Tom_in_CA

Good show.   Great pix.

Your wife has good tastes, d/t that is a pretty looking design ring.

Well, as far as the punishing amounts of light-weight aluminum from beach-detecting, there's a way to avoid that :  Hunt ocean beaches after storm erosion.   Because then mother nature takes out all the light weight stuff.  Leaving ONLY the heavier targets.  Eg.:  Coins, sinkers, keys, rings, etc....   I've even seen erosion so effective that EVEN ZINC PENNIES are gone (d/t they're lighter weight coins).

Also, if you are on a beach that is typically used for fishing, then yes :  This tactic can simply leave you with the sinker dilemma punishment.  So the trick there is to go to touristy beaches.  AND NOT the beaches that are typically fishing all-the-time.  Eg.:  Tourist swim beaches where you don't typically see surf-fishermen.   Then the fishing sinker ratio goes way down.

Same for lake hunting : We should not be md'ing at popular fishing lakes.  We should be hunting at popular SWIM lakes.  And at some of the swim lakes there are zones set aside where fishing isn't allowed (lest sharp fish hooks get introduced, that poke people's feet).  And you hunt those set-aside zones, where there will be far less fishing sinker issues.

So the trick to finding gold rings is NOT "dig junk till your arms fall off".  Instead the trick is :  Location location location , and : Timing timing timing.

Love that pose on the scale.  That is the "cha-ching" moment. 😜  Good to see some CA action.  Thanx for bringing us along !

Good to see some CA action.   Congratz.

5 hours ago, GB_Amateur said:

My apology if this has already been posted.  A WWII practice munition was found on a Santa Cruz beach:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/01/02/world-war-ii-practice-bomb-california-beach/72089969007/

The article claims it was "washed up".  Does that make sense?  Specifically where was it before the big winds arrived recently?

If you look closely at the picture, you can see that there's no "erosion" going on.  The tell-tale sign is seaweed sticks sticking half-way up out of the sand.   This shows that sand was coming IN before that picture.  Not OUT.

So I guess that means it was pushed "up".  I have no idea. 

On 1/4/2024 at 5:31 AM, F350Platinum said:

........

https://www.mdhtalk.org/articles/legal-to-detect/law.htm

...........

Uh, there's a lot of ... uh .... "dire sounding" stuff on there where you have to .... uh ... read between the lines.  When you study the evolution of all such nifty list compendium attempts like that, you begin to see a self-fulfilling vicious circle.   A bunch of what you read on attempts like that were nothing more than a giant case of "no one cared UNTIL you asked" routine going on.

What I mean is, that in order to assemble lists like that IN THE FIRST PLACE, guess how they went about it ?   They simply went to the powers-that-be, AND ASKED.  Right ?  Ie.: Sent letters, or picked up the phone, or showed up at kiosks, or sent emails, asking "Hi, can we metal detect ?"   Or "what are the rules/laws regarding the use of metal detectors".  

And whomever is fielding these "pressing questions", gets bandied desk to desk, till it finally lands on the desk of a purist archie.  Who morphs some understanding of cultural heritage, or Lost & found laws, or "alter and disturb" language, or "harvest and remove" verbiages, and returns with a "no".   That makes its way into these compendium attempts. AND PRESTO !  Another policy or rule or law or "no" is born.

And these were often places that, quite frankly NEVER HAD BEEN AN ISSUE BEFORE .  So old-timers were left scratching their heads saying :  "Since when ?", or "That's nonsense".  So if ever anyone challenges a supposed rule, guess what is sure to happen next ?  Yup, you guessed it :  Go ask a bored desk-jockey.  Do you see the vicious circle ??

Sure, avoid obvious historic sensitive monuments.  Sure.  But just sayin' that you have to read between the lines when trying to use lists/links like that.   I wrote a commentary (upon their request), that you can read there, where it says "alternative view...." at the top.  

11 hours ago, Doc Bach said:

This topic sure went mute.So what's up? Did it turn out to be a dead horse or is it on fire and everybody is just being tight lipped?

It was a big nothing-burger in my part of CA (central coast, Monterey Bay).   Most every beach simply got flattened.  That's where the beach is overpowered .   So instead of mother nature picking a parallel and eroding DOWNWARDS, the waves/water simply go up-&-over the dunes, and make a mess and puddles and lagoons inland. And make a mess of parking lots.  And only draw down dry fluffy sand and spread it over the inter-tidal zone.  And not truly take it out.

That's what I saw @ all my area beaches.   A few lone exceptions happened on 12/28 and 12/29 (on the heels of the big event).   And if you knew where to go, there was some straggler pockets .  I got perhaps 150 coins, a few silver coins, and a gold band, by sampling multiple beaches.  And found a few exceptions.   But all in all :  A big nothing burger.   Very disappointing.

And the forecast continues to tease of incoming swells, that drop in strength by the time they reach our area.

Not sure how southern CA did.  But based on Compass' report, sounds like it wasn't an epic event there either.

On 12/30/2023 at 11:05 AM, mn90403 said:

 ........... with minimal wind

Yes.  These 2 systems that passed had no local on-shore winds.  Good observation.   They were swells that started way out at sea (Alaska, Japan, or whatever), and came all the way across the ocean .

I've seen swells arrive on the west coast with NO ADVERSE LOCAL WEATHER before, that :  Do indeed erode.   But you're right that they are greatly assisted if there is local accompanying on-shore or cross-shore winds, to push them even more violently up on to the beach.  This recent system lacked that.

Still though, I would have thought we'd have had better results.

Santa Cruz area beaches remain flattened, as of the info & reports I'm hearing, the beach cams, etc...  Carmel and Asilomar are just flattened.   Bummer.

8 hours ago, Doc Bach said:

Not lately Tom.Why did you leave a few out there for the rest of us?

I've never found any north of San Jose.   So :  I've left all those for you  🙂

20 minutes ago, Skate said:

.... I'm sure it'll be like it was in 2020 when we were threatened with arrest if we stopped for more than 10 seconds while on the beach.....

Uh, they can *say* dire sounding crap like that.  But ask yourself (and be honest) :  Do you know of ANYONE who has ever been "arrested" for stepping onto the beach when this has happened ?   I mean, sure, give "lip service" when you bump into the lifeguards and rangers , at the parking lot harping "beach closed".   But .... if someone makes their way down via other endless ways in (stairways elsewhere, cross-country through paths or alleys, etc...) have you EVER heard of an md'r or surfer being "arrested" ?  

I been "scrammed" a few times (like during the January 2023 event, and the 1996-97 event).  We just hiked in to our desired zones via coming in from the south or north, blah blah .   But ARRESTED ?  No.

And besides :   The low tides right now are happening after dark / sunset time.   Right ?   And who sees down there in the dark ?  Who is "down there patrolling" in the dark ?   So peaceful.   So serene.   Just go.

12 hours ago, Doc Bach said:

They are probably waiting for things to calm down.Otherwise it's a surefire way to go see Jesus.☠️

Hey there Doc, do you ever find Phoenix buttons up your way ?

Yesterday, Santa Cruz main beach (Boardwalk), had the following phenomenon occur :  Whenever epic ingredients like this coincide (high tide coincide with monster swell ), a phenomenon known as "overpowering" can occur .  Where :  Instead of the beach eroding DOWN , at a certain parallel (to create cuts or slopes or scallops), instead the water merely washes up into the previously high & dry sand dunes.  And brings down all that fluffy sand into the inter-tidal zone.   So now you just have scattered clad.  And puddles and lagoons inland (parking lots flooded and strewn with seaweed, etc...).  

This is what happened to the S. Cruz main beach yesterday (and Cowells and Seabright) :  It just "flattened" the beach.   Same with Palm beach in Watsonville so far.  I got some scattered clad, but it was immediately apparent that I was going to need to scout.   Finally ended up by ~4pm at New Brighton.   Which was eroded correctly and lots of targets were showing up.  Including some silver coins (even a nice 1871 seated dime) was showing up among the 4 hunters.  A few gold jewelry items. 

So the tactic next, based on my 45 yrs. "storm chasing" experience, is this :  That in the subsequent days following an epic event (which "flattens" rather than "erodes"), you merely check back in the subsequent days.  EVEN if things have calmed down in those subsequent days.   And lo & behold, what can sometimes happen is that mother nature readjusts her slopes (with the intervening high/low tide cycles) .  To fill in voids off shore.  In other words, there WAS erosion occurring at the epic day, but that :  It was happening off-shore where we can't visually see it.  Then in the subsequent days, mother nature robs sand off the inter tidal zone, to fill in those off-shore voids.  And THEN the slopes occur.   

Does that make sense ?   So if any central coast CA people are reading this, and want to take a shot at it, I'd try S. Cruz main (and the various other beaches nearby) by Saturday PM's low tide .  Because another swell bump is happening Saturday, and is more south facing anyhow.   Scout them all, from Cowells, southward to Watsonville.   Look for indentations where the low/damp/wet spots indent further into the beach than elsewhere.  And where you see abnormally steep slopes, or scallops, or cuts.  

And best of all :  Send me 20% of all your finds (I accept paypal  🙂 )

Good post.  Good pix.  Nice to see some CA action here  🤠

Great pictures.  What country are you in ?

Regarding the possibility of making a coil, on-your-own, to compete with a manufacturer coil :  This endeavor might have been possible back in the 1960s.  When the hobby (in-so-far as individual coin hunting) was concerned, was in its infancy.  And when electronics were crude (by today's standards).   But the problem now is that the super fine-tuning exactness, to eek out the absolute depth and optimum performance, is SO exacting, that a zillionth of an inch off in your windings, can make for the difference of good vs poor depth/performance.   It's now done with computerization, and assembly line exactness (where every single coil coming off the line is exactly the same ). 

I know someone who tried it.  And gave up. It has gone far beyond the days of persons sitting around in their garages playing with vacuum tubes, soldering guns, radios, etc....

Hello from Salinas / Monterey area.  About 45 min. south of Santa Cruz.   Some times silver coins turn up on Seabright, New Brighton, etc.... after storm erosion.

As far as ringfinders directory website :  I don't see your name, on the directory map, for Santa Cruz.   Are you a paid subscriber to the ringfinders ?

Love finding beach erosion cuts. 

That particular one , with all the rocks, is going to be a bear to dig in, but :  I definitely wouldn't pass it up.

good play-by-play description of the duel Steve.   Good post !

Great post.   Great pix !   What a rush to be in one of mother nature's thick erosion/deposit zones.   Been there/done that, and it's a blast !

Here's one type I designed :  

Great pix !   I like it when the eroded beach is turning up those green coins.   That tells you that it's scouring into older sand.

12 hours ago, Compass said:

..........the Bolaven swell that is forecast to be fairly sizeable.

I'm looking at that one ^ ^ too.   But alas, from the NW .  Hence less effect on west & SW facing beaches.  And short-lived sweep across the coast.  I don't see it doing much erosion, but ... I might give it a looksie by Thurs. PM's low tide where I'm at, in the Monterey bay area.

I love these "MD'r to the rescue stories".  The reunion repatriation stories are great.  You can not put a price on human relations like that.   Good on you !

Geotech Karl gives a great answer, as usual.  Yes it's just a form of sensitivity .  The sens. is the "sending" and the signal balance (aka gain) is the receiving signal.   So you can essentially just think of that as sensitivity.

The Eagle SL II black-box with the 950 loop was a great machine.   But when the Explorers hit the market, it was clear that the old school Whites depth was ... uh .... dated.   Still though, for its day, it was a fun machine.   Not a very good wet-salt machine though.