What's the thickest you've ever seen beach erosion target conditions?

[Tom_in_CA]

For all you beach erosion buffs, what's the thickest you've ever seen beach conditions?

I've seen it to where you could scarcely move without getting multiple beeps. In fact, so thick that you litterly stand in one spot doing scoop after scoop after scoop, while only slightly moving your body one direction or another. Literally multiple coins per scoop! And you spend hours in an area no bigger than your dining room, never exhausting the "beeps".

Another time, just earlier this year, some buddies and I got into conditions like this. But within a few hours, realized it was all green clad, with very few silver coins or wheaties showing up. So eventually we changed our tactics and began to reject all the high tones entirely! (thank goodness for tone ID haha). This upped our gold ring and nickel count by the end of the day, haha.

So share some of your stories of the thickest you've ever seen target conditions after erosion please.

 

[OldBeechnut]

Not sure what you would call it but during hurricane Bill in OCMd there were so many targets that were pushed up on the beach in some areas you could not PP a target once digging was done. Multiple target on top of each other. No erosion, just a massive built up of sand on the beach with layers and layers of targets. I have seen 6 to 8 feet stripped off this beach with no targets in site. I do know the wave action here in OC is some of the worse on the East Coast but nothing like California's which is several times rougher.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

thanx for chiming in beech-nut. As for beaches with lesser versus more storms, I have a theory that each beach "acclimates" to its own norms. So while at one particular beach, a 12 ft. swell may do nothing, yet at another normally calmer window or ocean front, "12 ft" may cause erosion. Because mother nature slopes and packs and acclimates her beaches, to resist/buffer the "norm" of whatever the regular averages are there. That's why some beaches get down to silver after only a few feet of sand wash out (or in or whatever). While at OTHER beaches, a mere few feet, and you still have zinc!

But back to your description of "multiple targets on top of each other", I've seen that too. For example:

One time in a particular bed-rock erosion condition, in the middle of a howling storm and crashing waves, I was getting a signal. But no matter how much I scooped out tailings, every time I'd reswing over the hole, the signal was STILL IN THERE. So I'd scoop out more and more and more tailings, till ... scanning the ever-largening hole, I finally got the cotton-picken target out. So I swing over the big pile of tailings and ........ multiple targets! So the reason I "couldn't get it out of the hole", was there were were so many targets in the hole on top of each other. Doh !

On that particular day, I recall that .... in that exact zone, moving no more than 5 or 8 ft. in any direction for an hour, that for the entire hour, EVERY SINGLE BASKET had multiple coins, nails, sinkers, etc..... Finally, after a long time, I recall shaking the sand out of a scoop load, and being "surprised" at *only* one coin. Doh! Talk about spoiled, sheesk you'd never return to dry sand hunting again, after thick spots like that , haha

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Another story: A buddy of mine recalls that in some storms in 1980, he got into a situation next to some concrete K-rail that was being exposed. The receding sand being pulled out past this fixed object, had acted as a trap or riffle board type. Where bunches of coins and targets had become settled or trapped up next to it. He noticed that as he approached this exposed concrete thing, that he was getting coins. Yet when trying to get closer to it, it was setting off his machine d/t it had rebar in it. On a hunch, he scooped blindly at the base of the concrete in an eddy-current pool that was being formed by the scouring action there. And when he pulled it up, and shook out the sand, it was FULL OF TARGETS.

So he set down his machine, and for the next few hours, till the incoming tide chased him out, he just scooped blindly along the base of this concrete formation. He ended up with 700-ish coins, of which 100 were silver + 12 gold objects that day doing that. Essentially as fast as you could dig. With the only thing limiting you from getting more, was mere time and muscle power and tide -timing.

Kind of makes you sick to think about it, eh ? ha