“You can observe a lot by just watching” (Lawrence ‘Yogi’ Berra) – Part Two

…Never more were ‘Yogi’s words truer and here in Part Two they dovetail neatly into the old English maxim of, “Where there’s muck, there’s brass.” Therefore, improving the quality of your beachcombing finds, means exploring where detecting angels fear to dig. It’s hard, it’s slow, but intensely rewarding – if you know which way is up. Here’s a taster…

We’ll start by observing and watching. This means getting up close and personal with the stretch of beach you intend to search. By which I mean look and learn. Get your derrière down to the beach and look for where the sunworshippers gather in the dry, sandy areas known as the ‘towel line’. Make note of any set-aside areas where BBQs are permitted or encouraged. Study Mr Google’s Maps too. I open a file on wherever, complete with tide times and sand movement patterns, pics, notes, and the locations of the potentially most productive sections of beach.

Unfortunately, the popular areas are chock-a-block with discarded tourist garbage and junk of all kinds such as bottle tops, ring-pulls, foil from wine bottles, beer cans, you-name-it… it’s there.

Now for the upside. Mixed in with all this trash are coins, rings, and jewellery of all kinds. In beachcombing terms these junk-filled areas are the most productive places to search with a metal detector, the Mother Lode if you like. But and this is the big ‘BUT,’ a vastly different search technique to the norm is a prerequisite, and you’ll need to adapt your equipment too.

Equipment

The LG15 coil – the trash buster!

Nailing jelly to the ceiling is a cinch compared to persuading a beachcomber to swap over from a large search-coil to a small one. Here, in this junky environment where size really does matter, the small 6” diameter coils rule supreme. This point is not up for debate…I’m telling you. Fact!

Don’t be tempted to hunt in amongst the junk with a large diameter ‘standard’ coil. You’ll be plagued with so many signals that within the hour you’ll be a candidate for the funny farm. Detecting will be impossible.

The LG15 in use

Why? Simple. Here size really matters. The only way to go is by using a 6” DD coil and I being Nokta Legend user, the LG15 is my go-to coil for hunting in amongst the trash.

The DD pattern coils are characterised by having their receive and transmit coils arranged in an overlapping a back-to-back configuration running from north to south down the centre of the search-coil like the blade of a knife. Thus, and unlike concentric coils which are ‘live’ across the whole diameter of the coil, DDs are unrivalled at target separation, an essential when hunting amongst junk.

In these trash-filled areas, all objects – good and bad – tend to lay cheek-by-jowl. When you lower say an 11” coil to the sand, the junky targets will fall within its diameter thus ‘masking’ or overpowering the signal of any adjacent coin or piece of jewellery.

However, using a small diameter coil drastically reduces this ‘masking’ effect and by using a small coil with a DD configuration like the LG15, greatly aids target separation. Consequently, with a small coil there’s less chance of several unwanted targets falling withing the coil’s diameter.

Coupling the inherent advantages of a small diameter, and the DD configuration with the ability to reject and/or identify steel bottle caps, not only reduces the kinds of trash therein to man-made foils and alloys but presents the beachcomber with a serious target elimination advantage.

Don’t worry about depth either. The LG15 sends a highly concentrated electro-magnetic beam into the sand from which no piece of gold or silver, or end-on coin will escape. In dry sand, coins and trinkets do not immediately sink out of range but remain salvable two to five inches down for a few days and certainly well within range of an LG15 coil.

Easy does it

Just as the Pointer Sisters sang in their 1980s chart-topper, you too will need a Slow Hand.  Don’t rush, stay cool, and the goodies will appear. Also, when searching trashy areas never be tempted to ‘notch-out’ the ubiquitous ring-pull/tab as many types of gold rings share the same Digital ID number. I appreciate it’s a real pain in the whatsit, but that’s how it is! Anyway, it’s only in sand you’re hunting in so when in doubt dig! There’s no heavy lifting involved.

(One of the best finds ever came during a boiling hot summer when on my local beach early morning and the sun was just getting into its stride. I got one hellava signal…a welcome four-pack of Guinness Irish Stout that some kind soul had buried to keep cool and presumably had forgotten where).

These settings work for me and are not written in stone. Feel free to adapt them to your own style. When using my LG15, I crank up the Recovery Speed to ‘Max’ and engage the Legend’s Ferrocheck facility, and always use the ‘C’ Custom Discrimination Pattern ‘as is.’ I leave the Iron Filter on ‘default’. Be alert to the fact that some small or thin-section gold registers at ‘11’ on the digital readout (as do some types of foil) so be very judicious with the Discrim. If in doubt…dig.

Sand scoops

Own spec aluminium scoop

You pays yer money, and you takes yer chance. Mine was custom made to my own spec from marine grade aluminium by a skilled craftsman who makes deck fittings for a well-known international firm of boat builders close to where I live. It weighs a fraction of those scoops fashioned from stainless steel (ss).

Nokta ss sand scoop

 

My beachcombing pal uses a Simplex+ with one of Nokta’s ss scoops. It’s robust bit of kit and built like a brick outhouse, but it’s too heavy for me to tote around all day long, but he loves it.

My first scoop (R) was an adaption – by the same   craftsman – of a Black Ada ss hand-held scoop who lengthened with a tubular ss insert. My current long-handled aluminium jobby weighs less!

All of Part One, and herein in Part Two, is intended as a start point from which to tackle and get the best results from the most challenging parts of a beach.

Good luck.

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Ho, Ho!

Here’s a site for sore eyes…. Conjunctivitis.com

My wife told me: – “Sex is better on holiday.” Now, that’s not a nice postcard to receive.

One of my friends is a kleptomaniac. When the urge gets bad, he takes something for it.

How come Miss Universe is only ever won by people from Earth

My wife’s a stunner. She works in an abattoir.

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Aye, aye, Cap’n

Once upon a time there was a famous sea captain who was very successful and widely admired. For years he guided merchant ships across the globe. Never did stormy seas or pirates get the better of him.

However, there was one thing different about this captain.

Every morning, he went through a strange ritual. He would lock himself in his captain’s quarters and open a small safe. In the safe was an envelope with a piece of paper inside. He would stare at the paper for a minute, and then lock it back up. Afterwards he went about his daily duties.

For years this went on and his crew became very curious. Was it a treasure map? Was it a letter from a long-lost love?

Everyone speculated about the contents of the strange envelope.

One day the captain died at sea. After laying the captain’s body to rest, the First Mate led the entire crew into the captain’s quarters. He opened the safe, removed the envelope, opened it and whereupon the First Mate turned pale and showed the paper to the crew.

Four words were on the paper, two on two lines: –  Port Left, Starboard Right.

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Happy and lucrative hunting and I’ll see you in the bar!