to the Garrett. Hmmm.

Halfway back to the car I had a thought. I yelled over at David, "When I used my PI I would have to dig bottlecaps at 20". Do you have to dig bottlecaps with that thing?"

David smiled, "Yep."

So, I lost to David's PI. And I also lost to Jason and his monster coil. I don't know how Rick ended up doing.

The next time you think your detector is better than someone else's and have that smug superior feeling, get ready to get beat. Congratulations David on a fine find!!! I know I would have never found it.

David is putting together the 2009 Treasure Expo here in MB. Check it out at www.treasureexpo.com

Ring Daddy #117.....

2008-12-26T15:44:00.000-08:00

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.....

2008-12-25T14:20:00.000-08:00

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......

2008-12-14T16:32:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-13T13:21:00.000-08:00

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.......

2008-12-12T13:27:00.000-08:00

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.....

2008-12-11T11:06:00.000-08:00

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...

2008-12-10T12:57:00.000-08:00

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....

2008-12-05T12:01:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-04T06:03:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-02T06:44:00.000-08:00

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....

2008-11-28T13:49:00.000-08:00

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!!!!

2008-11-25T12:12:00.000-08:00

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!!

2008-11-23T13:33:00.000-08:00

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!!!!

2008-11-19T07:18:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2008-11-16T14:46:00.000-08:00

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!!

2008-11-15T14:46:00.000-08:00

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.....

2008-11-14T16:32:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-11T14:45:00.000-08:00

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??

Ring Daddy #101 and 102.....

2008-11-10T11:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Diana's birthday so I didn't detect. Instead she and I went fishing on Apache Pier, the longest pier on the East Coast. This was Diana's first time fishing. Well, we found a good spot and set up and watched as several fishermen landed spots; a fiesty little fish that taste great. I managed to catch three before Diana got one. She was smiling from ear to ear. Then a bit later she got two spots at once. "I can't believe it, two friggin fish at the same time!" Ever fisherman within ear shot was laughing. We had a super time and ended up with 14 spots in about four hours. I can see where I will have to buy her a fishing rod and tackle box.

This morning I was back in the detecting mode. This time of year I start to feel like I live in a wetsuit. I headed back to the spot where I got #100 and the hole was still there. The waves were about the same as the last two times out but there was more current this morning. This hole is maybe, 30 yards by 30 yards. I just kept hammering it and got this nice tri-colored gold ring. It is not marked and is definitely a unique design. Maybe a custom made ring.

Half an hour later I got a nice soft signal.

Here is the mess. I picked up a couple of conch shells and a sea biscuit...I think that is what you call them. $2.83 in change.

What a beautiful morning!! Not a cloud in the sky. An orange butterfly flew by me quite a ways from shore. Why would a butterfly fly out over the ocean?? I guess for the same reason a man would wear a wetsuit and wade in the ocean. Just because.

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

2008-11-08T07:46:00.000-08:00

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."

Ring Daddy #99 and I need a ladder......

2008-11-07T07:56:00.000-08:00

Well, today was one of those jerk Jim around days. I got up early and wrote on my Surf Hunting book and it went well. I thought of all the thousands of readers who will buy my book and was in a pretty good mood. After I got my wetsuit on I could not find my car keys. After twenty minutes of looking and knowing that each minute was cutting into my detecting time I found my spare key and took off. I knew there was going to be a problem when I got there, the spare key will not open the hatch on the back of the VW. I somehow wiggled my Sunspot scoop out of the back and over the back seat. At last I was off and running. The beach looked strangely different this morning...steep. I could not tell if it brought more sand in or took some out but it was very different from a few days ago. I waded in and found the deepest part of the hole, about chest deep and got a few targets. That was encouraging, last time I got nothing in this area. I waded south hoping to find a little deeper hole. God smiled at the request. Suddenly I was chin deep and there were targets everywhere. But I did not have my weight belt. It is behind the back seat. With a shorty and a farmer john wetsuit on I was too buoyant. Buoyant Boy. I would wait to place my scoop between waves and try to push it in the sand and shells. Then I would float off the scoop with the next wave. Almost all the targets were one scoopers but just getting the one scoop was a challenge. Silver rings started to show up. Then a junker ring. So four rings and no gold. I had a couple of nice sounding signals but I could not push the scoop deep enough to retrieve them. As the tide started to come in I was standing on the scoop to keep my head above the waves. If my scoop handle was longer and I had some rungs nailed on it I could work even deeper water.

Where is the police department to tell me to get the heck out of the water?!

Finally I headed for shallower water and had pretty much given it up for the day. As I got to the steep beach I got a foil sound...and it was a really nice piece of foil. I swung a couple of times and got another foil sound, a twin of the first one. I dug it, knowing it was foil, but also knowing that foil sounds can be gold rings. Suddenly it was Christmas. That's what I was looking for.

$3.23 in change. If I would have had my weight belt I could have gotten quite a few more targets or drown.

The five little pieces of metal behind the gold ring was a junk ring before I washed it. So, three silver rings, one junker and one gold. Not bad. I just wonder where the heck my keys are.

It shouldn't be too hard to screw some rungs onto my scoop handle.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.....Ring Daddy #98

2008-10-29T14:33:00.000-07:00

Wow, the beach is really a mess. I opted for the surf but the hole I was in yesterday was taken by a surf fisherman. I don't think he would like me wading through his hole. Met a couple of detectorists from Lincolnton, NC. Had a great chat. They found very little on the beach.

I jumped in the water and promptly found very little.

Finally packed it in and moved north. The spot that I had last found some targets in the area was also taken by a surf fisherman. Waded around and found very few targets for about and hour and a half. I just can't seem to find a hole to work.

Oh well, some days are like that. I waded in to shore, started out of the water and got a signal. Out pops this gold ring. Unreal!!! I swung the beach all the way back to the car, about three quarters of a mile and only got one pulltab. Explain how you can swing for three quarters of a mile and get one pulltab and one gold ring. It doesn't make any sense. None.

Total of two quarters and one dime in four hours. Also found a 12 mm socket.

Here is the ring. Pretty lightweight. 3.6 grams

And here is the reason it is so light.

Ring Daddy #97.....it was cold out there!!

2008-10-18T16:59:00.000-07:00

Dadgum, it was cold today. That blast of arctic air really hit home. Mid to upper 50s today. I wore my shorty and wish I had wore my farmer john with it.

Headed north and tried the spot I got the ring yesterday. It was more sanded in. Ran into Phil and Walter. Phil was swinging the beach and will go home tomorrow. Walter was in the water when I got to the beach. He is from New York and will leave tomorrow also.

I told Walter I was moving further north. He decided to move also. When you do this you always wonder if you have made the right decision.

At the new spot we both waded around until we started getting some targets. He found a spot and was a digging machine. I waded north and finally picked up a few quarters. Then a cell phone. Then a deeeep sinker. The waves are starting to get big. Sunset was at 6:37 and I was starting to get chilled. What the heck...a big ol ring. Tungsten Carbide. The very next signal I pull out the gold wedding band. 10K.

I trudge down the beach and Walter is still in the water. Walter picked up a silver ring and was happy.

Normally I show all the junk but it is dark out and I like natural lighting for the photo.

Here is the two rings.

And here is the one that I was looking for. I went to Taco Bell to celebrate. Eeehaa!!!

Ring Daddy #96 and tumbling rings...

2008-10-17T16:07:00.000-07:00

Another day in the low 80s. Still decided against the wetsuit today. I ended up a bit cold late in the day. It will be wetsuit weather this weekend as we get into the 40's at night. I started on the south end and quickly moved north. Not a really great hole but at least a hole.

Quite a few green coins and finally that soft low sound we want to hear.

Here is the prize!!

OK, I am lazy when it comes to cleaning my silver rings. Real lazy. I usually just throw them in the box and then eventually send them off to the refinery.

Yesterday I found three silver rings...two that were large.

This morning I was tumbling some silver clad coins and thought "what the heck". I threw both black rings in with the coins. I covered the coins and in this case the rings with water and added a dollop of ammonia. Two hours of tumbling and voila!!!

The end is near.....

2008-10-14T19:03:00.000-07:00

Today they started the dredge and began putting the new black sand onto the beach. Always in the background you could hear the heavy equipment. The ocean is a filthy dirt dark gray. Visibility is one, maybe two inches. Thousands of underwater worms (at first I thought they might be octopi arms) were thrown onto the beach.

Sunshine and 80's. I got too hot in my wetsuit. The new moon tide and no wind made it almost a pleasure to be in a moderately calm ocean.

I was in the water before twelve and stayed until a little after four. At first I was not in the right area but when I did get situated there were lots of targets. 61 coins. $9.93 in change.

Phil from Conn. is down this week and I could see him water hunting in the next hole down the beach.

I cannot for the life of me, find a gold ring. I did get a gold chain, for which I am grateful.

The gold chain had a nice soft sound. I kind of go on alert when I get this type of sound. 10K, 15.1 grams.

Phil found a nice gold wedding band.

It is going to be very interesting to see how the new sand affects the water hunting. Will the sandbar move out further? All kinds of possibilities come to mind. Who knows??

Holy Crapanium!!! And the Scoop Thief!!

2008-10-10T16:27:00.000-07:00

Dadgum!! The last gold ring I found was twelve days ago. That is at least forty hours of detecting since the last gold ring. Yesterday I got three junk rings and today I got two silver and another crapanium class ring. That is the third crapanium class ring in the last two or three weeks.

Yesterdays finds.

Todays finds

Holy Crapanium!!! I am starting to hate class rings!!!!

At least I've had a couple of holes to work the last few days. But the conditions have been miserable. Huge waves and lots of current. Today I stepped down into a spot with heavy current and it yanked my sunspot scoop out of my hand. I thought...no problem. The wood handle will stand up and I will just grab it. Then I saw the scoop for a second and it was ten feet down the current and then a wave covered it. I raced down current, realizing that it might not stop until it got to the middle of the Atlantic. The handle showed again and I stepped on the scoop. I was lucky I didn't cut myself. I retrieved it at least twenty feet from where the current thief tried to rob me.

The water has cooled and now I am in my wetsuit everyday. There are a few people in the water, very few. At least the jellyfish have seemed to disappeared. Thank Goodness!!

At least I had a chance....

2008-10-07T09:54:00.000-07:00

This mornings low tide came early and the sunrise keeps coming later. I put on my wetsuit, the first time this fall. I'm out early to see the gloaming, the loss of the night and the beginning of the day. Yesterday as I walked I saw some holes in the surf. And yet, when I see these I question whether they are deep enough to have targets.
I waded into the first one, nothing. The second one, nothing. The third one, nothing. Should I just go to the house? The fourth one looked bigger, perhaps deeper. The wind was coming out of the NE at a good clip, pushing some fair size waves over the sandbar. I wade out further and finally a target. A very silvery junk ring with a touch of rust. Oh well, at least it is a target. Then a few coins. Then a few more. Then I wade into the chest deep, raging current and there are more targets...but I can't stay put and the scoop will not cooperate. The waves are pummeling me, the current pushing with the force of a locomotive. After fifteen frustrating minutes in the washing machine of the Atlantic I move to calmer water...and less targets. I spot another hole and give it a shot. A few more targets.
At last the majority of the waves are going over me. People stop and stare. I call it.
Two junk rings and a junk (Mexican) necklace. As I detect down the beach I find a fossilized horse tooth. These are from the Fossilized Horse Tooth Era. At least I had a few targets this morning. I had a chance at a gold ring...and that's all I really want. Just a chance.

The big rusty blob in the upper left looks like a battery..but it seems too big. I don't think I will hit it with my hammer to break the stuff off. It might be something left over from WWII and if I smack it, it might end up disturbing the campers in the KOA campground.

The beach is deader that four hells...

2008-10-05T17:49:00.000-07:00

The beach is sanded in. I found eleven cents in an hour and a half today. MB is massively sanded in. Nature brought in the sand on the winds of Hanna. And now the wait begins. Will any erosion take place before the forty million dollars worth of sand is added to the sanded in beach? For those of you who have never seen how they put sand on the beach it is quite a trick. They set up a dredge out in the ocean over a sand deposit, suck it up and send it through a tube to the beach. Then it gets spread around.
This is the end of the tube on the beach.

Here is a better view of the end of the tube and the dredging platform in the background. The guy standing on the tube is throwing a cast net for bait fish.

And lastly, here is a better pic of the dredging platform.
I should be really upset at this turn of events but since the beach is already sanded in, it really doesn't matter. This may actually change where the sandbar is located and maybe open up some water detecting that is normally under the sandbar.
Isn't hope wonderful? You go out the door with high, up in the sky hopes, and then reality pulls you down with an eleven cent day.
I think I am taking tomorrow off. I may do some writing and walk the beach and pick up some sharks teeth. I will laugh at the folly of it all and enjoy the crispness of the morning and the gentle north breeze in the afternoon. I will watch the sandfleas burrow in the sand, their little butts just visible as they disappear into the sand. I hope to see the pelicans soaring in the waves. And maybe I will just walk to be walking. A day without purpose...that's my goal.

2008-09-30T14:48:00.000-07:00

September has not been kind. This month has been dismal as far as gold and I blame Hanna. She came in here and brought huge amounts of sand to Myrtle Beach. The low we had about a week ago took some sand away but only a small portion of what Hanna brought in. So dismal it is.

Targets are so rare they scare you. Two days ago I ran onto a coin spot beneath one of the piers. That's where I headed. As I came down the beach I found one small area with five targets. One was this crapanium United States Marine Ring. This is the second crapanium ring in the last week. I don't know how much more disappointment I can stand.

The pier did not disappoint me with the coins. 115 coins in three hours. One Sacagewa dollar coin and 61 pennies. $9.11. Pretty good coin total. No gold or jewelry.

Once I got five feet away from the pier I found nothing. All the coins were directly under the pier. Some were laying on top of the sand.

I hate you September. I am glad you are gone.

"Hey, babycakes, you sure are looking fine. What's that? Your name is October. That's a pretty name."

2008-09-29T15:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I ran into a coin bonanza under one of the piers. $6.33 in just a couple of hours. But coins are not gold rings...and I did not feel that I was going to get a gold ring under the pier today so....off I went to Peat Beach. With the intentions of surf hunting and digging the peat. But alas, when I got there the hole was gone. I waded around for a while. Watched a guy with an Excaliber digging targets on the beach so up to the beach I go. It took me forever to find my first target, a penny. Then it seemed excruciatingly slow. The third target this gold ring rolls out.

Ran into guy named Gurney and he was complaining about the lack of targets. We traded detector stories for about twenty minutes and I finally got back to swinging...but today I was lazy and ended up leaving the beach after three hours. Only thirty targets in three hours.

Myrtle Beach has not gotten uncovered from all the sand that Hanna brought us. And there is no wind in sight. Maybe I will be under the pier tomorrow.

Lots of pelicans around the last couple of days. I love these big birds. You don't realize how big they are until are wading around in the water and one zooms by ten feet from you. I love to watch them crash dive into the sea and come up with a fish. Amazing birds.

Ring Daddy #93 and sharing with the Pip....

2008-09-23T08:43:00.000-07:00

Last night was not good. Less than a dollar in change. This morning I decided to drive up to Peat Beach and meet the sunrise. As I got swinging down the beach a small sandpiper decided to become my companion. I would dig a hole for a target and when I was finished the Pip would run in and check out the filled in hole and the pushed around sand. I was uncovering quite a few sand fleas this morning and I suppose that is what he was after. This little Pip was brave, standing within five or six feet of me while I dug. If I remember correctly from Biology class this is what is called a symbiotic relationship. I do the work and the sandpiper gets the sand fleas. He followed me for quite some time. At one point, when it was a while between signals, he stood off and gave me a dirty look. I swear he did. Eventually he disappeared.

I went high on one of my grid lines and out popped a class ring. Alrighty!! I'm in the money, I'm in the money....

Of course, when I got it to the house and put it under the magnifying glass there was no marking and some rust on it.

Then I went low on one of my grid lines and picked up the small gold wedding band.

I ended up with $4.08 in change, one gold ring, a nice sharks tooth and my new friend, Pip.

Ring Daddy #90, 91 and 92....a Nice One!!

2008-09-21T07:21:00.000-07:00

Last night I headed north in my VW to hunt the beach with the peat bottom. I was not really looking forward to this but when nothing else is working you do what needs to be done. I hate driving to hunt. I love riding my bike but this was quite a few miles from the house. At least the parking is free now. It is cloudy and overcast and the waves are large. I switch on the Excaliber and swing down the beach for twenty feet and get a signal. A young man and three boys are watching me dig. I kick the sand around and this pops out.

The young guy sees it before I can grab it. I hurry away with my prize. One of the kids runs after me and ask if I found a gold ring. I lie to him and tell him no. I swing down the beach and some coins start to pop out. Hmmmm. This might be OK. I might not get in the water and dig peat. I start to grid the beach, concentrating on keeping my coil close to the sand. After about an hour and a half this little wedding band shows up. Excellent!!

After four hours I am hungry and tired and hungry. I celebrate at Taco Bell!! Eeeha Baby!!

Here is the mess. $4.10 in change. The night before I got less than a dollar.

3:57 A.M. I glance at the alarm clock. Time to get up and get it!! I brew coffee and then I am out the door. There is gold to find! I head for the same area as last night. I park in a different lot which puts me in a bit different spot on the beach. It is dark. Once again there are coins and pulltabs and I can almost see with the lights from the motels to find my targets. I just keep kicking the target around tell it is the only thing left. Tenth target and the pulltab does not come out with one scoop. I scoop again and then feel through the sand for....what's this?? The motel light gleams off the ring. I turn and wash it off in the waves. Hooweee Baby!!!

I put it down in my swimming shorts pocket. I keep checking to see if it is still there. I am nervous about losing it. What if I move the wrong way and it falls out of my pocket? What if it wears a hole in my pocket? What if....Shut Up and get back to digging!!

About an hour later I get a looow signal. Say low as low as you can. Yep, that's it and the gold colored ring next to the sparkler shows up. I am confident I have gold #2 for the morning. After four hours I have to go to the bathroom. Time to leave. I hurry to McDonalds. I sure am glad no one was in the stall. I would've had to pull them out of there.

Here is the mess for this morning.

Gold ring #2 is Stainless Steel. Sure sounded and looked good.

Pretty nice sharks tooth but it doesn't have a good gumline. You know where I will be this evening.

Ring Daddy #89 and Oh, for the love of peat....

2008-09-19T05:14:00.000-07:00

When I was growing up my dad would say things like, "Oh, for the love of peat" or "Oh, for peats sake". This was when he was frustrated with me or something. I never really understood it. What could it mean?

Thursday afternoon, Gene and I headed north to hunt an area that I rarely hunt because I don't like it. I think out of all the times I've hunted this stretch of beach I have found one gold ring. But I have not hunted it for a long time and I needed a break from the south end of MB.

Part of the incentive was driven by the phone call from Jim Paliani saying he had found a two tone gold ring and a big platinum ring in this area.

So off we go...I with low to no expectations.

The beach is massively sanded in just like the south end. I see a small depression in the surf, almost a hole, that curves out to sea, and wade in. Gene swings down the beach.

Within a minute I have my first signal. I set the scoop and push. It springs back. Huh? I push harder and make some headway. It seems spongy. What the heck is this? My monster Sunspot scoop makes a small hole in this stuff and I pull up a mass of black...gunk. I shake it but the mass sticks together. I pull the scoop from the water and almost pass out from the smell. Ugh!! It won't break apart. I take my right hand and break the mess apart while staying upwind. I shake it vigorously and the black debris turns the ocean black in front of me. I look around hoping no one is watching or smelling me. Of course there is always someone watching. I ignor the onlookers. Eventually I see a black coin in the bottom. Too weird.

I get more targets and each coin is as black as night. There are quite a few sinkers and I start to think that maybe this stinking black stuff is too compact for anything to sink through it. Maybe a gold ring would be in this mess.

I wondered if I could dig through this layer of peat (I think that is what this is...decaying matter) but never found a layer below.

This stuff is frustrating to dig and then when you get a chunk in your scoop you have to break it apart with your hands. Very time consuming.

I found myself saying, "Oh, for the love of peat!" and "Oh, for peats sake!"

Finally a small gold wedding band shows up in the black mess. So, yes, I guess this stuff is holding the gold up where a very determined individual with extreme patience, no sense of smell and a small stick of dynamite might retrieve some of it. Here is the mess...see the black coins.

Man, it was cold out there. The water was warm but the wind coming from the north chilled my top half when it was out of the water. I can't believe I am already thinking about my wetsuit. Here is the little wedding band.

Two gold rings and "No Swimming"...

2008-09-14T14:49:00.000-07:00

I've only gotten one gold ring in 17 days of hunting almost everyday and sometimes both low tides. Hanna added sand to the beach and surf here in MB, so I was not looking for anything from the beach today. Tried a different spot....just because. Right away I see a dark spot in the surf and wade in. There is some current running in the hole but there are a few targets. Finally I see gold in the scoop...a gold ear ring. Dadgum!!! Will I never find a gold ring??? About ten minutes later I see a gold ring trapped in the bottom of the scoop between the metal and the end of the wooden handle. My second gold ring of September. Well now I am feeling better.

Suddenly I see the lifeguard lady run down to the edge of the water and dropping her stuff. I look behind me and see a small boy floundering in the breakers. A nearby man with a body board went over and pulled him out of the rip current. I can see the boy is pretty exhausted. The lifeguard lady runs up and puts up two no swimming signs, defining the outer limits of the hole I am in. So out I come. I look down the beach a quarter mile and see another hole. This one is smaller but it gave me the big junk ring. Then a quarter mile further I get into a third hole and out pops the small wedding band.

Four and a half hours in the surf. $2.69 in change.

Sure glad to see a gold ring again!!

And another one finds its way into the scoop.

The gold for the day totaled 7.7 grams. A great day compared to what I have found lately.

I found the gold, I lost the gold, I found the gold, I lost the gold...

2008-09-08T16:25:00.001-07:00

What a morning!!! Did you hear me cursing at ten after nine this morning?? I was supposed to meet someone at 9:00. At 8:40, in naval deep surf I get a low signal. When I bring the scoop up I see a gold chain drop thru the scoop holes. I scooped and scooped and scooped. One of these times I saw the chain drop through again. I set my scoop aside and tried to dive blind for the chain. Twice I could feel it fall through my fingers. I thought about putting my cap in the scoop and trying to scoop the chain but the cap floated out of the scoop. After thirty minutes of extreme frustration I left the surf without the chain. I WILL put some mesh in the bottom of my scoop. I will not go through this agonizing, hateful loss of gold again!!!
Sometimes we have to get mad to get motivated.

Ring Daddy #86 and TS Hanna

2008-09-06T08:23:00.000-07:00

TS Hanna pummeled MB hard from 11:30 till about 12:30 making Diana's trailer roof rumble. And then it got quiet for twenty minutes and then a large gust rattled the roof but with a different rumble. Then it was intermittent gust rumblings. I could tell the wind was from a different direction. I slept fitfully and was glad when 5:30 came so I could get up. The rain and the wind was gone, the clouds sprinted across the late night time sky going north. At 6:15, in the predawn darkness, I left the car and headed thru the dunes to the beach. Something was wrong. I had to walk up hill through the opening in the dunes. The dunes were massively sanded in. I started chuckling as I got on the beach. There in the dark was one of the boxes used by the lifeguards and it was half buried in sand. The beach chairs were buried in sand. I switched on the Excaliber and wandered back and forth to the low tide line. Nothing. Not a peep. Hanna had done its damage...it had sanded in the beach, as sanded in as I have ever seen. Mountains of new sand. Hanna had accomplished in one night what the 40 million dollar renourishment program is taking months to do. What a hoot!! Now, I thought about all the excited detectorist hitting the beach with wild expectations of wheelbarrows of loot, only to find sand and more sand.

At 6:30 I eased into the surf. The sandbar was breaking the waves nicely and making it workable. My first target was a silver ring. Green coins started to find their way into my pouch. And finally I heard that nice wholesome, I am not a pulltab, sound. Out comes a class ring. My first gold ring in ten days of hunting the surf and beach.

The waves grew large and ran me out. I tried the upper beach but could only wrestle up a few coins.

Here is the 14K class ring. 9.1 grams. So Hanna gave me a hole in the surf and massively sanded in the beach. I know where I will be this evening.

Chalk up another storm that added sand rather than took it away.

Dejavu all over again....

2008-09-02T15:42:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago I lost a little gold chain that fell thru my scoop. Of course, I was digging a different target and it just happened to find its way into the scoop. That day I was in waist deep water with no visibility. Today, I was digging a normal sounding target when, once again, I see a gold chain drop through my scoop holes...but this time I was in calf deep water and could see the little bugger. Then I retreived the quarter that was the original target.

Life has been hard at MB lately. I cannot seem to find a hole in the surf....until today. Just after low tide I found a depression with some targets. Man, this makes it fun. Oh yeah, I found a piece of bone...a big piece of fossilized bone. Maybe whale. Also, I got a car and motorcycle to fill up my non existent garage.

The bracelet is surprisingly heavy for being so small, 4 grams 14K. The picture came out good. I wish I knew how I did that.

When I laid the bracelet on the sand and ran my Excaliber across it I only got a signal, a very low Barry White signal, when the coil was within a half an inch of the bracelet. It was pure luck that I retreived this bracelet.

Ring Daddy #82,83,84, and 85

2008-08-27T14:14:00.000-07:00

I hit the same spot I hit yesterday before I quit. I swear this is the only depression at MB. Gene ran all over and found one silver high school ring. But where I was, there were targets...not a huge number but enough to keep me interested. I got in the water and my detector started making occasional phitttt sounds. This had me really worried but not enough to mess with it. The beach crowd was pretty slim today. I think the MB numbers are way down from past years.

After an hour I get the big wedding band. Alright baby!!! It can only get better from here. Five minutes later I get a foil sound and was not disappointed...it was a very small gold ring. #2. Let's see if there is a number three in here. Two hours later I was still looking for #3, and I was tired and hungry and tired. I was just slogging along when I got a couple of targets and there was dark sand in my scoop. Good sign. The next target was one of those indescript sounds, neither high or low. Bam! #3 Not a great ring but it counts. Then three foot away I get almost the same sound. Bam again!! #4 This ring looks like it has alien eyes.

Here is the mess.

Here are the rings in the order that I found them. I also got a spinner ring.

Rings 84 and 85 are apparently a set...not a very good set but a set nonetheless. They don't fit together very well. Gene thought maybe I was missing a piece. Here they are together.

This was a great day, but I had to be exactly where I was or I would have ended up skunked.

One more photo.

No, one more. It is epoxy time again. I have worn the epoxy all off of one side of my coil. I've got a hell of a backswing.

Oh, when I do this usually I put tape around the outside edge of the coil to act as a dam and then fill it in with Marine Epoxy. Makes a little neater job.

Ring Daddy #81 and another day in the trenches

2008-08-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

Headed back to where David Toller and I hunted yesterday. Today it seemed more filled in and I only got one silver ring out of the area. After a couple of hours I see Gene coming down the beach. We talk and he indicates he is still digging coins on the same line we have dug coins for a week. Coins and coins and no gold. Somehow that week of NE wind lined all the coins up about mid beach. I told him I was headed for the South end. I hate moving in mid low tide but I didn't feel confident I was going to get anything where I was. So off I go. When I take a look at the new spot I see....could it be???...somewhat of a hole. I jump in the water and at first things are slow but I start kicking more shells and rocks and suddenly I've got targets. Finally that foil sound comes into the headphones. Is it possible?? Please....please... I shake the shells in the scoop to the side and there is a small silver colored ring. I remember the foil sound so I am confident it is gold. 10K. Alright!!!

Here is the mess. 2 silver rings, $4.23 in change, a non ticking watch and a 1940 wheat penny.

The white gold ring is small, 2 grams.

Well, I know where I will start tomorrow morning.

Ring Daddy #80 and a new water hunter...

2008-08-25T08:34:00.000-07:00

David Toller, a resident of MB, is putting together the 2009 Treasure Expo and Trade Show on April 4th and 5th. This morning we got together to plunder the waves. David had never surf hunted and wanted me to show him the finer points of being beat to death in the waves. We hit McDonalds and off we went. I showed him where the free parking was. As we parked the sky was black and looked like it would pour rain any minute. So I didn't put sunscreen on or take my sunglasses. This will always bring the sun out. Off we go into the waves.

David said, "There's something wrong with my detector. It is signaling each wave."

"Yep, PI's will do that. Turn down the sensitivity."

David was reluctant but he did and the wave signals went away.

We waded around for sometime before I found a bottlecap. "Here," I said, "Try to dig this." David had a new scoop. He would get set up and a wave would move him. He finally got some sand out and then some more and then some more and...well you get the idea. His eyes were starting to roll back in his head. "I don't think this surf hunting is for me," he said. He rested a bit and then went at it again. I hunted about an acre and then saw him smile as he pulled out the bottlecap.

Eventually we got into a small zone that ran parallel with the low tide line and started getting some targets. David got a couple of pieces of costume jewelry and some coins and I could tell he was getting much better at retreiving the targets.

I found a silver ring and he seemed impressed. Then he dug a mood ring at about a foot. His first ring in the surf. Then I found a silver ear ring and then I got the gold ring.

Here is my mess. Not a lot of targets but at least one gold ring showed up. Oh yeah, I got a Canadian dollar coin. That helped my coin total.

The can was at 32 scoops down.....well maybe not that deep, but close.

The sun finally retreated behind some dark clouds and it began to rain.

David said, "It's raining, I don't want to get wet."

I am always thankful when a gold ring shows in the scoop.

David kind of summed it up as he limped back the car, "It's a lot more work but a lot more rewarding."

"What's wrong with your foot?"

"I cut it with my scoop."

"Usually when I do that the sharks come, so I get out of the water."

"I didn't realize I did it till we got out of the water."

I said, "Well you really didn't get a good day. Most days you get jellyfish stung and and smashed into the bottom." I'm not sure if he realized I was serious.

Here is a link to the 2009 Treasure Expo and Trade Show in Myrtle Beach

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,166512.0.html

Also, David said he hoped to have his website up and running in a couple of days.

http://www.treasureexpo.com/

Ring Daddy #79 and too many pennies!!

2008-08-23T10:27:00.000-07:00

Well the NE winds continue to blow...and move sand around...but not necessarily for the better. Last night I found a spot with targets just above the low tide line and found a mess of coins and one titanium ring. At 4:35 this morning I was back at it. Coins in the same area. Coins and coins and coins and finally one silver ring. After two and a half hours of digging coins, mostly pennies I needed a change. There was a shallow trough I hit last night and decided to hunt just above it. At last a gold ring. This one was one of the deepest gold rings I have found with a Minelab. I was real surprised when it rolled out of the sand. Not a particularly big ring either. $5.85 in change. One James Monroe dollar coin. That is the second one I've found this year. 45 pennies.

113 targets retrieved this morning before breakfast. I am going to estimate that I have found over three hundred targets since I found the gold rings on Thursday morning. Do we earn our gold or what!!

I did check the water this morning. It was definitely colder than a few days ago. There was still way too much current running down the beach to hunt it. Most of the surf area was mushy but I did drop into a hole, chin deep, that was smooth and immediately got a target but the current made it impossible to retrieve. There has got to be some holes out there after all this wind.

Ring Daddy # 77 and 78....Thanks Fay

2008-08-21T07:30:00.000-07:00

Thanks Fay for eroding the top of the beach and pulling all the sand down and covering up the lower beach and the surf area. I really do not like hunting the top of the beach. Usually I find a million coins and after I have fallen down from exhuaustion digging coins I go to the house. I hate the upper beach. I'm talking the upper wet beach, not the dry sand area. At 4:30 AM I was on the beach with an old Sov. It didn't want to work and after messing with it for 45 minutes I took it back to the house and got the Excaliber with the little, itty bitty, 7-1/4" coil. I hate swinging this on the beach because it has no coverage. So I am in an ill mood. Foul mood. Don't get in my way mood. My first target back is a low tone. Grumble, rotten, no good...grumble...what the heck?!! It's a gold ring!! I can't believe it. No way!! I'm digging coins and soon I get another low tone. Maybe. Yep, it is. I can't see it because the sun is not up yet but it looks nice.

Here is the mess from the "I hate the upper beach" hunt. $5.93 and two gold rings.

Here is the first gold ring. 10K 1.4 grams

Here is the second. It's a looker. 14K 3 grams

Ring Daddy #76....The Mother of all Diamond Rings!!

2008-08-17T17:51:00.000-07:00

Today was overcast and low 80's with some north wind. Great day to be on the beach. Another two weeks and the tourons will be gone, the kids will be back in school. It is with mixed feelings that I think about this as I swing down the beach. Where I started today I found a few targets and as I got further down the beach it flattened out and I went a good half mile without a signal. So I head back the way I came. I tried the surf here and there but there were no holes and without a hole...you might as well be swinging the sanded in beach. When I got back to where I started a few more signals started to wake me up. I grid intensely when it is like this. On one of the passes towards the top of the beach I got a small signal, a low sound. After two good scoops the gold ring came out. I grabbed it and put it quickly in my pouch. When I get to the water I wash it off. It can't be. There is no way....maybe....maybe...it's heavy enough. Here is a pic of all the stuff. Two silver rings and a few other trinkets and the Mother of all Diamond Rings!!

I am almost scared to think that it might be real. When I got home I could read the 14K but I needed to have the diamond tested.

The lady at Reeds Jewelers just smiled and I knew...I knew the truth...She poked all three diamonds without so much as a budge from the tester.

Oh well, there went my new car and paying for my daughters college education.

Ring Daddy #75....a beach find.

2008-08-13T11:40:00.000-07:00

Rain and rain and rain. Today the wind was out of the NE, fairly hard, bringing on some whitecaps and fair size waves. The jellyfish flags were flying at the lifeguard stands and the lifeguards had taken refuge in the boxes...The boxes are for storing all the chairs and umbrellas and misc. lifeguard stuff. But today they also held the lifeguards. They have an opening on the front so they can look out at the empty beach and ocean. A good steady rain with increasing rain falling back to steady kept everyone off the beach except for some whacko with a metal detector. I decided to swing the beach today, I just wasn't in the mood to get beat up in the surf. I headed down the beach with gray enthusiasm to match the gray day. I detect the beach as last resort. Oh well, here's a few coins and some pulltabs and...I scoop out a signal and there laying just visible is my gold ring. Alrighty!!! Now I have reved up enthusiasm. After about 3/4 of a mile I run out of targets and head back. I keep wandering down to the low tide line and finally a wave bangs my scoop into my Achilles tendon. Dadgum, that smarts. I decide to rename my scoop the ATC....Achilles Tendon Cutter. Halfway back I get a nickel signal and out pops a nickel. Then there is a nickel signal next to that one. Two scoops later and I think I have gold ring #2 for the day. I am a happy camper!! Here is the mess.

Ah, but something is amiss. I have this nagging doubt about #2. It just doesn't feel right.

After riding my bike home I grab the magnifying glass. Yep, Titanium. Grrr.

Here is the Real McCoy!!

Ring Daddy 73 and 74 and going thru withdrawl...

2008-08-11T10:48:00.000-07:00

OK...it doesn't work. Once again I beat the odds badly. I really doesn't make sense. I am not finding a good hole or a lot of targets and yet somehow I got my coil over two gold rings. Oh well, I'll take em.

I am going through withdrawl. I did not get jellyfish stung yesterday or today. Where's the tentacle venom when you need it? Maybe tomorrow I will get stung and get back into the swing of things.

Some of these targets came off the beach. I was quite a ways from my bicycle when I quit the water scene. Swinging the beach with my 8" coil makes me feel inadequate. Especially when most guys are swinging 10"ers and some are even swinging 12"ers. There is a rumor of a guy or two having 15"ers but I would think that would scare most folks. Actually mine only measures 7-1/4".

But the 7-1/4" went over the second gold ring of the day on the beach. This is only the second gold ring I have found on the beach this year. All of the others were found in the water. 54 targets retrieved. $2.32

I really hate not having a bigger coil for the times when I go from the water to the beach.

Anyways I ran across something that I feel bad about. We go about our lives, day in and day out and we rarely think about the men and women in Afghanistan or Iraq. It really doesn't come home until you find one of these.

The second line says, "KIA Mandrigal, Afghanistan 25 Jan 2008"

I would like to get this back to his wife or girlfriend. I would appreciate any help you might be able to give me on this. Thanks.

Here are the two gold rings of the day.

Danger...danger Will Robinson

2008-08-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

Well, the surf detecting has been mediocre at best at MB. The waves have been about average painful but I cannot find a hole in the surf. Without a hole you might as well be detecting on Mars... where they found water. I wandered around and then finally headed back to where I got the two rings the other day. This is not a hole, rather it is a place where the sand might be a tad less but the shell layer seems higher. But I have beat this place to death...so I was not expecting much and that is pretty much what I got.

Its kind of a numbers game where I hunt. If I get more than 50 targets in 3-4 hours I am reasonably confident of running onto a gold ring. But lately I can't seem to find squat. So I was surprised by the silver ring and the gold ring. 25 targets, $1.25 in change. No dimes.

If only there were about a foot of sand out of this area I would clean up. Really surprised by this little 14K ring. 1.2 grams.

Danger Will Robinson...I loved that show. No jellyfish stings this morning. Anyways here are a few items that I have dug at MB in the last couple of days. The beach is slightly safer than when I showed up. Pat, pat, pat. I am patting myself on the back.

A new record for me......

2008-08-09T01:45:00.000-07:00

New Record for…..

Jellyfish stings yesterday morning; four. One ran into my massive biceps and then my hand. Well, maybe not massive. The jellyfish was small and quite beautiful; a small clear bubble about the size of my fist with short tentacles. I pushed him gently away with my scoop. After all, it was only doing what jellyfish were meant to do; sting people. Later on, in separate incidents, I was stung on the calf and the back of the leg. Of course, when you are involved in finding gold, little of this has any meaning. You simply continue swinging with a gruesome look on your face.
People are never sure if you have been jellyfish stung or whether the last wave that head slapped you makes you look this way.
Eventually the pain blends with all the other pains you have and your face mellows to slightly contorted, until you are stung again or the stainless steel scoop bangs into your shin or from the sharp auger shell that is embedded in the bottom of your foot or the cuts from the can slaw that you dug at twenty inches and then once more your face becomes hideous…oops, that should be gruesome.
Someone told me jellyfish numbers are on the increase because of the myth of global warming.
I've never seen so many people stung until recently. Some people get all over dramatic and have to be carried from the water. This is quite something to see considering the size of people now days.
It is dangerous out there. I found a piece of metal crap with two sharp rusted prongs on it and put it in my nail pouch. When I bent over to scoop, one of the prongs went thru the pouch and stabbed me in the abs....uh stomach. I don't know if it penetrated my skin but my jaw feels funny.
Found about a dollar and a half and thought of going to McDonalds for breakfast. I didn't know if I had quite enough for a biscuit and a senior coffee. Then I thought maybe I should go home and wait for the lockjaw to set in. Lockjaw is a private thing.

Ring Daddy 70 & 71 and the Exploding Tumbler

2008-08-07T07:18:00.000-07:00

Has anyone seen my rubber O ring that fits on my tumbler and holds the round lid in place? Yesterday I maybe put too much ammonia in with the coins. When I came home the coins were all over the picnic table with the lid but I cannot find the rubber O ring. Bummer. I looked all over the porch and the yard and even into the neighbors yard. It might still be going.

This morning I was in the water at ten till six. That is 5:50 for people who never get out of bed. Nice sunrise. I'd give it a 5. The spot I picked had nothing. Nada. I thought about a spot that had some targets a few days ago and walked/waded down the beach and sure enough the spot seemed even better than the last time. After my second target I stepped down into a hole and got a quarter signal. OK. I dig it and then there is another right next to the last quarter. After I pull the scoop to the side I check the hole and now I get a foil sound. Hmmm. I check the scoop and pull out the quarter. I love foil sounds. Two more scoops down and I get Ring Daddy #70. Later on I get a funky signal and when I pull the scoop up I see one of those infernal belly button things. It is just about to fall thru a hole when I stick my thumb on it. I wade up to the beach and dump the contents. I pick up the belly button dodad and swing back over the pile of shells. A dime. Two for one. Somewhere in the second hour I got Ring Daddy #71. Here's the mess.

This morning the waves were foot and a half to start with and gradually got larger as the session wore on. This is extremely good conditions at MB. Extremely good. It has been probably four or five weeks since I saw the ocean this cooperative. About 8:30 a little girl comes down to the low tide mark with her wave board and starts screaming a shrill, piercing, I'm being killed scream. Mind you the water has not touched her. The screaming went on and on without her ever getting wet. Some people call these screams; screams of delight. They make me grind my teeth. Then a large woman in a black bathing suit and a boy of about six or seven get into the waves. This boy pounds on the mothers bottom with his fist. She tries to ignor it. If I would have done that to my mother I would not be typing this.

Here's the two gold rings.

If you see my tumbler O ring give me a call.

Random Gold

2008-08-03T18:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was not very productive but the wind was blowing hard out of the SW. Today it took me a while to locate a hole but when I did I finally started to load up my pouches. Recently I've found things in my scoop that my detector did not signal. I lost a thin gold bracelet a few days ago and then a couple days ago a one dollar bill showed up in my scoop. Today I got a nickle signal and looked in the scoop and there was that glint of gold. Yes!!! It was an ear ring or a belly button thing...I'm not sure which. I was just about to upend my scoop when a green nickle caught my eye. So.....I believe the nickle was the signal and the gold whatever was just along for the ride. Makes you wonder how much gold is really out there but we never hear. $7.30 in change. Brian is gold also.

Four out of five bottlecaps are Bud Lite.

When I get this many targets I expect a gold ring...but it didn't happen today. But I did get the whatever and a Brian pin. 3.6 grams.

Random gold...how many small gold bracelets, necklaces and charms litter the ocean bottom and will never be found....except by accident??

A dollar bill in my scoop....

2008-08-01T15:30:00.000-07:00

Well I guess it was bound to happen....I pulled up my scoop and in amongst the shells was a one dollar bill. Cool. I hunted the same spot I found yesterday, just before the big waves ran me off. It started off kind of slow but then it seemed to pick up gradually. 70 targets in four hours. $5.02 in change but we have to add the paper dollar. $6.02

Somewhere in the second hour I ran across this big class ring. 10K, 19 grams.

I emailed Phil Alexander about how Bertha and the recent TD sanded in the beach. All we ever hear about is how a storm stripped all the sand off the beach and people take wheelbarrows down to the beach to pick up the gold. My experience has been that a large number of the storms sand in the beach or do very little to it. Phil remembers the good ol' days when Hugo and the Storm of the Century (March 13, 1993) took at least four feet of sand off the beach. Jason in Tenn. recounts how Ophelia gave him two great low tides before the sand came back in. I have never experienced a beneficial storm. Maybe someday.

This was my last chance to improve July's numbers..

2008-07-31T19:05:00.000-07:00

I decided to hit a different portion of beach today in an effort to improve my July numbers. Stuck it out about an hour and a half without hardly a peep from my detector. Headed south, back to an area the usually shows a bit more erosion. Worked real hard at it but no gold or silver again. The last hole I hit had quite a few targets but it was almost two hours after low tide and I was getting beat up pretty bad. Finally packed it in. Last hunt of July.

At least the last hole gave me a good place to start tomorrow. I want to say that July was poor but it still was better than any of my months totals for last year when I hunted the beach. July was just poor in comparision to April, May and June. And the big reason was Hurricane Bertha and the tropical depression that came up the East Coast. Both of these storms added huge amounts of sand to the beach. I had a nine day stretch without any gold rings. That hurt Julys totals.

The one that got away....

2008-07-30T11:45:00.000-07:00

It was indeed a strange day at the Lost Key Motel. My third target of the day sounded deep and on the third scoop the signal disappeared from the hole. As the scoop neared the surface I could see a beautiful very thin gold bracelet in the shells. As the scoop came out of the water the gold bracelet slithered out of one of the holes and dropped into the ocean. Well, it can't go anywhere and even though I can't see it in three foot of water I am confident I will be able to retrieve it. I'm already thinking what a great day this is going to be. I swing the detector near my feet where the bracelet fell. No response. Hmmm. I know, I'll put it in pinpoint. Sure enough I get a signal. I don't dig down too far because I know it is near the surface. The signal is still there. I dig deeper and the signal is still there. Now what?!!! Dadgum, maybe this is another signal. I dig the deep signal and a large oval fishing weight shows up in the scoop. I can't seem to get that bracelet back. I switch back and forth between discrimination and pinpoint and cannot find the bracelet. I spend the next fifteen minutes combing the area. Now, was the gold bracelet the original signal or did the bracelet just get in the way and end up in my scoop? So....I lost the only gold of the day.

Not a real productive day, only 51 targets in three and a half hours. Most of the targets seemed deep; at least two scoopers. $5.15 in change. Now here is another weird point. No jewelry. No junk rings, no ear rings. Nothing. Tomorrow, I will hit someplace else to start with.

Of course you know that the gold bracelet will get bigger with time and soon be a necklace and that the links will grow into platinum tire chain links with enough telling. How does that happen??

What a Bunch of Mickey Mouse!!

2008-07-29T17:22:00.000-07:00

Back to the Lost Key Motel. Conditions seemed exactly like yesterday. Very little sand movement under the waves. Same holes in the same spots. Usually I can sense some differences but not today. No gold rings today. But Mickey Mouse showed up to save the day. 10K probably, no markings. 10.1 grams. One silver ring. I now have a key for every room in the motel.

My sunspot scoop needed some welding and I finally got it over to the welding shop on third avenue. I always have a fear of how much something like this is going to cost. "Twenty dollars," he said. I sighed my relief mentally. Not many people will do anything for twenty dollars it seems.
Change is what people fear most. Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Ring Daddy #67 and 68....Hot!!! It is hot out there...

2008-07-28T12:39:00.000-07:00

Man, I was sweating even wading around in the water this morning. The beach was loaded with folks a swimming and kids running into me with their body boards. Oh well, quite a few targets this morning. 80 to be exact and $5.85 in change. One mood ring, one silver ring and two gold rings. The one was badly tarnished (10K) but I was pretty sure it was gold. Location: Lost Key Motel.

Here is Ring Daddy 67 before I cleaned it up.

Here is Ring Daddy #67 cleaned up.

Ring Daddy #68

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imaged, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours. Henry David Thoreau

Ring Daddy #66....dodging lightning and butt beach...

2008-07-27T08:55:00.000-07:00

If you hunt during a lightning storm you get quite a few more signals. I was out in the water by 7:10 this morning. The dolphins were arcing just past the breakers. I love seeing them. I was satisfied with the number of signals in the water when the sky blackened up and the rain came. And then the thunder reached my ears. This makes me a bit nervous in the water. A few more minutes and the life guards put up the red flags and I go find a lounge chair at the motel. Slowly things started to improve and I decided to do some wet sand hunting. Man is the beach sanded in. I did get a few coins in over an hour. Just after low tide the yellow flags came out. Back out I go. First I got a heavy silver ring and then another and then a tarnished gold looking ring and then a little twist wire ring. I held out little hope that the gold looking ring was real. 63 targets retrieved. $5.54 in change. Wish we had loonies and toonies.

You can tell I was out in front of the "Lost Key Motel". This morning an interesting phenomena took place. Cigarette butts lined up parallel to the low tide line on the mid beach. Hundreds of them...thousands. A delightful sight for all the tourist.

When I got home and started rinsing off my booty (my treasure) I took another look at tarnished goldie. Hmmmm. I took it in the house and hit it with a scruffy pad. Wow!! It is starting to look like something. I spun the scruffy inside the ring and suddenly there it was. 10K. Wonder how long this baby has been out there.

Happiness consist of living each day as if it were the first day of your honeymoon and the last day of your vacation. -Anon.

Ring Daddy #65...I now hold the World Record...

2008-07-26T09:36:00.000-07:00

for the number of times that a person has had his headphones knocked off in four hours. Also, I now hold the World Record for the number of times my headphones were knocked off with my ears still in them.

It was a swell morning. Swells are the sneakiest of waves. The ocean will look that flat blue gray and suddenly the water will begin to rise and rise and rise to eight to ten feet and then the crest will blot out the sun before summersaulting in a perfect surfers curl with me in it. This usually brings out quite a crowd to watch. But that is where the signals are. I know them only as signals. Targets are things that you retrieve. Signals are just signals. One has to retrieve the signal for it to become a target.

Swells come in sets. Remember in high school math when we learned about sets. I missed that day. The ocean would be a gentle baby for approximately two minutes between sets. Two minutes gives you time to locate a signal in chest deep water and then plant your scoop in the sand. Then by some unknown scientific phenomena the set would arrive. This is where the beatings take place. Usually there would be three huge swells in a set. I named them crash, bash and smash. I would barely get one curse word out of my mouth before crash would hit me. As I came up for air it was bashes turn and then smash would finish me off.

I got stung by jellyfish twice this morning. Once on the wrist and once on the inside of my right knee. I don't recommend skinny dipping at MB. Oooowee would that hurt.

This would discourage some folks from metal detecting the surf. They might not have the vocabulary to be a surf hunter.

Here are the targets I retrieved. Amazing isn't it. How is it possible to retrieve targets with your eyes closed and your teeth clenched?? I don't know. It only took me four hours. Those who surf hunt MB will know where I was hunting by the number of keys. I always get a bunch of keys in front of this place.

Those who surf hunt MB....haha...what a hoot. No one surf hunts MB.

The watch is an Elgin. Not running. I thought Elgin's were supposed to be a pretty good watch.

Somewhere in the beatings I found this nice ring. One of the stones is missing.

Balsa Wood Factory??? mystery solved and 4 rings

2008-07-25T10:38:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I saw a number of balsa wood sticks floating in an upright position in the surf. I said to myself, "Where in the world would balsa wood sticks be coming from? Perhaps there is a balsa wood factory nearby and they had some escape or they throw them away in the ocean or maybe a lot of kids are making balsa wood projects on the beach." This morning another red balsa wood stick floated by and I grabbed it. Mystery solved. They are the sticks on the pop bottle rockets. Duh!!! :) The surf hunting has been the pits since Bertha and the Tropical depression came thru last week. This morning was a bit better but still not real good. Targets were scattered but I did end up with 72 target retrieved and $6.97 in change.

I love the morning. I have the beach to myself; not dodging kids with their wave boards. And this morning the ocean looked like Florida, mostly small waves. The wave got larger the later it got but I had a good morning to wade the surf. Four rings and not a speck of gold..grrrrr. Two are silver, one is titanium with a very small diamond and one is crap with rust on it.

People don't talk about it much, but I think anger is a great motivator. Get Mad and accomplish something today. Have a super day!!

Jesus this time...not Bob Marley...

2008-07-23T05:15:00.000-07:00

How many times do you have your headphones knocked off your head before you leave the water? Usually I wait until I've been Dick Butkis headslapped twice before I head for the shore or at least shallower surf. Low tide was at 5:30 and I was on the beach. Soon I had to jump into the surf. In the darkness it looked like some possible holes. Could it be??? What would have the beach hugely sanded in last night and give me holes this morning. The SW wind was only 10 mph. But there they were...holes with rocks and shells and green coins...oh my. Here is the mess for two hours and twenty minutes.

The last time I thought I found Jesus it was pointed out to me that it was Bob Marley.

4.1 grams

Dadgum it is sanded in!!!

2008-07-22T17:18:00.000-07:00

Sanded In. These two words strike fear into any beach or surf detectorist. This is when the beach has received huge amounts of new sand naturally. Bertha and the TD both brought new sand onto the beach. I had almost no luck yesterday and decided to try a new stretch of beach this afternoon. I was also going to be there at 3:00 but did not wake up from my nap till 4:00. I obviously needed the sleep. Long story short. The new stretch was even worse than where I had been detecting. I moved back to my old haunts and found an area with some targets...not alot but better than the last couple of days.

So, short of dynamiting some holes I can only hope things will improve on their own. My last gold ring was last Wednesday. I need it. Uh huh, uh huh. I need it. Uh, huh. May the falcon of happiness claw a new hole on the beach.

A fiver floats by....

2008-07-20T15:13:00.000-07:00

Bertha and the tropical depression sanded in MB. I hunted 3/4 of a mile before I hit a small hole. Went over it and over it to get what little I did get. A five dollar bill floated up to me while I was looking for another target. I'll take it. Here's the mess. 53 targets in three and a half hours. Also got a silver bracelet.

Diana and I will probably go get a sundae with the five. May your luck be better than my luck.

Tropical Depression brings more big waves and few finds..

2008-07-19T17:48:00.000-07:00

Dadgum, I can't seem to get a break in the huge waves. Everyday for about the last week I have had huge waves, first from Bertha and now from this TD off the Carolina coast. Squally rain all day. Hit the surf....no...the surf hit me at about 1:00 today. Three hours later I gave up. Very few targets, all the holes seems to have new sand in them. At MB you need holes and you need conditions and I had neither.

This morning I noticed a crack in my scoop. Hope it hangs together until I can get it welded.

Reality is thinking that you are doing OK and then the window on your VW won't go up. I took it to Expensive Harry's and he said with a straight face that it would cost $395 to fix the window regulator. I now have tape over the switches that roll down the windows and it is Summer in MB. Of course my air conditioning does not work. Did I mention the headliner is loose and the lock on the drivers side does not work. I'm afraid to ask how much new locks are going to cost. Have you ever had a car with a headliner that actually stayed up?? I never have. Thumbtacks right.

Tomorrow, tomorrow, there's always tomorrow.

Still Huge waves and more sand on the beach

2008-07-18T18:23:00.000-07:00

The low off of Florida is now bringing big waves to the Carolinas. Even if the waves had been small there were not that many targets. Holes that were there two days ago are now filled in. Here is the mess for 3 plus hours.

No matter how hard we detect sometimes the gold eludes us...that's why they call it hunting. May the full moon guide you in your night hunt. Foiled Again Jim

Ring Daddy Maybe....???

2008-07-16T15:24:00.000-07:00

Today the waves were a bit smaller and there were some small holes to wade without being smashed to pieces by the waves. Thank goodness. I was weary of the constant beatings. I retrieved 63 targets which included a necklace of unknown metal, a junk ring and a questionable ring for Ring Daddy. $5.41 in change. Here is the take for the day.

Here is the little ring. 18K 2 grams.

Smile...others will pick up on your joy. Foiled Again Jim

I hate Bertha....what is up with the American Penny?

2008-07-15T18:10:00.000-07:00

My hatred for Bertha grows with every wave that attempts to smash me into the bottom of the ocean. I had my headphones knocked off three times today. I was ready to leave the surf after an hour. But as low tide neared the waves only became severe, not catastrophic. The lady on the weather channel said the waves should subside by this weekend. Aaaaaaahhhhhh!!!! I hate you Bertha!!!

Salt water is a part of my diet. I eat saltwater. I drink saltwater. I'm not so sure if the water up the nose or the water in the ears is causing me to have water on the brain.

Here is the mess from today, 3 and a half hours of self inflicted waterboarding. $3.33 in change, one silver ring and one silver bracelet with bells.

I've been tumbling my coins. I am always amazed at the zinc pennies. As an American I look at the zinc penny and see much more than a coin. I see a lack of pride. We must not care what our coinage looks like. Here is a pic of the zinc pennies. Pretty disgusting. I have dug Indian Head pennies out of the ground and never, ever had them look this bad. The zitty zincs.

Have a stupendous day!!! Foiled Again Jim

Ring Daddy 63 and some thoughts on old coins...

2008-07-14T14:09:00.000-07:00

Bertha is still the major pain in my arse, bringing large swells from 500 miles away. I stood at the top of the beach and watched. Not too bad, I thought. I fired up the Excaliber and waded in. Before I got my first target I got slammed by a wave hard enough to knock my hat and headphones off. The last two days I saw waves of at least 8' in height smashing the sandbar. Today the largest wave was maybe 6'. So conditions are improving....I went back to the shallow area where I got some targets and there were more today. Here is the total mess. One Rusian coin...I think. $6.25 in coins.

After about an hour and a half this showed up in my scoop. 14K 7.8 grams.

What are your chances of finding a silver coin at MB? Well, I just tumbled a bunch of my quarters, nickels and dimes and took them to the bank. My receipt from the coin machine says I had 308 nickels, 536 dimes and 843 quarters. Out of this many coins, 1687 coins, I found one silver quarter. A well worn 1943.

I hunt the south end of MB most of the time. Phil Alexander tells me there are places to the north that are much better for finding old coins.

Part of the dismal silver results has to do with MB being renourished in 1997.

Have a super day!!! Foiled Again Jim

Introduction to Hunting the Surf

2008-07-12T16:27:00.000-07:00

I'm Jim Brouwer. I just turned 56 a few days ago. I have lived at Myrtle Beach for about a year and a half. I have been metal detecting the beach and surf for approximately eight years.

This past winter, Jan., Feb. and March, I hunted the beach and found zero gold rings. Three months of hard swinging in cold, windy, sometimes miserable conditions.

In April of this year I started hunting the surf. This is not new to me. I have hunted the surf many times in the past but always felt it was a tradeoff. On the beach you can cover a lot more square footage with a metal detector, especially with a 12" Sunray coil, than you can cover in the water. And water detecting is hard work...really, really hard work.

In reviewing last year April was my best month with 12 gold rings. Most of the months last year I averaged about five gold rings.

In April of this year I started to seriously hunt the surf at Myrtle Beach. The water was cold and I used a wet suit for all of April and part of May. I hate my wetsuit. Every year it get smaller.

In April I found 15 gold rings, May I got 17 and in June I found 22 gold rings. It becomes obvious why I have traded in the beach for the surf.

I am posting my finds on http://www.thetreasuredepot.com/ Surf and Sand forum.

Below is the 9K gold ring I found this morning.