" Sweet Fifteens "

[normmcq]

 Having only recently started water hunting, I only recently had some success. My my first experience was at the beach at Monterey Bay. It was a low tide at about 10:30 P.M. The waves were crashing on the shore and the noise was so bad that I gave up and started detecting the dry sand. There were several people on the beach and I was separated from my friend and not comfortable with my surroundings. I did manage a nice silver Indian Chief. The Head dress is inlaid with mother of pearl.

 The next attempt was at a beach North of San Francisco, on the way there I looked at the National Weather Service for a forecast, said dangerous surf, don't go near the water. The tide was receding and my friend said we should be just fine. Shortly after we got there it started to rain and I was getting wet and cold. About forty five minutes into the hunt, I decided that I wasn't having any fun and started back to the vehicle. I broke the cardinal rule, I turned my back on the ocean. The tide was out about one hundred fifty yards. I was about thirty feet from the car in a paved parking lot when a rogue wave came in and knocked me down from behind. Now I was really wet and cold, this was December. I was using my CTX 3030 and I found that my WM 10 couldn't Swim. I tell myself I'm done with the ocean. I didn't try water detecting again until a few weeks ago. My friend Rob talked me into trying it again at Lake Tahoe. The water was full of people and with the Covid restrictions, I tried to maintain social distancing, that put me out in a depth that I was not comfortable with. The shoreline where people were getting in and out of the water was where the most targets seemed to be. My problem wit that was , the bottom had a steep slope and I was having a very hard time standing on it. Nothing to show for my efforts except some clad. Tahoe is such a beautiful place and the water wasn't cold, it just made for a wonderful day. Not being a person that gives up easily, we went back again. The next trip we went back to a different beach with a beautiful campground. Unfortunately the campground was closed due to the fire danger. That trip the water was still very pleasant. The wind was coming out of the South West and got a little stronger as the day went on. The entry point seemed to be where the targets were and that is where the waves were breaking. I did manage a silver Rosie and three Wheaties. As I mentioned the wind was blowing harder and the waves were getting larger to the point I was getting worried about getting knocked down. I changed my M. O. and borrowed Rob's waterproof headphones and tried it some more. Well I guess I got a little too comfortable, it happened again. The wave action knocked me down and started pulling me off shore. I managed to get back up with the help of Rob. By that time I was pretty beat up and decided to call it a day. I decided to try it one more time. We loaded our truck camper and headed back to Tahoe, the fire danger was not as bad and the campground was open. We managed to get a spot for two nights. It takes about 2 1/2 hours to get there, so there was only a few hours detecting the date of arrival. This trip I had a life preserver jacket and some chest waders. The lake was flat and the temperature was still very tolerable, just perfect for detecting. Lake Tahoe is an awesome place and one can only appreciate the beauty of the place by going there. I am absolutely disgusted at the way people trash the place.     Well this trip was different, I got my first gold in the water!  A 14k with "I Love You" inscribed in it. After we got home from a very nice trip, a very dear friend got a hold of me and asked if I would try to find her husband's wedding ring. He was one of my partners in a mining claim and he passed away from cancer about a year ago. She said that she had been working in her yard, cut a lot of shrubs, raked them up put them in a bag and hauled them to the dump. She had spent quite a bit of time looking for it and was almost certain that was forever gone. After the description she gave to me of the ring, it sounded just like the one that I had found at Tahoe. I told her that if I couldn't find it, I would gladly give her the Tahoe ring. It only took about ten minutes to find that ring, it had that "sweet fifteen low tone. That was a very emotional moment for both of us"                                                                                          

[Valens Legacy]

Great story as it kept me reading all the way through.

Sorry for you getting knocked down so much from the waves, and glad that you found some very nice items.

Great recovery on the ring and glad it was returned. She will never forget what you had done for her.

Good luck on your next hunt.

[Compass]

Congrats on those awesome recoveries! Tahoe sounds like a beautiful place to detect- wish I was closer!

[Joe D.]

Great story Norm,

      It doesn't matter your age, when one of those waves catches you off guard, they can take you down! And dropoffs and holes, aren't much better! 

   That Indian is awesome, and the pictures, and returned ring are too! How's that new Steve G shaft working out for you?! 

Be Safe!!👍👍

  

[kac]

Great stories, thanks for sharing.

We have some serious rip tides here on the east cost and you really need to be on your game or your gonna get pulled out.

[Rick N. MI]

Good job finding those rings. The waves can hit hard especially if you are not prepared.

[strick]

Nice story Norm...glad you found her ring...looks like you have picked some challenging days to water detect...I got a chuckle out of you being "not comfortable with your surroundings" at the beach in Monterey...fellas this is a guy that lives in the High Sierras and spent his life traversing thru forests and deep dark ravines with snakes. bears, lions etc... 🙂

strick

[Joe D.]

Indiana Norm!!🤠  👍👍

[normmcq]

 Joe D

 I love that new shaft with the counter balance,  balance is perfect with the 12" coil, I haven't tried it with the small coil and taking some weight out to rebalance.

                                                                                   Norm

[cuniagau]

1 minute ago, normmcq said:

 Joe D

 I love that new shaft with the counter balance,  balance is perfect with the 12" coil, I haven't tried it with the small coil and taking some weight out to rebalance.

                                                                                   Norm

Norm,

I have been using Steveg's counterbalance rod on my Equinox for well over a year and a half.  About 99% of the time with the 15 inch coil.  It is a treat to use for sure.

HH,

Joe