Dusting off the Cibola.....

[TeresaLVB]

I've had my detector a couple years but it has spent the most time in the closet. I got married a year ago and my husband and I want to get into treasure hunting. We live in East Tennessee but we go to the east coast often and we would like to do some beach detecting. Are there laws about metal detecting we should know about? Do we need permits? What are some of the better beaches to search on? Not wanting to invade anyones space. Just wants some tips.

 

[RJinTennessee]

Where in east Tennessee.

 

[subzero007]

There are many sites in Florida that you can search. But not certain about the other states. Make sure it isn't
a protected site. Like a National Park of Preserve. They get a little funny about some things. There are many places here
in East Tn to search also. I live in Knoxville and have a partner that I hunt with. We do numerous Civil War sites and there are
treasure sites here also.
Happy Hunting
Rick

 

[TeresaLVB]

We live in Sweetwater. Just south of Knoxville, about 40 miles.

 

[subzero007]

Ever do any gold hunting around Coker Creek. My wife and I were there last week. Also a member of the
Gold Prospectors Association of America (GPAA). Many good places to hunt all around this area.
Happy Hunting.
Rick (Knoxville)

 

[RJinTennessee]

I live in Athens just south of you.Lots of good hunting in this area.

 

[subzero007]

Hey RJ. There are several items of interest down that way. There was a train that was blown up during the
civil war. It was supposed to have had a major amount of gold coins aboard. The gold was thrown in every direction.
I have looked at satellite maps of the area and looks like someone has dug huge holes in the fields surrounding the tracks.
There is a civil war battle site north of you in Philadelphia, TN that has not been hunted because of the location being lost
over time. Research is the key. Near Morgan County, TN one million in gold is supposedly buried. Lots of tales from
there.
Rick

 

[RICKinFLA]

TERESA, I COULD TELL YA BUT THEN I WOULD HAVE TO KILL YOU. LOL JUST JOKIN BUT YOU CAME TO THE RIGHT PLACE YOU HAVE LOTS OF FINE FOLKS HERE WILLING TO HELP AND I MEAN LOTS. KINDA LIKE A LARGE FAMILY.

 

[OldBeechnut]

Virgina beach, from July to Sept, same with OC Maryland, Alantic City has so much history you can find just about anything, anytime plus the Gold. Bruce VRF800 found 11 rings Sunday, Amazing. No permits need on any except the Dunes are off limits on all. Best times are during the summer seasons, and when you have a major storm pass near the east coast.{advice, you have to be there that moment because it last for a few days, then as fast as the treasure came/it will be gone} When you head east next time just chime in on the forum here and I'm sure someone from One of the Local Pirate's Union will have all the info you will need to hit the beach, .................Good Luck, see you out there soon...............Joe/Obn

 

[VBDave]

Not to be a wet blanket, but your Cibola will disappoint in wet salt sand. Having no ground balance capability will have it falsing like a canary during mating season. My Vaquero, with grond balance is no better. As long as you stick to the dry sand, you'll be fine.

 

[TeresaLVB]

Hey VBDave, I'm not disappointed. Don't really care what I find right now. Just want some experience. Do you have a preference for beach detecting?
Thanks, OldBeechNut. Those locations may be too far north for us but then again.....who knows.
Hey JRinTennessee, nice to know you are so close. Husband wants to know if you give lessons....LOL
Hey SubZero007, I thought about joining the GPAA. A client of mine does a lot of panning there.
Thanks for all the help.
Teresa & Scott

 

[VBDave]

Since you'll be staying in the dry sand, anyplace with heavy summertime use can be productive. My job puts me on the sand of Virginia Beach every day, so I can speak with some authority about there; the dry sand is pounded to death every day during the season by visiting tourists who remembered to "dust off the Cibola" and bring it with them. The result is that the dry sand doesn't even have much trash in it. But there's hope. Since Ida blew through a couple weeks ago, most of what's dry sand was very wet and quite agitated during the storm. So for the time being, just about every beach could hold some surprises in the dry sand. My best luck since the storm has been hunting dry sand, right up against any dune erosion I could find.

 

[TeresaLVB]

Hey VBDave, Sounds exciting. Wish I had a job closer to the beach. You're lucky.

 

[tvr]

Cibola got me started hunting the beach. True, it is not great over the wet sand it but can find targets there. It is much better in the dry sand.

If you want to try it in the wet sand and shallow ankle deep surf (just watch the waves so you don't get surprised and drench the detector) some things help in the wet salt sand.

Remember wet salt is conductive, that means that even if you don't ground balance to it, you can discriminated it out. With the discriminator turned up to at or a little below foil, the Cibola won't react much to the sand. If it does, turn the sensitivity down a little until it is running quiet. I ran with sensitivity at about 7 over the wet sand.

With salt water waves washing over the coil, it sounds off on the wave. It will quiet down between the water movements and you can detect metal between the bonging sounds the water wash produces.

I found change and some jewelry over the wet sand and shallow water with the Cibola; but not deeper than 3 to 4 inches. Much deeper in the dry, but using the Cibola over the wet stuff made me hungry for a water machine and it wasn't long before I picked up a used Fisher CZ-20.

Enjoy your hunts!
tvr