Not all cuts are created equal

One of the best beach hunting situations is an eroded "cut" beach, although just because the beach is cut does not mean you are going to find anything. 
It is always best to get cut savvy, understanding how your local beach has to be cut in order for you to take advantage of it. 
A beach that has cut at the front of the beach close to the water is not going to be as productive as a cut at the back of the beach. 
The back of the beach always has the best metal detecting finds when cut,  it is the place you are going to find old coins and old gold or silver jewelry. 
The front of the beach is only good for fresh dropped jewelry or coins that wash in and get trapped at the base of the cut.
Knowing how both cuts effect your finds will give you a good idea of what to look for after beach erosion has taken place, especially if you have to travel to other beaches because there are no old finds in your area.  
Use beach webcams if your local beaches have them, keep an eye on beach erosion but most importantly look to see where on the beach any erosion has taken place.  
That is why a 2 foot cut at the back of the beach can be so much better than a 5 foot cut at the front of the beach.
On beaches that get replenished with sand every few years, cuts close to the water barely improve beach hunting conditions, like this 5 to 6 foot cut I searched earlier in the year. 

The cut was on a prime Spanish treasure hunting beach in Florida but getting a signal on this replenished beach was almost impossible, even in all metal mode. 
This $3500.00 diamond ring is one of several gold rings found a few years back on a local beach with only a small 2 foot cut, the cut was located towards the back of the beach and the amount of targets was incredible.

When a storm hits your local beaches, stay away from any replenished beaches with cuts at the front, no matter how big the cut is.
Head towards where you are going to be able to search the closest to the back of the beach, even if it means choosing to metal detect a smaller cut on a narrow beach. 

bedside manner

What's on your nightstand?

via

Ciao!

Fabiana

Yield Information

   As many seniors may still be waiting to hear from their schools where they have been placed on the waitlist, and other underclassmen are researching the competitiveness of various colleges, please take a look at the latest yield and waitlist information presented on THECHOICE BLOG. For those who do not know, the yield is the amount of accepted students who have decided to make that college their home. Yield is a very important figure for college admissions, as it shows the competitiveness and the true desire for students to attend the college. The amount of students who apply is great, but the number of students who actually attend once accepted is a true indicator of the popularity and selectiveness of the college. So basically, the higher percentage of yield the better! There is also information on the waitlist numbers for colleges, which schools will be taking students off of the waitlist, and how many students they plan on taking off. Enjoy the article and continued good luck with the college search process!

-Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

Asymmetric

Asymmetric twinzer with tidy Mondrian-esque art from Rob Royal, mad little asym bonzer from Tim Stafford I believe.

The wiggle and enhancing iffy signals

Minelab Sovereign and Excalibur users will know exactly what I am referring to when I mention the "wiggle"
This method of wiggling your search coil over an iffy target to enhance the signal is a trick used to coax small conductive targets out of trashy sites.
Slow, short, pinpointing style sweeps of the search coil over the target help to improve the signal response from potentially valuable targets. 
I was pleasantly surprised to discover that my CTX 3030 can do the same exact thing in trashy areas, even with the larger search coil. 
Many beach and shallow water hunters mistakenly believe that a good target has to be a two way repeatable signal, no matter which metal detector they use.
Some of my best finds came from iffy, let me recheck signals. 
Those loud headphone blasting signals rarely turn out to be the find of your dreams. 
Although not as grand as some of the rings I have found, this 1932 masonic ring with a 3/4 carat diamond is one of my favorite metal detecting finds. 

It was just one of those interesting little broken iffy signals that perked my interest on a water hunt several years ago.
I was using my Excalibur and coaxed the signal out a little clearer using the wiggle technique over the target. 
A round encrusted golf ball size piece of coral lay in the bottom of my scoop and the only visible was the sparkling diamond. 
After a day soaking in lemon juice the coral began to crumble, revealing the old gold ring.  
I did not want to risk ruining the find and left a little coral on for character. 
You never know what condition old jewelry and coins will come out of the water in, sometimes they do not even look like they are made of gold or silver.
Investigate those strange broken signals in the water and on the lower beach, probably corroding bottle caps but once in a while you get rewarded for stopping to wiggle. 

Esplanade sinkholes may get bigger: DCC | Otago Daily Times

Esplanade sinkholes may get bigger: DCC | Otago Daily Times Online News : Otago, South Island, New Zealand & International News

Sinkholes in the Esplanade at St Clair could get bigger over the next week, but the Dunedin City Council is happy the damage is contained to that immediate area.

It says preliminary tests indicate there is no immediate concern about the safety of the rest of the sea wall.

At least one business owner in the area yesterday expressed concern about a lack of information being provided by the council on the status of the wall.

Starfish Cafe co-owner Cushla Dodds said because the holes appeared to be growing and the council had told her nothing, she had checked her insurance policy, just in case. She said she knew other businesses had too.

Business was being affected because people thought they could no longer walk around the Esplanade or bring their dogs there, she said.

People also wanted to know the long-term plans for the seafront. She had not contacted the council, but felt she should not have to.

Next door, florist Carley Jones told Radio New Zealand that each day the drama went on, the more scary it became.

Council roading network engineer Peter Standring said the situation yesterday was that the council expected sinkholes in front of the South Coast Board Riders' Association at the north end of the sea wall would continue to grow in a northerly direction over the next week, as contractors worked in two-hour bursts around tides, to plug gaps underneath the sea wall at that end.

The amount of walkway fill being sucked out through those gaps had already been reduced by remedial action taken since the first hole appeared on Sunday, but material could still disappear until sheet piling along the base of the northern end of the wall was completed, he said.

The sheet piles were being sunk 3m deeper than the foot of the sea wall along the 50m section of wall.

The work was being done in sections and had started around the St Clair Surf Life Saving Club's ramp, where the biggest gaps were. It was expected to take at least another week, because access was limited by the tides.

He said it was anticipated the pits in the walkway would eventually extend along more or less that whole section of the walkway, to the northern end.

However, engineers had indicated the damage would be contained to that area.

A preliminary check by engineers and a ground-penetrating radar had not revealed any voids under the remainder of the wall or walkway along to the salt water pool.

Mr Standring said the priority was to plug the gaps where the beach level had gone below the bottom of the wall.

A more extensive assessment of the rest of the wall would then be made and a long-term response considered once that work was completed.

A portion of the Esplanade walkway along its length and about 3m back from the wall would remain cordoned off until at least then. The cordon still allowed room for foot traffic.

Council operations manager Tony Avery said the council had not approached businesses or residents in the area because there was no concern about the remainder of the wall, although it certainly would if there were any concerns.

He said anyone wanting information could contact the council on 477-4000.

debbie.porteous@odt.co.nz

Assessments for seawall | Otago Daily Times

Assessments for seawall | Otago Daily Times Online News : Otago, South Island, New Zealand & International News

A full assessment of the St Clair seawall is expected to start next week.

Advice will also be taken on providing a long-term solution to problems such as the one which caused a section of the Esplanade to be undermined.

While the integrity of the wall was believed to be still intact, the Dunedin City Council would have the entire seawall assessed as a precautionary measure, council roading maintenance engineer Peter Standring said yesterday.

The assessment would be carried out by contract engineers.

The first of several large holes appeared on Sunday behind the seawall in front of the St Clair Surf Life Saving Club and the South Coast Boardriders' Association, after heavy seas and high tides depleted the beach of sand, exposing the toe of the wall.

That allowed waves to flush behind the wall, washing out the backfill, causing the paving above to collapse.

The area from Forbury Rd to the north end of the wall is cordoned off and most access from the Esplanade to St Clair Beach is closed until further notice.

Tracked excavators have been on site since Monday, shifting rocks to protect the bottom of the seawall.

Vertical sheet steel piling is being installed in front of the seawall, on either side of the lifesaving club's ramp, along with cross-bracing under the ramp itself.

Mr Standring said contractors would backfill the area between the seawall piles and the sheet piles with concrete today and tomorrow.

He said much of the beach was at the lowest level staff had seen.

Because tides were so high, the waves had been hitting the sea wall without breaking, putting significant pressure on it. The situation was expected to improve after Tuesday's king tide.

However, it had highlighted the need for a long-term solution which worked with the natural environment, he said.

''This is a natural occurrence and we will be getting expert advice on how to best deal with these challenges in the future.''

He said some St Clair businesses and residents had reported heightened building vibrations this week.

That was ''more than likely'' happening because of the lack of backfill behind the wall at the northern end, which would normally dampen pounding waves.

He emphasised it was important for people to avoid the cordoned-off area while work continued.

There was public access to St Clair Beach via Middle Beach.

Updates on the project are available on the council's website.

-debbie.porteous@odt.co.nz

Mixed signals

When beach or shallow water hunting and you think you hear two different tones, always stop and recheck the area after digging the first target.  
I make a habit of always rechecking my holes on the beach, even holes dug by other beach hunters! 
When you think you heard a slight low tone on the initial sweep that picked up a high tone target, you probably did. 
That is exactly what happened when I found my 1836 gold half eagle towards the end of 2011.

The beach that I found this superb gold coin and other US relics was completely littered with ferrous trash targets after large ocean swells had hit the back of the beach.
Crusty bottle caps and corroding nails being the main two nuisance targets. 
This beach was probably not considered a good place to metal detect by local beach hunters, especially with so many busy tourist beaches in South Florida. 
I believe the high amount of trash and lack of "tourist droppings" in the area actually protected the beach from being appealing to other beach hunters, even though the beach had been torn apart. 
It was about a week into a three week period of searching this beach after work every evening before I discovered this old gold coin. 
Every night I would return home with a finds pouch full of ferrous trash, as well as some pretty cool finds left over from the 1830s Florida Seminole indian wars.

Using a small search coil enabled me to pick out good targets between the junk, in an area that my larger stock search coil struggled to recover from the constant nulling of iron. 
I remember receiving mixed broken signals as I slowly swept my search coil over a very trashy spot,  it sounded like a bottle cap but too good to ignore because of a faint low tone. 
After digging the bottle cap, I recovered another bottle cap from the hole. 
Now that is usually the time when most beach hunters would have probably moved on, but because of my prior finds I remembered the faint low tone and swept over the hole again.
I dug another scoop of sand and swept my search coil over what I believed to be a foil candy coin wrapper, partially visible in the glare of my headlamp in the sand pile.
Picking up and holding that 177 year old gold coin was a memory that will stay with me for a long time. 
I hope after reading my gold coin story you will see the value of taking the time to recheck holes and not assuming that corroding bottle cap or penny was the real culprit of that mixed signal you heard. 

Blue Ridge

Seattle's Blue Ridge neighborhood lies on the hills that rise from the beach north of Ballard.  The community even has its own private beach access, but Sunday's low tide (-3.6' MLLW, so one of the year's lowest) made this a much more public beach, with a lot of folks walking between Carkeek Park and Golden Gardens.

AERIAL VIEW

A couple of small streams - not sure what distinguishes a stream from a stormwater outfall in these urban areas - emerge from culverts beneath the tracks at the Blue Ridge access. The larger one takes a sharp, but brief, right hand turn, before turning again down the beach.  I guess this suggests drift, or at least recent drift of the sandier material, is northward, although I think the larger pattern is the other way, since this area gets some shelter from the south.


The railroad dominates the upper beach - pretty much replaces it, actually - except for a narrow backshore right around the stream mouths.  But the lower beach goes out forever, or so it seemed today, when low tide sort of merged into the gray day.

The Sink Holes on The Esplanade

Fresh holes appear in Esplanade | Otago Daily Times

Fresh holes appear in Esplanade | Otago Daily Times Online News : Otago, South Island, New Zealand & International News

Contractors continue to battle sea, sand and snow to shore up a gap under Dunedin's St Clair sea wall.

A relentless sea continued to suck out fill from under the Esplanade yesterday, creating new holes in the pavement and expanding cavities that appeared on Sunday.

A mound of large stones was placed in front of the bottom of the wall in the affected area late on Monday and early yesterday to try to prevent more fill being sucked out under the sea wall by continuing spring tides.

Sheet piling is also being installed to support and protect the wall and infill concrete to further plug the gap is to be poured today.

Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull says the unexpected cost of the work will not affect residents' rates next year, but could in 2014-15.

The Dunedin City Council's roading network manager Peter Standring said the height of the tides was preventing crews accessing the foot of the wall for more than a few hours at a time.

The rock piles had managed to stop much of the problem, but some fill was still being sucked out. It was hoped pouring concrete behind the rocks would stop that.

Crews continued to work on the problem at low tide, about 11pm last night, and would be back again at low tide this morning.

Mr Cull yesterday responded to criticism over the functionality of the sea wall, which was installed by the council in 2004.

People seemed to have forgotten there were many and similar problems with previous sea walls at St Clair, he said.

The first two sea walls, built in the 1880s, lasted only a few years.

A sea wall officially opened in 1913 was covered in by the existing sea wall in 2004 after concerns its base was "kicking out" and after the dumping of massive boulders in front of the wall base following scouring of sand by large swells.

Sinkholes also opened up the Esplanade before the present sea wall was erected.

Mr Cull said the council's focus was to ensure the structure was as strong and protected as it could be for as long as possible.

There was no question of a wall not being at St Clair, so the council had to manage the situation as best it could.

As with any manmade hard surface put in to hold the sea back, issues would be ongoing.

The council would not just rush in and try to "fix" the wall, until the full extent of the problem was known.

He said the cost of fixing the sinkholes would not affect next year's rates because the 2013-14 budget was already set.

Once the Esplanade costs were clear, they could be covered by any surplus at the end of 2012-13, or an overspend could be covered by finding savings or reprioritising projects in next year's roading and maintenance schedule, or rates could be affected in 2014-15.

Council parks manager Lisa Wheeler said there would have to be discussions about how to prevent further erosion.

The council's management plan for the Ocean Beach reserve was focused on protecting the dunes to the north of the sea wall, not the sand in front of it.

The sand at St Clair left and returned almost constantly and the indications were that keeping consistent levels in place would be "far too expensive", she said.

The gold tone

One of the advantages of using my favorite Minelab metal detectors is being able to know the moment your search coil passes over gold jewelry.  That distinctive low tone that has you wondering what type of gold jewelry you will be seeing in your scoop when you lift it out of the water. 
I sometimes scoop a hundred targets but I only really remember the one tone that I knew just had to be gold.  
When you have been beach and water hunting a long time, you can start to tell the difference between high grade gold, a nickel, pull tabs and can slaw.  
I still get excited when I hear my search coil pass over a nickel, pull tab or can slaw, but I usually know the subtle differences between these targets and gold. 
So why not "cherry pick" for gold all the time and ignore all the high tone silver and clad coins?
Because of finds like these old 10K class rings, found after beach erosion in areas known for old gold class rings and silver coins. 

10K gold class rings have a lot of different alloys in the mix and often produce high tones, especially when they are encrusted in sand or coral. 
One large class ring may weight as much as several high karat gold wedding bands, they are certainly not the kind of targets you want to risk losing by cherry picking gold. 
I only cherry pick for gold in a couple of beach and water hunting situations, when pushed for time on short hunts or when dealing with multiple hunters on the same tourist beach. 
Cherry picking for the high probability gold targets leaves many attractive targets still in the area to distract the competition. 
I call these high tones "anchor finds" because they slow down the competition and allow me more time to search for gold. 
I used this tactic over the Memorial day weekend last year on a local tourist beach using my Minelab CTX 3030, I recovered these gold finds with five other water hunters closing in on a local hot spot.  

I remember the look on another water hunters face as they started digging my anchor finds,  no doubt they thought I was just another bad water hunter missing targets.
Cherry picking for gold can be an effective beach and water hunting technique in certain situations. 
You just have to know when to use it and more importantly when NOT to use it. 

AAfCW 2013 Volunteer Update #9

This is the ninth weekly update by the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (AAfCW) for the 2013 season. Today's update includes reports of Piping Plover, American Oystercatcher, Least Tern and Common Tern from May 20 through 4:00 p.m. on May 27 with sightings of birds by volunteers and staff spanning that period.

Informational updates:

We now have hatchlings of both Piping Plover and American Oystercatcher that will soon be found in many locations. Please continue to exercise extreme caution with consideration to cold, rainy, or overly windy days. With that said this week should be sunny and warm so our concern should be keeping a safe distance from nests and string fencing areas. Data is not the priority - please play it safe and monitor from the beach near the water. There is no need to approach nests or even the boundary of the fencing. You are all doing a wonderful service giving us the information that can be safely seen while educating beachgoers and ensuring no major disturbances occur and we thank you for your constant efforts!

Survey and monitoring updates:

Piping Plover
1 pair, 3 adults at Long Beach on 5/20
5 pairs, 3 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/20
8 adults, 6 nests at Griswold Point on 5/20
1 pair, 1 nest at Shell Avenue Milford on 5/20
8 adults, 5 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/20
7 pairs, 6 nests at Milford Point on 5/20
2 pairs, 6 adults, 6 nests at Griswold Point on 5/21
4 adults, 3 nests at Bluff Point on 5/21
1 pair, 7 adults at Long Beach on 5/21
4 pairs, 3 adults, 6 nests at Griswold Point on 5/22
3 adults, 2 nests at Griswold Point on 5/22
1 adult at Long Beach on 5/22
7 adults at Long Beach on 5/23
2 pairs, 3 adults, 6 nests at Milford Point on 5/23
3 pairs, 5 adults, 4 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/23
6 pairs, 1 adult, 6 nests at Milford Point on 5/23
4 pairs, 4 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/23
2 adults at Long Beach on 5/26
5 pairs, 3 adults, 4 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/26
5 pairs, 10 adults at Bluff Point on 5/26
11 adults, 4 chicks at Milford Point on 5/26

American Oystercatcher
1 pair at Horse Island Guilford on 5/20
1 adult at Grass Island Guilford on 5/20
1 adult at Griswold Point on 5/20
1 pair, 1 nest at Branford Harbor on 5/20
2 pairs at Green Island Branford on 5/20
3 pairs, 1 nest at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/20
2 pairs, 1 adult, 1 nest at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/20
2 pairs, 1 adult, 2 hatchlings, 1 nest at Milford Point on 5/20
1 pair, 2 hatchlings at Salt Island on 5/20
2 pairs at Menunketesuck Island on 5/20
2 pairs at Duck Island on 5/20
2 adults at Griswold Island on 5/20
1 pair, 1 adult at Charles Island on 5/21
2 pairs, 2 hatchlings at Milford Point on 5/21
1 adult at Sherwood Island State Park on 5/21
1 adult at Griswold Point on 5/21
2 adults at Bluff Point on 5/21
3 adults at Griswold Point on 5/22
1 adult at Long Beach on 5/22
4 adults at Jordan Cove on 5/22
1 adult at Branford Harbor on 5/22
1 pair at Compo Beach on 5/22
5 adults at Silver Sands State Park on 5/22
1 adult at Tuxis Island on 5/22
2 pairs, 2 hatchlings at Milford Point on 5/23
2 pairs, 2 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/23
2 pairs, 5 adults at Milford Point on 5/23
2 pairs at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/23
12 adults, 1 chick at Cockenoe Island on 5/23
6 adults at Stratford Point on 5/24
2 adults at Sherwood Island State Park on 5/25
1 adult at Long Beach on 5/26
1 pair at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/26
1 pair, 4 adults, 1 hatchling at Milford Point on 5/26

Least Tern
6 adults at Russian Beach on 5/20
1 pair, 9 adults at Long Beach on 5/20
2 pairs, 40 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/20
2 adults at Horse Island Guilford on 5/20
10 adults at Griswold Point on 5/20
6 adults at Branford Harbor on 5/20
20 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/20
5 pairs, 4 adults at Milford Point on 5/20
1 adult at Menunketesuck Island on 5/20
4 pairs, 18 adults at Griswold Point on 5/21
5 adults at Bluff Point State Park on 5/21
10 adults at Long Beach on 5/21
20 adults at Griswold Point on 5/22
4 adults at Long Beach on 5/22
1 pair, 1 adult at Branford Harbor on 5/22
2 adults at Sherwood Island State Park on 5/22
23 adults at Silver Sands State Park on 5/22
3 pairs at Long Beach on 5/23
22 adults at Milford Point on 5/23
19 adults at Silver Sands State Park on 5/23
10 pairs, 21 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/23
50 adults at Milford Point on 5/23
20 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/23
13 adults at Stratford Point on 5/24
1 adult at Compo Beach on 5/24
2 adults at Long Beach on 5/24
10 adults at Russian Beach on 5/24
12 adults at Long Beach on 5/26
75 adults at Milford Point on 5/26
4 adults at Stratford Point on 5/27

Common Tern
6 adults at Russian Beach on 5/20
2 adults at Long Beach on 5/20
7 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/20
2 adults at Horse Island Guilford on 5/20
2 adults at Griswold Point on 5/20
10 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/20
17 adults at Menunketesuck Island on 5/20
2 pairs at Charles Island on 5/21
2 adults at Griswold Point on 5/21
3 adults at Bluff Point State Park on 5/21
4 adults at Long Beach on 5/21
2 adults at Long Beach on 5/22
3 pairs, 6 adults at Branford Harbor on 5/22
6 adults at Compo Beach on 5/22
10 adults at Sherwood Island State Park on 5/22
12 adults at Silver Sands State Park on 5/22
6 adults at Milford Point on 5/23
8 adults at Silver Sands State Park on 5/23
7 pairs, 6 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/23
6 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/23
300 adults, 50 nests at Cockenoe Island on 5/23
31 adults at Stratford Point on 5/24
22 adults at Compo Beach on 5/24
2 adults at Bluff Point on 5/26
6 adults at Stratford Point on 5/27

This concludes update #9 through 5/27/13 as of 5:00 p.m.

The best settings for beach and shallow water hunting

A major part of beach and shallow water hunting is learning how to set your metal detector up to find a wide range of desirable targets. 
Despite what you read on internet metal detecting forums, there are no generic or one size fits all metal detector settings. 
There are suggested starter settings in most metal detector manuals and that is exactly what they are, suggested!
If you use the same metal detector settings on every beach you search, you are holding yourself back and leaving gold and silver behind in areas where other people use the same metal detector. 
I rarely use any set and forget metal detector settings, even on my Minelab CTX 3030.
The preset Beach Mode is my starting point but I tweak it to suit the conditions present on the beach that day. 
I also take into consideration whether I will be searching in the water, the wet sand or the dry sand. 
Using other peoples suggested settings for weeks, months or even years without knowing why you are using them is a bad idea. 
Manually set your metal detector up after you get to the beach, using your known starting reference points. 
Gradually tweak the controls during the first part of your hunt and get a feel for when you are running your metal detector slightly hot.
Back off from the hot setting a little, make sure your metal detector is running smoothly with very few false signals before getting settled into the hunt. 
No matter what your favorite metal detector is, average finds come from average settings.
When searching heavily hunted beaches with many people using the same kind of metal detector, the person with the best tuned machine has the best chance of finding gold.
Sometimes those personal metal detector settings can be just as important at beating the competition to the gold as any secret hot spot. 
I always make a point of shielding my settings whenever I meet another beach or water hunter. 
Being a hardcore beach and shallow water hunter, I am always checking out other peoples settings!
Maybe that would explain why I am not afraid to follow behind other beach and shallow water hunters in search of gold.
This $3600.00 18K gold ring with 80 diamonds is a testament to that. 

St Clair Esplanade opens up | Otago Daily Times

St Clair Esplanade opens up | Otago Daily Times Online News : Otago, South Island, New Zealand & International News

A further hole has opened up in the Esplanade at St Clair and two holes which appeared yesterday have merged into one larger opening.

The holes in the paved area in front of St Clair Lifesaving Club first appeared yesterday as big swells pounded the coast.

The new hole is on the Lawyers Head side of the surf-lifesaving ramp.

Dunedin city council staff are assessing the situation amid a steady stream of onlookers. 

About 2.30pm yesterday, police and contractors began to cordon off the seaward side of the Esplanade, from the St Clair Lifesaving Club to the car park, as a precaution.

The Esplanade was full of people watching the waves crashing against the sea wall.

One of the holes in the paved area in front of the life-saving club grew from about 1m long to about 4m long and others had also grown in size after the high tide at 4.30pm.

• See reader photos here and here

Swells of 2.3m are predicted and tides of similar heights are forecast for next few days.

Life-saving club president Antony Mason said he called the Dunedin City Council and Fire Service after finding the tiled area to be a ''bit spongy underfoot''.

''It got bad real quick. Within an hour there were two holes.''

The news grew worse when he realised the club's ramp to the beach had moved about 20mm and water was going under the ramp's tunnel, he said.

''We've got no access to the beach and the polar plunge is in three weeks.''

He had seen bigger seas and the beach in worse conditions than yesterday.

Dunedin City Council roading engineer Peter Standring inspected the site yesterday afternoon and found a significant ''drop out'' below the tiles.

''If you looked back underneath, the tiles were suspended.''

It was for that reason the Esplanade was cordoned off, he said. While the tiles looked fine on the surface along the rest of the Esplanade, there could be a void opening up underneath.

He believed yesterday's high tides and swells shook the tiles loose but the undermining of the ground had probably occurred over time, as the sea sucked material out from behind the sea wall.

''It's been an ongoing process. It highlights the need to look at everything.''

From his assessment of the site, he did not believe the integrity of the sea wall had been compromised.

Engineers would visit the site today to get a better idea of what was happening, he said.

The holes are the latest problem to beset the Esplanade.

The stairs and ramps to the beach have failed several times, due to what the council believed was a combination of construction and design faults. The high tides also brought surface flooding to Portobello Rd and the streets off Portsmouth Dr late yesterday afternoon.

-rebecca.fox@odt.co.nz

St Clair Esplanade opens up

Squire

Young John in the UK has built himself a very tidy looking carbon tech spoon. That's the third kneelo craft I've seen of late which is a very good board trend to my mind. John's working on a wooden version and Chris in HI has a brace of the things in his quiver along with some south swell at present so I'm hoping for a ride report soon.......

Beach tests follow up

I received quite a few messages about my previous blog regarding metal detector test settings out on the beach.  
As a hardcore beach and water hunter, it is encouraging to see that other beach and water hunters are looking for an edge over the competition.
If you are a gold jewelry hunter, some of the items you should take down to the beach for testing are thin gold chains, with and without pendants,  gold hoop style earrings with the closing bar open and thin gold ladies rings. 
Notice the gold jewelry hunting pattern here, SMALL thin pieces of gold jewelry, odd shapes too.
If you are searching for old treasure coins on shipwreck beaches, worn thin silver dimes or tiny flat silver pendants work just as well. 
Forget about testing for depth, there are just too many variables in true depth testing, such as the way the test object is buried in the sand.
Surface testing is the way to go, you have to be sure you can pick up the test object on top of the sand first. 
It may surprise you how the signal response from a closed gold hoop earring to an open gold hoop earring differs, the same applies to gold rings that have a section of the band missing.  
Try the test gold chain bunched up and rolled out, do not be surprised if you cannot detect the gold chain without the pendant. 
We invest a lot of money in our metal detectors and spend countless hours on the beach and in the water,  it makes perfect treasure hunting sense to see what we can and cannot detect. 
Testing during sanded in conditions will earn you more money in the long run than metal detecting during the sanded in conditions. 
Whenever you try a new search coil it is a good idea to test it on the beach first, before using it in a real good beach hunting situation like a cut beach. 
You can also test on the go and I often do out on the beach and in the shallow water.
If I am searching a cut and I find a nice gold ring or an old coin, I place the find back on the sand and sweep my search coil over it to listen to the target response again. 
I raise my search coil to test how deep I could have found it and I also test the responses from various sweep speeds. 
Of course you can only do that when no other beach hunters are around, remember my golden rule of never telling anyone where you found anything. 
If I am shallow water hunting, I only drop the the find back into the water in calm surf conditions when I know I can safely recover it. 
You can learn a lot about the depth and sensitivity capabilities of your metal detector out on the beach and inside the water.
I must admit I get a kick out of reliving the moment after the recovery, especially when it is something like this recently found heavy 18K ladies ring laying next to the hole under the water. 

Balanced finds

I believe that you can tell a lot about a beach or shallow water hunter by their metal detecting finds. 
Have you ever noticed how some beach or water hunters find a lot of gold bands, while other beach hunters find more clad coins or silver jewelry. 
Once you really know your metal detector, hone your beach and shallow water hunting techniques toward finding small finds.
Yes that is not a typo, concentrate on trying to recover small finds at the beach.
Gold chains and thin ladies gold rings are some of the most difficult finds to recover on the beach and in the water. 
These difficult to detect pieces of gold jewelry are often the most valuable and sought after kind of metal detecting finds. 
Small finds like this high karat gold ring with a table cut sapphire found on a Treasure Coast Spanish 1715 fleet wreck site beach in Florida.

Once you start to find the hard stuff, the big fish will jump into your scoop basket. 
I never go to the beach searching for big gold, I look for small gold knowing the big gold will be found if it is there.
A good balance of beach and water hunting finds is a good sign, it means that when beach erosion occurs you have a better chance of being successful. 
You will have a better chance of recovering gold jewelry on a cut tourist beach, a better chance of recovering treasure coins and artifacts on a cut shipwreck beach.  
The advantages of being able to find a variety of finds and not just one type of find become clear when Davy Jones locker opens up.
One of the major reasons for an imbalance of beach hunting finds is incorrect metal detector sensitivity and discrimination settings. 
A simple sensitivity and discrimination test with your metal detector on the beach with objects that you have difficulty finding will give you the answers to why you struggle to find them. 
When is the last time you went to the beach just to test your metal detector settings? 
My guess is hardly ever. 

cute and casual friday

via whowhatwear

Ciao!

Fabiana

Memorial Day weekend coverage

Memorial Day weekend is traditionally the first busy beach weekend of the year and coincides with hatchling Piping Plovers and American Oystercatchers running around our shoreline. We need all the help we can get to help educated beachgoers during this critical time. The first young Piping Plovers of 2013 should hatch in the next few days and there are numerous young American Oystercatchers already on our beaches. In addition, Least and Common Terns are beginning to pair off and will soon settle into nesting colonies.

The weather should feature showers and clouds through at least part of Sunday followed by some sun on Monday with still cool temperatures that hover around the mid 60s for highs and the upper 40s for lows. If this turns out to be even relatively accurate there should be less traffic on the beaches than usual, but if anyone can help and put in some extra time at your location(s) with beach stewardship, especially on Memorial Day, we would greatly appreciate it! Please do keep in mind we would still want to avoid being on the beach during any rain or when the temperature is below 50 to keep the eggs and young safe. Thank you and enjoy the weekend.


Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds, Audubon Connecticut and the Connecticut Audubon Society partnering to improve conditions for coastal waterbirds in Connecticut.

Jewelry hunting by the numbers

Many beach and shallow water hunters overlook the importance of jewelry hunting by numbers. 
When you first start out beach and shallow water hunting, it is easy to get caught up in the hype. 
So and so found a gold ring there and I am going to keep hammering away at the same site until I find a gold ring there. 
Unfortunately every other beach hunter has the same idea as you, quite often those known sites are very heavily hunted.
I am talking about the main heavily hunted stretch of beach where the regular beach and shallow water hunters can be seen gathering just about every day of the week. 
Many of the regular beach hunters are easy to spot, mainly because they search the same beach all the time. 
Try playing the numbers game, hitting smaller beaches where your chances of finding gold actually increase because the small sites are less hunted. 
You may be pleasantly surprised at the amount of jewelry finds you are able to recover at these less glamorous beaches. 
I found this beautiful 18K gold ladies Amethyst ring at one of those unsexy beaches last year, one of 50 pieces of gold I found over a three week period.

People still lose plenty of gold and silver jewelry on beaches that are not opposite large hotels or parking lots, these kind of sites are often smaller and easier to search. 
You could try placing your jewelry hunting bets on hitting several sites using hit and run tactics.
Once you have found something good at the lesser hunted site, you should have the place all to yourself.
That is providing that you stick to the Gary Drayton number one rule of beach and water hunting, never tell anyone where you find anything. 
It generally costs more money to live by the beach, that also includes living across the road from the beach. 
This superb 18K gold opal and diamond ladies ring is another jewelry find from last year using my hit and run approach to searching less hunted sites. 

Shared access points from beachside communities are gold mines waiting to be mined by a a beach hunter prepared to search away from the metal detecting crowds. 

Test-Optional Colleges

As mentioned in a much earlier post, there are many schools that are test-optional. What does this mean, you may be asking? The answer is certain colleges do not require that a student submits their testing scores (either SAT or SAT). If the student chooses not to send in their scores, then admissions will review the applicant and make a decision based on their transcript, extra-curriculars, essay, and support files (recommendations). Test-optional schools is a hot topic these days with discussions on the validity of testing in general in predicting college success, and the chances of students being accepted who do not submit scores. The first issue will takes years and years to truly understand, however, admissions consistently say that students will be reviewed equally who do or do not submit scores.

So who is the test-optional route really for? Unfortunately, if you are a student with low testing scores and a low GPA, this may not be the best way to apply. Admission counselors generally want to see a competitive GPA for students who do not send in their scores. Remember, if you do not send in your scores, then they are primarily focusing on the transcript to make their admission decision. So if you are a student with a good GPA, but you struggle on standardized testing, going test-optional may work for you.

Choosing what to do with test-optional schools can be a difficult decision, so please consult your college counselor before deciding to do this. It may be best to take this on a college by college basis, so please communicate with your counselor early enough to make an informed decision.

For a complete list of the schools that currently have the choice of going test-optional, please visit FairTest, which is a website with an up-to-date list. When you visit the site, please go to the top tab ‘University Testing’ and then click on ‘Optional List’. As always, please direct any questions towards your college counselor.

-Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

Another leucistic Piping Plover?

On Tuesday Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds technician Ewa Holland spotted an intriguing bird at Bluff Point State Park in Groton. She was about one third of the way down the beach when she saw an all white individual. She was able to see that it was definitely a Piping Plover but it clearly lacked much in the way of color at all. This was presumably a leucistic individual. Ewa had binoculars views of it but was without a camera at the time.

If you remember last season we had this cool report and photos of a leucistic bird from not too far away in Massachusetts. As odd as it sounds this seems like it may be a different individual. Ewa mentioned a total lack of color and that even the tip of the bill was without the black section. If you are at Bluff Point please keep a lookout for this unique bird. If you get any photos of it please feel free to share them with us so that we can share them with everyone.


Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds, Audubon Connecticut and the Connecticut Audubon Society partnering to improve conditions for coastal waterbirds in Connecticut.

Box hunting

I have found far too many valuable pieces of gold and platinum jewelry in all three areas of the beach to only bother searching one area of the beach.  
Many beach hunters are "box hunters" meaning they prefer to only metal detect in the water, the wet sand or only in the dry sand. 
A treasure hunter will leave many valuable targets behind for other beach and shallow water hunters by not searching all three areas on the beach, the shallow water, wet sand and dry sand. 
Strive to be a good all around beach hunter capable of searching and finding treasure where ever that treasure may be on the beach. 
Here are photos of over $12.000.00 worth of diamond rings found on three different areas of the beach, I wager you cannot tell which diamond ring came from the water, the wet sand or the dry sand. 

Now you can see why I like to read the beach and search the most promising looking area after arriving to treasure hunt, not the area I predetermined was the best area before leaving the house. 
Next time you hear people saying that it is all in the water, try to remember the diamonds rings in these photographs. 
Think how many less treasure hunters will be on the beach during a storm,  when most water hunters would rather stay home than search on the beach. 
At high tide, the majority of wet sanders stay at home waiting around until two hours before the low tide before going wet sanding.
Full time dry sanders often use metal detectors that cannot handle the salt water on the lower beach, leaving the wet sand and shallow water undetected.
Avoid "box hunting"and become a master of the whole of the beach, not just one or two parts of it.