Ring Daddy #31 in the rain...

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

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

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

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!!

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

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

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.