Dave is one of the DetectorStuff forum moderators and an active poster.  He is an avid beach hunter and member of CRABS (Carolina Relic and Beach hunting Society).   I read this post (originally seen HERE) and saw some cool tips and beach hunting information…since detectorstuff is about “learning”, I asked Dave if we could post it here on the “main” site.

-Mark

Dave

There’s allot of different styles, some work better than others, some work one day and not the next, some just don’t work on certain beaches or for certain people but here’s mine.

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Sometimes I think we always see posts and videos of great finds…however, for most of us, those “awesome finds” days are the exception and not the rule.  This video of a fella who shows even the best looking sites may only produce a clad or two!

Every so often, when I run across some interesting metal detecting videos I’ll post ‘em up for folks to enjoy….

My hunting partner, Rob Fahey, and I had almost given up trying to locate a lost ghost town in a neighboring New England state. I had stumbled onto an account of “a village” of several Colonial homes abandoned for reasons unknown. It sounded very interesting, and conjured up visions of multiple detecting sites, but we kept putting it off for one reason or another. Since it was a long drive, we talked ourselves into believing that other treasure hunters had also done research and beaten us to the punch. Besides, we had other productive areas closer to home that we’d been working successfully.

Finally, one weekend we decided to take a gamble. Even if the site of the ghost town had been previously detected, we could still enjoy the adventure of locating and photographing a site that dated back to the 1700s. It’s fun to try to go back in time and imagine what life was like with no running water and no electricity. Of course, actually metal detecting at early settlements like this is the pinnacle of our quest, and I enjoy creating displays of whatever relics may surface.

Conflicting theories surrounded “The Village” high in the hills of New Hampshire, and research turned up speculations from various historians: a hamlet of Revolutionary Tories, freed slaves, people afflicted with diseases… to me, all guesses. Additional tips from a hiker brought us up the same winding dirt cart roads once used by the original settlers. Unfortunately, however, vague directions and unfamiliarity with the area led us to every path but the correct one. After going in complete circles with tiring legs, cliches like “striking out” and “can’t win ‘em all” were uttered. It was now late afternoon. I looked at my watch and said, “Let’s drive just a bit farther to be sure.” I’d hate to think we were so close and gave up. Finally, we spied stone walls leading into a depression resembling a house site. “The Village!” we yelled.

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Learn from my success at finding the icon. “Reading” a site requires recognition of key features and the forces that my have acted upon them over the years. Beaches protected from winds that cause large waves are more popular than unprotected beaches. For instance, southward-facing beaches on the west of the United States are more protected from prevailing winds and heavy surf than beaches facing west or north. Popular beaches usually feature fine, clean sand with a wide and gradual slope into the water. Remember that changes continually occur as a result of both man and nature. Popular play areas of yesterday may scarcely be recognizable as beaches today. Many such identifiable sections of “lost” beaches can be hunted profitably. Not all are still connected to the mainland; some are separated by lagoons and marshland. Some have been converted into bird and wildlife sanctuaries.

As areas have grown more populated, former swimming beaches have disappeared or been permitted to erode. Land development and new business and industry took precedent over recreation and natural beauty. Breakwaters, harbor extensions, jetties and damming or otherwise diverting streams and rivers have destroyed once-popular play areas. Treasure lost there years ago, however, will remain forever-or, until it is found. Search out these treasure vaults and reap a harvest.

Obvious other places to search for beach treasure are man-made spots. Walk onto a beach and observe people at play. Watch children of all ages as they frolic. Then, when they tire of that activity, watch them scoot away. Coins fall from pockets…rings slip off of fingers…bracelets, necklaces and chains fall into the sand as young people play their games. Other more subtle games are being played on beach chairs and blankets, but wherever people relax, coins and jewelry fall into the sand.

Search around trails, walkways and boardwalks. Never pass up an opportunity to scan the base of seawalls and stone fences. People without chairs often camp by these structures where they can lean back. Always search under picnic tables and beaches. Sure, you’ll find lots of bottle caps and pull tabs, but you will also find coins, toys and other valuable objects. Search around food stands, bathhouses, shower stalls, dressing sheds and water fountains and under piers and stairs. Posts and other such obstacles are good “traps” where treasure can be found.

To find treasure you must begin by being at the right place at the right time with the right equipment. Research sources will indicate the right place. Discussions of weather, tides and beach selection elsewhere in the Guide should put you there at the right time. Now, you must develop the skill needed to “read” a site. If you learn which features are important and which are not, much of your battle is already won. As you research records, histories and old maps be on the alert for clues to landmarks and locations. For instance, the name of a beach led me to a valuable Spanish icon that is very precious to me. Wouldn’t a name like “Massacre Beach” cause your ears to perk up? Let me tell you of this experience where visual and mental study led me almost directly to one of those “X-marks-the spot” locations.

I was with a group of treasure hunters on the beautiful Caribbean Island of Guadeloupe. Submerged at the entrance to a cove were numerous old and very large anchors protruding a few feet out of the water. Quite an unusual sight! We learned that the anchors had been placed there centuries ago to prevent enemy ships from entering the cove which then served as a harbor. This location had obviously experienced some interesting history. I was intrigued, of course, but primarily by treasures that might have been lost during this history. It took little imagination to visualize enemy ships sailing in with cannons blasting and shore batteries returning the fire. Vessels must have been sunk in that harbor.

Only a short distance away was the area known as Massacre Beach. Such a name stirs the imagination. What scenes of brutality had occurred here? How violent must they have been to mark this pretty place forever as a site of ruthless killing? Could any treasure hunter standing on such a beach resist searching beneath it for artifacts and relics that must surely have been lost in the slaughter? Do any of them still lies somewhere beneath its sands? Where?

As I studied the area, my eye was caught by an outcropping of coral protruding a few inches out of the water and ending abruptly where the sea washed upon dry land. It seemed logical to me that anything ever lost here in the sand could still be trapped by that coral that prevented high water from washing it back into the blue waters of the Caribbean.

Also, I thought of that barrier of anchors and the ships it had been designed to deter. If any of them had ever been sunk in the cove, storms could have hurled treasure from their wreckage onto this beach where objects might still lie captured by the coral. I walked to the edge of the water next to the coral outcropping and turned on my Master Hunter detector. After only a few scans, it sang out with that glorious “sound of money.”

At a depth of about one-foot, I dug into a shelf of solid coral that had become smooth from centuries of water and sand abrasion. When I moved my hand over the coral and failed to locate a target, I reasoned that it must be below the coral ledge. I scanned again and heard the detector frantically signally the presence of something large and “valuable.” Again, I dug my finger around in the hole, and sought to probe under the coral. My fingernails caught on something that moved. I grasped the object and lifted it out of the water where I first judged it to be just a piece of coral. Looking more carefully as I wiped away the sand, I saw that it was some sort of man-made object either carved or cast out of metal.

This breathtaking discovery proved to be a Spanish icon made of pewter. The Virgin Mary was holding the Christ Child in her arms; halo rays adorned both heads. As companions surrounded me, another member of the group continued scanning and quickly discovered a Spanish cob date 1692. This date, plus features of the icon, date the religious relic to the years just prior to 1700.

Careful study of the are worked in my favor. The name Massacre Beach stirred up my interest. Knowledge of wind and wave action led me almost to the precise location where my metal detector and digging tool completed the search.