Compass
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For the past week and a half I've been watching the Southern California surf forecast and praying that the storms in the southeast Pacific would result in good surf as the surf forecasters were predicting. The tides were going to be extreme this past weekend and any corresponding surf would be the right combination for a successful hunt. I took a vacation day on Friday as I felt that it was going to be good with any kind of decent swell despite the less than ideal angle that the waves were coming in at.
Thursday night I got to beach #1 and chased the outgoing tide. There were no big "cuts" to speak of but the waves had created some pretty good slopes and as soon as I turned on the detector I started getting signals and finding coins probably about every 5 to 10 feet or so in the wet sand. I was also finding rings on a pretty surprising rate but I could tell that most of them were not gold. Two of the rings were found back to back, part of a matching "belt buckle" design. They are so new looking and clean and fancy that I thought I might have really scored big but later I found them on the internet for $50 a set.
After the sun came up I went to beach #2 and there WAS an actual cut there about 2 feet high and a fair amount of black sand showing below it. I started finding coins there as well- mostly in and near the black sand although not as thick with targets as the first beach. I continued to find rings about every hour on average (a couple of silver) but was desperate to find some gold since these conditions would surely put the gold within reach.
As the morning became the afternoon and the 2nd low tide of the day was approaching I started to find lead sinkers and coins down by the receding water. A heavy tungsten carbide ring found its way into my scoop followed by a small silver ring. Surely the gold had to be nearby and within a few minutes there it was- a 14K yellow gold band (6.5 grams) looking so awesome in the scoop and bright sunlight!
15 minutes later I scooped out a small green, red and brown "ball" that I didn't recognize at first but soon realized that it was an encrusted class ring!
Okay, that was it. If I wanted to come back on Saturday I better get home and try to rest up.
On Saturday I went back to the same beaches which looked a little different from the previous evening's high tide/surf combo. I was actually finding many coins but all I could think of was finding some more gold. As I was working in the black sand I saw what looked like some thin straw sticking out of the jet black sand and I thought, "Is that what I think it is?" Sure enough, it was a small gold chain!!! I pulled it out, slowly, hoping there was more of it hiding below the surface. Thankfully, there was for a total of 14", short but in excellent condition and of high karat color.
I added a broken 10K ring and a couple of other potential gold pieces along with a pretty hefty coiled silver bracelet before calling it a day.
This morning I dragged myself back down to the beach and continued to find a fair amount of coins but it looked like some sand had moved back into the area and a lot of the targets were deeper. I could have probably found a better producing spot but I was really too tired and sore to aggressively pursue it. 1 small silver ring was all the jewelry for today. Over the next week I'll go through all my finds and see what I came up with coin-wise. It was a great weekend but now I will pay the price tomorrow at work!
GL&HH!
Thursday night I got to beach #1 and chased the outgoing tide. There were no big "cuts" to speak of but the waves had created some pretty good slopes and as soon as I turned on the detector I started getting signals and finding coins probably about every 5 to 10 feet or so in the wet sand. I was also finding rings on a pretty surprising rate but I could tell that most of them were not gold. Two of the rings were found back to back, part of a matching "belt buckle" design. They are so new looking and clean and fancy that I thought I might have really scored big but later I found them on the internet for $50 a set.
After the sun came up I went to beach #2 and there WAS an actual cut there about 2 feet high and a fair amount of black sand showing below it. I started finding coins there as well- mostly in and near the black sand although not as thick with targets as the first beach. I continued to find rings about every hour on average (a couple of silver) but was desperate to find some gold since these conditions would surely put the gold within reach.
As the morning became the afternoon and the 2nd low tide of the day was approaching I started to find lead sinkers and coins down by the receding water. A heavy tungsten carbide ring found its way into my scoop followed by a small silver ring. Surely the gold had to be nearby and within a few minutes there it was- a 14K yellow gold band (6.5 grams) looking so awesome in the scoop and bright sunlight!
15 minutes later I scooped out a small green, red and brown "ball" that I didn't recognize at first but soon realized that it was an encrusted class ring!
Okay, that was it. If I wanted to come back on Saturday I better get home and try to rest up.
On Saturday I went back to the same beaches which looked a little different from the previous evening's high tide/surf combo. I was actually finding many coins but all I could think of was finding some more gold. As I was working in the black sand I saw what looked like some thin straw sticking out of the jet black sand and I thought, "Is that what I think it is?" Sure enough, it was a small gold chain!!! I pulled it out, slowly, hoping there was more of it hiding below the surface. Thankfully, there was for a total of 14", short but in excellent condition and of high karat color.
I added a broken 10K ring and a couple of other potential gold pieces along with a pretty hefty coiled silver bracelet before calling it a day.
This morning I dragged myself back down to the beach and continued to find a fair amount of coins but it looked like some sand had moved back into the area and a lot of the targets were deeper. I could have probably found a better producing spot but I was really too tired and sore to aggressively pursue it. 1 small silver ring was all the jewelry for today. Over the next week I'll go through all my finds and see what I came up with coin-wise. It was a great weekend but now I will pay the price tomorrow at work!
GL&HH!