Myrtle Beach

I felt i has hi jacked Keiths thread long enough. Its been an interesting and educationing 3 days. I only got to hunt a couple of time for about 3 hours each. The first night i was there i thought id wait until the evening........ the waves were kickin and just unhuntable with the groves in the sand and swift water. When i first got there i thought ........ good lord they dont have 20 ft of beach not under water. There was waves going into the dunes and the life guards kept moving chairs back. Apparently with the storms and huge tide shift this wasnt the norm. I was surprised there was very few targets in the foil range.......... NO can slaw. I liked that they had a lot of trash cans and they seemed to get used. But the bottle caps were NUTS. I rarely dig the shallow one....... but these seemed different...... really good. You had to really work the targets to know it was a bottle cap. We noticed some of the caps in Fl had a little copper in them, maybe thats what these were. I dont know, but i dug a lot more than i usely do........ they sounded that good even deep after a scoop was removed. They didnt break up ontil they were out and under the coil. The other thing i notice........ today there were more hunters...... maybe 6 or more. NO one seemed to fill a hole and one guy didnt even have a pouch. I now know why they had talked about a code against a hole deeper than 12". first day there was hardly any people on the beach....... second day it rained enough to strangle a goose..... so not a lot of people. Had a lot of walkers today. I talked to one of the life guards who said the normal high tide was about waist deep on what was low tide while i was there. Id say this is one of those beaches that a local hunting the beach year round would have a huge advantage as to where targets might be. Off to Nags Head tomorrow and hopefully a litte sun shine......... im spoiled lol.


This would be an excellent beach for a CTX and a larger coil.

Dew



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/25/2015 11:00PM by dewcon4414.

Thanks for the report. No doubt lots will be found this weekend all the way up to Morehead City. Keep us posted on the OBX side. Hope to do that next spring. The beach can be a cruel mistress. On the 12" rule it just goes to the weird rules that have passed in Horry County in the last 5 years. Trying to keep kids from digging so deep it can cave in on them I guess. Everyone hopes the tide will fill in MD holes. 4 tides a day does help with that and they drag the beaches most mornings at least at Surfside Beach and south. I have seen many gorgeous ring finds this year as well as a Canadian Maple leaf still in the tiny thin bezel found so the targets are there but lots of people looking and some find the best with the least expensive MDs in the towel line. I just ordered a beach bike with 4" tires so I can ride the beach and look for the cuts and areas not so sanded which that area is known for in the summer months. Heading to Coco Beach in 2 weeks so sure the cans and tabs will be there waiting but love that "old Florida" atmosphere. HH JR

No Hijacking I noticed Dew!!

I was enjoying the read...

Lots of varibles on the wet sand that's for sure and a real challenge..and I love a challenge...

good luck on your trip....I feel a great find is right around the corner..

and while Im here I may ask ..whast the rules on water finds on the Atlantic?? Ive alwasy hunted the beaches but never got in the surf..from Virginia Beach to Daytona...

I read that the gulf is pretty lenient on water finds but on the East coast Atlantic ocean things can get tricky out in the water even just wading...

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

Wow Dew! You sure picked a bad time to hit my area beaches. Rough surf conditions and very bad tidal phase to make things worse. Hope the improving tides make your hunts better going into next week. I found myself in Atlantic Beach area on Tuesday. Surf was cutting into beach really good. Raining hard. The tide falling supposedly. I stepped on beach in the edge of the surf and the sand was so soupy that I sank half way up to my knees. Walked the beach for an hour and found no harder bottom. Tide never even dropped. So back to the car and headed home. Some days it pays to know when to quit or go someplace else. It was not a fun hunt...Stuart

Keith,
the rules on keeping what you find or the rules on detecting?
From what I understand, keeping what you find is ok; don't broadcast it or do media interviews.
Legal to detect or not? Not allowed in/on national seashore, as in Cape Hatteras area (south of Oregon Inlet/Bonner Bridge in NC), but ok from there north to VA line. South of national seashore area, ok, too, unless forbidden by local town/beach ordinances. (Don't know of any, but not saying there aren't any beaches that don't permit it.) Be careful parking near beach accesses, though, to be sure you won't get ticketed. NC state parks, detecting is off limits unless looking for lost personal item and with permission/accompaniment by park personnel. [As I understand it]

Wayne

Pleasant Garden, NC
AT Max, Nokta Impact, MX Sport, Nokta FORS Relic, GPX 4800, Infinium, Racer, Deus, F75SE, Nautilus DMC II (order of acquisition, last to first)

Does an archeologist argue with a plow? A bureaucrat with a bulldozer?

That covered it pretty well. Were you talking about the Fl rules Keith on that side of the island? I sure can see where a CTX would have a great advantage when hunting this beach with limited targets and avoiding those bottle caps. Little more depth in the mineralized sand. Now i wished i would have brought the Sov with the 13". Im a little worried i may have booked the motel to far south on Nag Head. Still wished she would have let me brought the Jeep. Myrtle must get crazy during season....... reminds me of Panama city. SR........ the sand was like soup when the wave hit your feet like you said you just sank. There seemed to be a shell hard pan but it was nearer the water...... i can see where a lot of gold must be buried near those dunes. Was much in the way of cuts....... it just really smoothed the beach out. The wierdest thing for me was the bottle caps and IDing them. Some nulled but a good many didnt so im wondering if they drink a specific beer........ new bottle caps vs our older ones?

I was taking to water hunter in the gulf and he said that just about everything on the Atlantic is owned by salvage companys...He stated if you are in the water your could be liable for fines..

I know about state parks and national seashore laws ..but was wondering if that many salvage companys have staked claims up and down the Atlantic..

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

Keith........ all states have relic laws that most of us dont follow just because most are just silly. Most of those stay out of the water laws are only where the ship wrecks are and you can down load a map i believe to show you them.

Got to Nags Head today........ wow 10 ft waves and 35 mph winds one person told me there wasnt any beach at the main Nags Head beach. Where im at near the pier there is still a lot of beach that can be hunted..... dry sand if you can hang onto your hat.

Dont know who recommended the Islander motel...... but not bad, we are liking it. Also ate at Sams & Omies. Nice little place for a sandwitch or platter. Its been an interesting trip so far with all the bad weather. Believe it or not we were heading to NY and Philly...... glad we passed that with the Pope being there im sure its crazy. I guess right now all i can do is watch the waves kick.

Took the detector to the sand ..... that lasted 15 min max lol. 35 mph winds from the east along with 10 swells and high tide got me a little wet even up by the dunes. I couldnt believe my eyes there were 3 jeeps halling but to get to the other end of the beach before that high tide hit hard. From what ive been told you have to know the tides even in calm because some of the jeep areas can get wet. Wierd sand here....... it looks very much like real fine saw dust...... even in color. When the water hits it even acts like saw dust. I dug a dime and a quarter both i got really good depth on........ those bottle caps gave me no problem here like they did at Myrtle. By the swell charts its going to be tuff going for at least a week........ ill have to try and catch some low tide in the afternoons and see what happens. Hey........... but im on vacation in a new location. Thats always a learning experience i enjoy.
Dew



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/26/2015 10:10PM by dewcon4414.

Welllllll more of the same today extreme high winds, rain, road flooding and huge swells. Doesnt look like ill get much detecting in before we have to leave. So i guess checking out the sites and enjoying some good food has moved up on my priority. Sure makes you appreciate the mild gulf waters and hunting. BUT........... the temp is nice.

Dew

Passed on going down myself. Man the rain has been coming down here for the last 3 days. A good soaking rain. We need it even though on this side of Mecklenburg. Co. we have gotten more than most. Enough to keep the grass green. Got the seed out just in time. Was trying to get out this am but waiting to the pm to hit a few fields now that they should be easier to dig and should keep the nosy people away. Got a couple spots that will use the F75-2 that with the traffic may give up a ring. Thanks for the OBX input Wayne. I'll make sure to book north next year on trip to OBX. Hope your getting some of this rain in your area. HH JR