Florida hit and miss with success...

Seaking406 · Mar 11, 2019

Armed with my Nox 600 on various Florida beaches this winter vacation, I had mixed results when out hunting on the beaches. While in Panama City Beach, the weather wasn't very cooperative and found a few coins and odds and ends. At Saint Andrews State Park nearby, found some various coins and odds and ends. Nothing too noteworthy as the gold ring found last year. However, the 2 days spent on Ormand City Beach on the East coast proved to be more interesting.

Having found a small silver pendant and several coins of note, most of these coins (dollar coin from Belize and another coin from Quatar of all places, these were found up against the condo sea walls sitting pretty much on the surface, not too visible to the naked eye but when the detector sang on these, it was loud. In all, found about $5 worth of quarters dimes and nickels and lots of pennies. I met up with a nice lady from Colorado who, armed with a NOX 800, was kind enough to show me how to better use my detector on such beach. Because I was visiting and soon leaving North, she didn't mind sharing. But if I had been staying much longer, it was understandable that she wouldn't want me horking in on her search area and she wouldn't have shared some knowledge. Thanks to her, my find ratio went up a bit. Though it was early in the season, just before March break, it was fun to get out in the sun and hunt without ice and snow in the way

Unfortunately, once again my Garnett Carrot failed, much in the same fashion as the last one did last summer. I barely got 8 hours of use out of it when it wouldn't come out of silent buzz mode in close range mode. I pulled the battery out of it to reset it but to no avail.. it was locked and stuck in that mode making it rather usable, try as I may it wouldn't come out of that mode. There was a gentleman from Idaho with the same pointer who also tried to sort it out but he noticed a rattling noise inside when the battery was removed. Hopefully they will replace this one with one that actually works much longer, as I do like it better than the spare pointer I wisely brought with me. I don't know if I received a refurbished one as replacement last summer, but not impressed that two in a row would fail on me. I'm very gentle with it, never dropped, pried or hammered into the soil. Sigh.

Back in Nova Scotia now, waiting for the snow to melt and the ground to thaw to get back out there and get back to fun dirt fishing.

Cheers

DaviDs · Mar 11, 2019

Seaking406 said:
Armed with my Nox 600 on various Florida beaches this winter vacation, I had mixed results... Back in Nova Scotia...

Congrats, any warm day in Florida is a good day! I was just at Ormond Bch too. Its a tough area. Lots of locals and tourists hit that area. I meet a lot of folks that come down for Disney, and then they make a day trip to Daytona/Ormond/Cape Canaveral for a round of MD'g. But take the tips she gave you and keep them ready for your next trip!

My mom's side, Dacey, emmigrated from Ireland to Nova Scotia, and then some moved further south in the states. I went up to visit when I was in grade or middle school. My most vivid memory was how clean the air smelled. Also, I recall seeing signage in French. A beautiful area indeed!

Seaking406 · Mar 11, 2019

DaviDs said:
Congrats, any warm day in Florida is a good day! I was just at Ormond Bch too. Its a tough area. Lots of locals and tourists hit that area. I meet a lot of folks that come down for Disney, and then they make a day trip to Daytona/Ormond/Cape Canaveral for a round of MD'g. But take the tips she gave you and keep them ready for your next trip!

My mom's side, Dacey, emmigrated from Ireland to Nova Scotia, and then some moved further south in the states. I went up to visit when I was in grade or middle school. My most vivid memory was how clean the air smelled. Also, I recall seeing signage in French. A beautiful area indeed!

All the metal detectorists that I saw in PCB were probably newbies at it by the way they were swinging their kit back and fro (fast and curved) and the pace they walked at (quite fast).. but the people at Ormond Beach appeared more intent and knowledgeable just by the way they went about it.. As long as you're having fun, have at it.. But the proper way makes it more enjoyable when you find more things in the sand

I like watching the 'newbies' and follow up behind them to pick up what they missed

The one thing that I did notice THIS year compared to last year was how much less garbage there was on the beach, especially at PCB, might have had something to do with hurricane Micheal that swept through last fall...?

And yes, Nova Scotia is a wonder place, I chose to retire here after 30 yrs in the Air Force (spent most of my postings here anyway).. A lot of Scottish, Irish and French influences all over the place. Makes for an interesting visit should you find yourself out this way.

Cheers

All Clad · Mar 11, 2019

Generally speaking (as there are always exceptions)...Florida winter is beautiful, mostly 70's weather, low humidity and sunny. That said, it is very pleasant to be out and about detecting the shores. Stamina levels are much higher for anyone, as you are not being beaten down by 95 degree heat and direct overhead summer sun which is brutal. It's also less populated at the beach making covering lots of ground easier.

That means quite simply, that all winter long the detectorists have "cleaned" the beach pretty well. At least the sand and wet sand areas. The water is a different story. Gets a little cold to be in there. Although, Canadians don't seem to mind.
Couple that with heavily reduced number of beach-goers...there's just not a whole lot out there.

Almost all vending machines, snack stations and parking meters accept credit card, so there's been a dramatic decrease in the number of people carrying change in recent years. Bad for clad hunters. There's still some out there to find, but it isn't "littered with clad" like it used to be at major beaches. I used to hit a coin every 10 feet back in the day. Ridiculous. Not anymore. All those meters and vending machines that were coin only are gone.

I expect a nice healthy yield of finds to pick up again in July - Oct when several million people have visited the beach and lost stuff.

I'd say for every 5 detectorists hitting the sand, 1 will be in the water. Ratio might be more steep than that. Conservative estimate. Costs more $$$ to get a waterproof, more capable beach machine that can handle the surf. Factor in you need a serious water scoop too. This is the realm of serious detectorists. The casual hunters have machines more than capable of hunting clad in sand and there's lot of them.

But the surf is where people have lost their rings, necklaces, ear-rings and such...

As I said, always exceptions. Find an area that hasn't been hit, can make a huge difference. Having a better machine that finds things others couldn't. Luck plays a role. Work ethic, the successful ones dig everything. Skipping those lower tones thinking it's more foil or a pull tab could be passing up something gold....

Seaking406 · Mar 11, 2019

All Clad said:
Generally speaking (as there are always exceptions)...Florida winter is beautiful, mostly 70's weather, low humidity and sunny. That said, it is very pleasant to be out and about detecting the shores. Stamina levels are much higher for anyone, as you are not being beaten down by 95 degree heat and direct overhead summer sun which is brutal. It's also less populated at the beach making covering lots of ground easier.

Almost all vending machines, snack stations and parking meters accept credit card, so there's been a dramatic decrease in the number of people carrying change in recent years. Bad for clad hunters. There's still some out there to find, but it isn't "littered with clad" like it used to be at major beaches. I used to hit a coin every 10 feet back in the day. Ridiculous. Not anymore. All those meters and vending machines that were coin only are gone.

I expect a nice healthy yield of finds to pick up again in July - Oct when several million people have visited the beach and lost stuff.

But the surf is where people have lost their rings, necklaces, ear-rings and such...

As I said, always exceptions. Find an area that hasn't been hit, can make a huge difference. Having a better machine that finds things others couldn't. Luck plays a role. Work ethic, the successful ones dig everything. Skipping those lower tones thinking it's more foil or a pull tab could be passing up something gold....

Sadly, the 2.5 weeks we spent on the Panhandle saw several days of frigid northern winds howl down reminding me of home than sunny Florida.. no kidding, even this Canuck found that a might bit rough on the lads.. The rest of the time was shrouded in dense wet fog etc.. but the warmer sunny days I did manage to go out and have the fun.

I sadly understand very much that I am there at the most inopportune time of the season, at the front end of everyone arriving etc.. it would be nice getting there in the Fall though..

I do have fully waterproof kit, as far as I am aware of (Garrett AT Pro, NOX 600) but I haven't managed to figure out how to scan at the water line properly.. the waves make it challenging and I am no longer as fit as I was a few years ago.. still a kid at heart, old man in bones..

And as you mentioned, I do dig on all signals, just about.. great finds were made on such 'not good' signals

Thanks for sharing!

Cheers

Dragonfire · Mar 11, 2019

in the cold winter down her in Florida I seem to do better going up to high tide then down to low tide . instead of just following the water line . its too cold for us to go into the water . but they still loose stuff .. just not much of it at all .. last time found .52 cents and a Pr of sunglasses .. no gold since Dec .. but it is not unusual to see 4-5 people out there swinging.. and most are not going into that cold water ...up to my knees for me .. dont need a rogue wave coming in slapping the fellas around :shock:

All Clad · Mar 11, 2019

OK...I have to eat crow now after making that whole speech about the scarcity of stuff this time of year. In my defense, I did say there's stuff in or near the water.

20 minutes after making that post, my wife gets off of work and we head down to the beach (Clearwater) to detect. We worked a lesser populated area, and searched the edge of the shore (low tide). First hit...bottle cap. Second hit...some kind of phantom signal that we weren't able to replicate after making a hole. Third hit after just 15 minutes - BOOM! Our first ring!

We have never scored a ring. Turns out to be gold plated sterling silver 925. Has diamonds! Wasn't sure at the beach as it hard to see and crusted with sand. Brought it home, cleaned it the best I could. Got out my 10x Zeiss loupe (I'm an optics snob) ...and they're real diamonds, inclusions and all.

Other finds include...part of an older Apple iPhone charger. Three bottle caps. A couple of beer cans. Two or three pieces of foil from a yogurt container. Some tiny stainless steel washer.

Two quarters, three dimes and two pennies.

Clad was pretty scarce and we detected along the line where nearly everyone sets up at the beach. We covered a lot of ground. Where most handling of change might take place, where people sit in beach chairs or layout. Most likely to lose or drop coins.

This is our third time out with our new Equinox 800. This thing is a beach monster. So stable, so precise, goes deep. Now, to be honest this is our first high(er) end machine so nothing to compare against. But compared to our old Ace 250...not even in the same universe. We hit a corroded penny that was 9" deep in wet, packed beach sand with shells. Strong performance. Basically, this machine goes as deep as we would be willing to ever dig or more so.

Seaking406 · Mar 12, 2019

Dragonfire said:
in the cold winter down her in Florida I seem to do better going up to high tide then down to low tide . instead of just following the water line . its too cold for us to go into the water . but they still loose stuff .. just not much of it at all .. last time found .52 cents and a Pr of sunglasses .. no gold since Dec .. but it is not unusual to see 4-5 people out there swinging.. and most are not going into that cold water ...up to my knees for me .. dont need a rogue wave coming in slapping the fellas around

I was thinking about how cold the water must be for metal detecting while I was out swimming in it..

'twas cold but nothing compared to up here in summer lol..

Seaking406 · Mar 12, 2019

All Clad said:
20 minutes after making that post, my wife gets off of work and we head down to the beach (Clearwater) to detect. We worked a lesser populated area, and searched the edge of the shore (low tide). First hit...bottle cap. Second hit...some kind of phantom signal that we weren't able to replicate after making a hole. Third hit after just 15 minutes - BOOM! Our first ring!
Where most handling of change might take place, where people sit in beach chairs or layout. Most likely to lose or drop coins.

Congrats on the ring find! Hopefully it won't be a long spell before the next one pops out.. My first two (only) ring finds were both within the first 5 minutes of a hunt on the beach last year and nothing since. But just the thought that there is another one out there waiting for me is enough to keep me going and enjoying this hobby =)

Dragonfire · Mar 25, 2019

well then the real test would be to come here in the summer and see how long it takes b4 you call it quits .. I can take the heat a lot better than cold
I too was in the Air Force .. they sent this Florida Boy to ALASKA !!

Seaking406 · Mar 25, 2019

Dragonfire said:
well then the real test would be to come here in the summer and see how long it takes b4 you call it quits .. I can take the heat a lot better than cold.. I too was in the Air Force .. they sent this Florida Boy to ALASKA !!

I likes me weather in the 70-80's in the summer time.. no thanks! I was posted to Cold Lake, Alberta during the winter months.. walked to work in the dark, worked indoors, walked back to the barracks in the dark, so short the winter days.. I feel your pain..

But to get ME down there in Florida in the middle of summer?! Egads no! You can dress up to keep warm but there's only so much I'm willing to take off in the heat.. just to keep the beaches 'pretty', so to speak

Florida hit and miss with success...

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