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Finally!

Chipk

Elite Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2013
Messages
3,314
Location
Jacksonville / Yulee Florida
Yesterday I went to a historical permission I’ve been working. It has been hunted many times and there’s been very little of value or interest coming to the surface. I removed some pull tabs and 2 Shield pennies. Then I got an interesting signal.

Whatever it was was deep under a mass of roots. It was a terrible struggle between the heat and the roots and several times I had to retreat to the car and wipe off with a wet towel I packed in ice and then gulp down copious amounts of Gatorade.

Heat stroke was a definite possibility.

I finally got down enough to get my hands on the end of it. I had nearly killed my self to uncover a sizable irrigation pipe. I wanted to remove what I estimate to be a 2 foot pipe but the body was weak and frankly, so was the soul. I marked the spot in case I ever decide to continue the fight, filled the hole and staggered to my car. I wiped off about a half pound of mud from sweat and dirt, changed my shirt and headed home.

Not a spectacular day.

This morning I wanted to go to a different permission and packed my car. Went to tell the Wife and she announced “I WANT TO GO TO THE BEACH!” Mumbling under my breath I loaded the Jeep with beach detectors and gear and a couple of chairs. Then Grace stepped outside and a blast of heat drove her back inside and beloved air conditioning.

I considered going to my place and then returning to take her to the beach but I remembered how miserable I was yesterday and decided to postpone my trip a bit. I loaded my electrolysis tank to remove rust from some of my previous finds and popped the previous items into the grill to bake at 400*for a few hours. This removes any water or moisture deep inside to prevent future rust until I can properly seal them.

I took care of a few more tasks before enjoying a luxurious nap on the couch. Retirement’s best gift!

Around 6:20ish,she decided it was time to go to the beach. When we arrived I was greeted with a very very low tide. I grabbed one of my Minelab Sovereigns, the best beach machines ever made and headed out to the water’s edge. I went in to mid calf depth and then up to the dry sands and back and forth. The beaches have been very clean this year and I was hoping for a signal, something to recover. I didn’t care if it was a bottle cap or pull tab. Anything to break the monotony.

Suddenly the SOV went off. This machine has no pinpointer so you have to “work the compass” going back and forth with the coil to determine where the target lies.

I dug the scoop deep into the sand several times with no success. Each time I pulled the scoop out the tide would refill the hole and the sides would collapse. Then I adjusted the dig of the scoop over 3-4 inches and tried again. This time the detector went silent when it went over the spot.

Whatever it was, was in my scoop.

Knocked out about half of the sand and ran the detector over the pile and it was still silent so it was still in the scoop. I held it under an incoming wave and the remaining sand and shell washed out. I looked inside of the scoop.

There was a yellow metaled ring with an a nice Tiger’s Eye agate mounted on it. I did a mental Happy Dance.

I popped it into a secure pocket.

I was saddened to later see there is no stamp inside to indicate if it’s gold. However the spot where it likely would be had been altered to size it to the previous owner’s finger.

An acid test says 10K. I did it twice to be sure.

It’s been awhile since I harvested any beach jewelry of any interest. Normally I score at least a couple of rings each year but it’s been well over a year since the last.

Finally!
 

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:dingding: That baby's thick! What's the weight? Congrats as well!!
 
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