Critterhunter
New member
But unfortunately it was a clad gold coin from some foreign country. 
Had my heart going for a second, thinking it was perhaps a gold coin from a pendant, because I didn't recognize the design on it and it had an old look to me, but I quickly realized it was clad. The date is 1996. Don't recognize the writing but it says "Republica" of something on it. Still a neat little find.
Did a mixture of dry sand hunting and also some water hunting. Scored a handful of clad on the dry beach and some more coins in the water. If you've been following my posts in the modifications forum I put a 23" extension onto the back of my water shaft (the stock GT shaft) that snaps into the back of the shaft via a snap pin. I used some 1/2" conduit I had laying around. Stuck the control box inside a zip lock bag, sealed the end of the bag around the coil/headphone cables by pulling a couple velcro loops tight so water probably can't get in should it take a dunk, and then just taped the bag right to the end of the back shaft extension. With my control box chest mounted I could wade just above my belly button. With it on this shaft extension at about head height now I'm sure I can wade as deep as almost to the top of my shoulders without worry.
The rig balanced well. If I take my right hand off the grip to use it to pluck the target out of the basket the coil doesn't try to lift, but in the heavy waves today I thought it might try to lift it, so I just stuck my big toe on top of the coil while I let go of the grip. No worries that way and felt natural. Just make sure the stock Minelab arm cup's velcro strap was good and secure so it wouldn't break free of my warm while my hand was off the grip.
I couldn't wade more deeper than between my knees and my waist due to really strong waves beating me around, so I couldn't see how it was working at upper chest deep but I don't see any issues, because as said it didn't wear on me with any kind of balance issue or anything. In fact, a couple Excal friends with stock S-shafts tried it on for size and remarked how it was very well balanced and made the coil effortless to swing for them on the beach while trying it on for size a minute or so.
Now that I know this setup appears to work great, I'm going to get the Plano $20 waterproof box and mount that on the extension. Then I can go that last little bit deeper to neck deep and have no worries of water getting to the control box. Rather than use a cable clam waterproof deal for the coil/headphone cables, I'm just going to Shoe Goo seal those routing into the box, because even neck deep the box should just hardly be touching the water so I ain't worried about a potential leak anyway, and Shoe Goo does a wonderful job of waterproofing stuff anyway because it's so thick and stays flexible. The stock 10" Tornado stays on my water shaft all the time anyway so I don't need to remove it frequently or anything, but even if I did down the road Shoe Goo peals off pretty easy. I can also commit a pair of headphones to the water shaft/box too so no need to be able to remove that often either.
If you are looking for a cheap way to wade as deep as the Excal guys the bag will get you almost shoulder deep if you mount the box head height when in normal hunting position, but if you use the Plano box then you can go that last few inches to neck deep. Perfect way to make your Sovereign even more amphibious than it already is, and saves you a bunch of money buying a second machine.
Had my heart going for a second, thinking it was perhaps a gold coin from a pendant, because I didn't recognize the design on it and it had an old look to me, but I quickly realized it was clad. The date is 1996. Don't recognize the writing but it says "Republica" of something on it. Still a neat little find.Did a mixture of dry sand hunting and also some water hunting. Scored a handful of clad on the dry beach and some more coins in the water. If you've been following my posts in the modifications forum I put a 23" extension onto the back of my water shaft (the stock GT shaft) that snaps into the back of the shaft via a snap pin. I used some 1/2" conduit I had laying around. Stuck the control box inside a zip lock bag, sealed the end of the bag around the coil/headphone cables by pulling a couple velcro loops tight so water probably can't get in should it take a dunk, and then just taped the bag right to the end of the back shaft extension. With my control box chest mounted I could wade just above my belly button. With it on this shaft extension at about head height now I'm sure I can wade as deep as almost to the top of my shoulders without worry.
The rig balanced well. If I take my right hand off the grip to use it to pluck the target out of the basket the coil doesn't try to lift, but in the heavy waves today I thought it might try to lift it, so I just stuck my big toe on top of the coil while I let go of the grip. No worries that way and felt natural. Just make sure the stock Minelab arm cup's velcro strap was good and secure so it wouldn't break free of my warm while my hand was off the grip.
I couldn't wade more deeper than between my knees and my waist due to really strong waves beating me around, so I couldn't see how it was working at upper chest deep but I don't see any issues, because as said it didn't wear on me with any kind of balance issue or anything. In fact, a couple Excal friends with stock S-shafts tried it on for size and remarked how it was very well balanced and made the coil effortless to swing for them on the beach while trying it on for size a minute or so.
Now that I know this setup appears to work great, I'm going to get the Plano $20 waterproof box and mount that on the extension. Then I can go that last little bit deeper to neck deep and have no worries of water getting to the control box. Rather than use a cable clam waterproof deal for the coil/headphone cables, I'm just going to Shoe Goo seal those routing into the box, because even neck deep the box should just hardly be touching the water so I ain't worried about a potential leak anyway, and Shoe Goo does a wonderful job of waterproofing stuff anyway because it's so thick and stays flexible. The stock 10" Tornado stays on my water shaft all the time anyway so I don't need to remove it frequently or anything, but even if I did down the road Shoe Goo peals off pretty easy. I can also commit a pair of headphones to the water shaft/box too so no need to be able to remove that often either.
If you are looking for a cheap way to wade as deep as the Excal guys the bag will get you almost shoulder deep if you mount the box head height when in normal hunting position, but if you use the Plano box then you can go that last few inches to neck deep. Perfect way to make your Sovereign even more amphibious than it already is, and saves you a bunch of money buying a second machine.
