Beach Season Has Begun

[schoolofhardNox]

Beach hunt # 21 was the post storm hunt I was really looking forward to. I watched a couple of videos from the storm hitting some beaches, and it was impressive watching all the wave and wind action. Unfortunately, when I arrived at the beach I wanted to hunt, I saw zero damage to the beach. ZERO. ? So, I tried the Equinox hoping that some small gold may have been exposed from some storm action. No go on that either. The upper beach area that I did so well on this past Friday, was completely snowed in. The tides never reached that area, so I wandered around wasting a lot of time with the EQ. Finally, some form of common sense entered my brain ? and I packed it up and left for my back up beach. Now, with about 2 hours left to hunt, I hit a decent amount of clad, some very big and deep lead, a drone, and what I think is a solar rechargeable pathway light. I barely managed to get that one silver dime pictured, but I was really happy to see it. Fairly cold at 19 degrees when I started but warmed up to a bit over 30 by midday. I also managed to rip my waders (they were cheap ones anyways) and just dodged a seagull dropping a clam on the shore to crack it open. Landed about 5 feet from me. Man, them things come down hard. Kind of a funny day in an odd way. ? Not what I expected by a long shot, but still nice to get  out detecting.

[F350Platinum]

? nice hunt. Wish I had the hands and feet (as well as a beach ?) to do that. It didn't get much above 40 yesterday, and I couldn't take the cold feet.

I think a dropped clam would hurt a heckuva lot more than one of our black walnuts, but I'll have to research average weights, and air velocity. ?

At least you got silver! ?

[schoolofhardNox]

2 hours ago, F350Platinum said:

? nice hunt. Wish I had the hands and feet (as well as a beach ?) to do that. It didn't get much above 40 yesterday, and I couldn't take the cold feet.

I think a dropped clam would hurt a heckuva lot more than one of our black walnuts, but I'll have to research average weights, and air velocity. ?

At least you got silver! ?

Thanks. I'm not sure what was worse, the fact that it missed me by a couple of feet, or the fact that I didn't see the bird or clam shell prior to hearing it hit ? Black walnuts are no joke either.

 

[schoolofhardNox]

Beach hunt # 22 was a spur of the moment beach hunt. I remember someone talking about my EMI beach and how the last storm really exposed and removed a lot of sand. Unfortunately, that was a little while ago now, so I wasn’t expecting much to be left there. I decided it would be an Equinox day looking for tiny gold jewelry. The tides weren’t very low, so the slopes would be smaller than I wanted them to be. I worked the Equinox for about 3 hours and only had one tiny stud and a lot of small junk targets. So, I decided to wander up in the EMI area and see what was left there. It took a bit to get the sensitivity and settings set for EMI, and I ended up being able to have a consistent 20 sensitivity setting. First good hit was a copper penny followed by a white (tumbled) looking nickel. I though Jefferson but it was a Buffalo. ? Wow, I just found my spot! Only managed 1 more buffalo and some zincs, so I decided to trade the EQ in for a GPX. I knew it was going to be extremely noisy with the train EMI, but there are times it’s quiet. I opted to hunt in cancel mode and take the hit on depth in trade for my sanity. Worked well, but the snow that was there sticks really good to the coil, making that 11” coil feel like a brick. I did manage to figure out the best way to remove the snow without kicking the coil. If it gets too heavy just press the coil into more snow and pull backwards. The snow on the coil sticks to the snow below and slips off the coil. The GPX hit a lot more coins and all the silver, but at the expense of a ton of iron. That’s the trade off in running in cancel mode. You are already losing depth from cancel mode, along with about 2” of snow, so the bigger iron comes through nice and clear, but the smaller targets are very soft sounding. I didn’t want to lose any deeper coins, so I dug it all as to not mask anything. This is silver and gold territory with all the sand removed and I wanted to make sure I didn’t leave any. I may hit that beach again next visit and see what turns up. Always a pleasure to dig some sand. ?

[schoolofhardNox]

Beach hunt # 23 was a continuation of the heavy EMI beach I hunted last week. I was eager to get back there for more silver but was not looking forward to hearing all that EMI in the GPX 5000 headphones. ? So, I decided to take the 6000 out with the 14” coil set to EMI cancel. I also brought the 5000 with a 14” anti-interference coil on it, just in case the 6000 was not what I was looking for. I was hoping to get enough depth for the deeper coins that were left there but was also looking for some micro gold. Well, I got the micro part down, but I forgot the gold part. ?  Lots of tiny targets but none of them precious. Big iron hit pretty good at depth, but I really didn’t want to be digging train spikes at 15”. The 6000 lasted the whole 8 hours with the machine battery just about to die (warning shot was given). The headphones lasted 8 hours which was nice to know, as I expected them to die earlier. Lots and lots of trash targets but a couple of keepers as well. Some of those tiny copper discs were really hard to locate with the pinpointer. The 3 war nickels were the first 3 coins I dug, and they had that black crumbly appearance which only war nickels usually get. I was skeptical that I could find 3 war nickels in a row, but when I got home that’s what they were. 2 Buffalo nickels round out the day. So, I may do one last trip to this beach next time out and call it done for a while. I’m happy to get some more time in on the 6000. Happy to just be digging.

[geof_junk]

You must think you are a teenager to get that many targets, but the coins would of given a helping hand. The only time I would want to dig up that much junk there has to be gold nearby. Well done.  ? I did not take them home to photograph just left them for others to have fun.?

[schoolofhardNox]

7 hours ago, geof_junk said:

You must think you are a teenager to get that many targets, but the coins would of given a helping hand. The only time I would want to dig up that much junk there has to be gold nearby. Well done.  ? I did not take them home to photograph just left them for others to have fun.?

That's my problem ? I think I'm 17 again. ? My beach day is my one day per week that I actually get any real exercise. It's the thrill of the hunt that makes it fun. If I ever get lost wandering and find my way to your place, I'll clean that patch up for you in a day ? Or you can pay my flight down there and I can become a gold nugget hunter.

[F350Platinum]

Good one again! ? Do you use headphones? The cheap headphones I posted ($29) should connect to the 6000 and have 40 hour use time. They sure last all day for me. Also I don't know how the 6000 works with charging, but if you're so inclined you can keep it going with a PD battery pack like I do with the Equinox.

Gotta say though, going over 8 hours hunting would be pretty tiresome. ? Glad your 6000 came in handy.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B085DKHY5K

[GB_Amateur]

Somehow I missed your two previous hunt posts; glad to get caught up.  Seems as though you like winter detecting there in New England!

Have you tried waxing your coil (cover) to help minimize snow buildup?  Works for my snow shovels.  I use carnauba paste wax (automobile version but wood floor version probably same thing).  Heck, the choices for cross country skiiers -- I bet there's a perfect one for your situation.

I like seeing all your trash (and of course the better stuff).  Besides the lower weight, do you see any advantage of the 6000 over the 5000 for you type of detecting?