For Those About To Rock… A Nor’easter!

[Sand Hunter]

For those of you on the East Coast planning to rock the beach after the coming nor’easter, I’d like to get your opinions. I was fortunate to book a 3-night stay at the beach just after the nor’easter, so I’ll have 2 days to hunt. I’ll be taking my Dual Field PI and my BBS SMF Sovereign Elite with 12x10 & 15x12 SEF coils. With those 2, I should be well armed to go deep in shallow water, wet sand, or the dry.

Low tides in early morning so need to arrive early, as my top priority is hitting shallow water with my PI during low tide, working my way back up the wet as the tide comes in. I wasn’t initially considering hitting the dry, but I’ve been thinking that after the tide comes in, spending some time working the dry might not be a bad idea, so this is where I’d like to get everyone’s opinion.

Beach cams are showing the water rising up higher and higher on the dry. Weather reports in DE & MD are warning of flooding and indicate that water would rise up so high; it will cover about a foot of the coastal highway. I’ve seen that years ago during another storm. Just thinking, if the water reaches that far up to cover the highway, the dry will be totally submerged under water for some time. If that’s the case, I’m assuming there’s a chance that rising water might deposit targets all throughout the dry. When the water recedes, it might strip sand from the dry, putting targets within easier reach.

Hitting shallow water and wet sand are my 2 “go-to” areas, we all do that. But I’d like to get everyone’s opinion about hitting the dry after it’s been flooded by incoming water from a serious storm, then potentially being stripped as water recedes back into the ocean. I’ve read some reports from others who mentioned that hunting after a serious storm; they discovered the storm left a “towel line” of targets in the middle section of the dry.

Any thoughts, opinions, or experience hunting the dry after a nor’easter or other serious storm?

[Matt4gold]

Try to arrive 2-3 hours before low tide at least. Following it out and in. The higher than normal tide should strip away some of the dry sand but it’s anyone’s guess where it will deposit it. When you find a target in the wet or dry work a spiral circle around it to see if there are additional targets. There’s a good chance especially in the wet sand that you may find a line or group of targets. Check outs any cuts and both sides of sand bars that may form a tidal pool.  
Good luck!

[Joe D.]

   Theirs alot of variables in what "your" conditions will be after the storm passes! Too many to cover here in fact, or I'd be writing pages long, and all my assumptions could be totally wrong! All I can tell you, as a hunter along the Space Coast/ Treasure Coast, who has hunted a bunch this last week; including today, at multiple beaches, during this storms formation and departure, is your initial "areas to hit" are very similar to how I hunt normally! But as far as targets are concerned, with a few small exceptions, it's been disappointing conditions for me personally!

   One of the main problems with "our" method, is that right now the wet sand/ shallow water area is all out of sorts with no consolidation of targets as of yet! And there is alot of debris that is not normally there! Plus the water is nowhere near normal tide levels; high or low, with the King Tides in play!

   We here have the added hindrance of much renurishment sand that is moving, but still not getting down to some original beach sand! Hopefully that's not the case where you are going to hunt! 

   I'm guessing you gonna have to spend more time than usual in a larger area, trying to locate your usual targets, and i would definitely cover some "dry" areas to see what may have moved about! You have a couple of proven detectors along for the ride, and I'm sure you have gotten to know them well, if you have used them like I'm thinking you have! 

  We didn't get the right wave action to produce this time, but looking at the weather reports, it may be much more favorable your way for some great finds! In any case, have fun on your trip, and be patient! I hope you post here again with your results; good or bad, as I for one would like to know how this "story" concludes!🤞

   Good luck, and happy hunting! And be mindful of the extra hazards! Lots of sharp pokey bits around!🍀👍👍

  

[Wild Bill]

Sand Hunter, your post brought up memories of my late father in law who was a marine safety director for a southern California beach community.  He studied storms, tides and beach erosion.  Had a library on the subject and kept detailed records.  It would have been interesting to talk with him.  My wife who grew up at the beach had mentioned storms changing the beach and finding coins after storms as a kid.  We live in Nevada so the subject doesn’t apply to our detecting these days.  However there is a science to this subject that could help beach detecting through a better understanding of the effects storms, tidal effects and the changing beach sands through time.  There’s books on the subject and articles that might enhance understanding along with personal experiences over time beach detecting.  Best of luck to you!  Sounds like you’re well equipped.  

https://courses.ems.psu.edu/earth107/node/1519

https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-beach-book/9780231160544/ 

[Wild Bill]

Those sources may not be the best but there’s a lot out there in books and online for reference to gain a better understanding over time that should be helpful to beach detecting.  

[Sand Hunter]

12 hours ago, Wild Bill said:

Sand Hunter, your post brought up memories of my late father in law who was a marine safety director for a southern California beach community.  He studied storms, tides and beach erosion.  Had a library on the subject and kept detailed records.  It would have been interesting to talk with him.  My wife who grew up at the beach had mentioned storms changing the beach and finding coins after storms as a kid.  We live in Nevada so the subject doesn’t apply to our detecting these days.  However there is a science to this subject that could help beach detecting through a better understanding of the effects storms, tidal effects and the changing beach sands through time.  There’s books on the subject and articles that might enhance understanding along with personal experiences over time beach detecting.  Best of luck to you!  Sounds like you’re well equipped.  

https://courses.ems.psu.edu/earth107/node/1519

https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-beach-book/9780231160544/ 

Wild Bill, thank you SO much for those links, I've bookmarked both. That book, The Beach Book, the Science of the Shore, by Carl Hobbs looks incredibly interesting. What's appealing about that book to me is that Carl Hobbs is a Professor of Marine Science at Virginia Institute of Marine Science. Great to learn the science from someone who has dedicated their career to the study of beaches, shorelines, marine archaeology, etc.

Also, I noticed that one of his research interests is the geologic history of the Chesapeake Bay and the surrounding region. I'm born and raised in MD and the Chesapeake Bay is literally in my backyard, spent a lot of time on the Chesapeake growing up as my dad is retired Coast Guard, we always had boats, and the Chesapeake is where we played and fished.

BTW, a tip of the hat to your late father-in-law. I've always loved storms, the darker the sky, the stronger the wind, the harder the rain, the better. When I was a kid, I grew up in a rowhouse in the city, lived with my mom, 2 aunts and grandparents. During the summer, part of our entertainment was running down to the corner store, getting snowballs, then sitting on the porch with other neighbors to watch thunderstorms, lol. I absolutely love thunderstorms, and while they scare some people, and my dog, lol, they tend to lull me to sleep. 

I guess I passed my love of severe storms down to my daughter, and she passed it down to my grandson. My grandson is only 14, but he has a serious interest in meteorology, hurricanes, tornadoes, and severe bad weather, just like his grandfather. He wants to be a storm/tornado chaser, and I recently drove him 2 counties up from us to attend a 2-hour training class so that he could be a volunteer storm reporter. So, when he spots bad weather, he'll go online and file a report to the county's emergency services department. They depend on volunteer storm reports to help develop their warning reports that they'll give out to local media, law enforcement, EMS, etc. And for Christmas, he wants equipment he'll need to set up his own weather station.

Thanks again for taking the time to provide 2 great resources, really appreciate you!

[Sand Hunter]

21 hours ago, Joe D. said:

   Theirs alot of variables in what "your" conditions will be after the storm passes! Too many to cover here in fact, or I'd be writing pages long, and all my assumptions could be totally wrong! All I can tell you, as a hunter along the Space Coast/ Treasure Coast, who has hunted a bunch this last week; including today, at multiple beaches, during this storms formation and departure, is your initial "areas to hit" are very similar to how I hunt normally! But as far as targets are concerned, with a few small exceptions, it's been disappointing conditions for me personally!

   One of the main problems with "our" method, is that right now the wet sand/ shallow water area is all out of sorts with no consolidation of targets as of yet! And there is alot of debris that is not normally there! Plus the water is nowhere near normal tide levels; high or low, with the King Tides in play!

   We here have the added hindrance of much renurishment sand that is moving, but still not getting down to some original beach sand! Hopefully that not the case where you are going to hunt! 

   I'm guessing you gonna have to spend more time than usual in a larger area, trying to locate your usual targets, and i would definitely cover some "dry" areas to see what may have moved about! You have a couple of proven detectors along for the ride, and I'm sure you have gotten to know them well, if you have used them like I'm thinking you have! 

  We didn't get the right wave action to produce this time, but looking at the weather reports, it may be much more favorable your way for some great finds! In any case, have fun on your trip, and be patient! I hope you post here again with your results; good or bad, as I for one would like to know how this "story" concludes!🤞

   Good luck, and happy hunting! And be mindful of the extra hazards! Lots of sharp pokey bits around!🍀👍👍

  

Thanks Joe. I was down at the beach just as Erin was coming in, so I was a bit early, but she wasn't the stripper we had hoped for, turned out she was more of a depositor. This time however, for this nor'easter, I'll be spending a few days down at the beach, but after the storm, so hoping this storm is a stripper this time, lol.

Funny thing though, I've spent all day on the forums, chatting with buddies and some guys who live down at the beaches I'll be heading to. We've been sharing reports, videos, latest updates, and I've been trying to formulate my "plan" for attacking the beach before low tide. I was coming up with all sorts of plans, I'll hit the shallow water first, then follow the tide in up the dry, then a buddy said the storm is supposed to strip all the replenishment sand down to hard pan, so then I started thinking I might want to work up into the dry as well. I normally don't work the dry, unless I don't have a lot of time, or don't want to get wet before heading out to dinner or somewhere, so I'm usually only working the wet & shallow water.

But then I thought of Mike Tyson and his famous saying: "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face". That woke me up and made me realize that whatever "plan" I come up with sitting at my desk in my dry home, might totally fall apart once I get to the beach and check the conditions. My course of action will totally depend on what the beach looks like, if the storm did any damage, left a cut, bowl, or trough. There's so many variables to consider that I decided to discard my "plan", and just wait to get down to the beach, do a quick survey, then make my "plan" based on the conditions I'm seeing.

And speaking of sharp pokey bits, check this beauty out. I found this years ago under just a couple inches of sand, with points up. Anyone in bare feet who happened to walk over this would have had a bad day, and probably a trip to the ER to get a shot. I keep this in my pouch so anytime someone asks me if I've found anything, I'll pull this out to show them. They usually will gasp and thank me profusely for getting that dangerous doodad out of the sand. Also show it to the lifeguards, never hurts to promote the hobby with them, good will and all. I actually had one lifeguard thank me for getting that off the beach, said that's one less first aid emergency he'd have to deal with. Then, about an hour later, that same lifeguard motioned me to come over. He told me about a woman who reported losing her ring in the water, close to his lifeguard station. He pointed to the general location; I searched but didn't find the ring but thought it was cool that he waved me over to tell me about that ring. 

  

[F350Platinum]

Hey Sand Hunter,

My week long experience post-Erin was fairly similar to Joe D's, but I did get a lot of older clad and one silver chain. Where I was the beach was so sanded out I figured most of the good stuff was out in the deeper water. 🤔 I mean 4 feet of sittable space and then the high tide cut. 

After this nor'easter passes I wish you fair winds and tide pools. 🙂 Time for me to head back to the fields.

🍀

[schoolofhardNox]

I would arrive early and scan the dry sand first. If I find no old targets, then I would assume that it did not strip any appreciable amount of sand away. I would mostly be concentrating on very weak targets in that dry sand, because maybe it removed just enough sand to hear some of the deep stuff.  Then I would gradually follow that tide down until low tide as suggested already.  Use whatever machine works best and fastest. Time goes quickly when you hunt low tides. Besides I have found that during most storms, low tide is not generally very low, sometimes almost not at all. The winds tend to limit low tide. I almost went out today, but my beach scout didn't report any conditions to me, so not worth the 2 hour trip and chance a sanded in beach.  Good luck to you!!