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I have never lived more than a half mile
from the beach my entire life, and the anticipation of a
hurricane has become a love/hate thing. To see the power
that mother nature can muster up and unleash is
truly an awesome site. The worst I have ever witnessed was
in the Pacific 30 years ago aboard a sea going tug. The ship
was caught in a typhoon that produced seas reaching up to 55ft. in
height, and was one of the most harrowing experiences of my
life. Not something I would want to face again.
The worst I have ever seen while on land were two hurricanes that
came ashore here on the gulf coast in 1975 and again in
1995. Hurricane Eloise came ashore in 1975 with seas
reaching 20 feet in
height, and the damage and destruction were incredible. The last
one to come ashore here was Opal in 1995, and she hit the beach
with 25 foot seas that damaged or destroyed more than a thousand
homes and condominiums. There are still homes here that have not
been rebuilt to this day. In the aftermath of
both of those storms, it was easy to see that sand was removed
from the beach
to a depth of over six feet.
Your probably wondering what any of this has to do with metal
detecting. This is where the love/hate thing comes in. You really
hate to see the damage and destruction brought on by these storms,
but you gotta love the things that are exposed and brought ashore
by the giant waves. More to my liking are the comparatively mild
storms of the winter. These also remove sand and expose
items to be found, but on a smaller scale and with a smaller
window of opportunity.
After
hurricane Opal, the hunting was great for a couple of months, but
the sand began to come back in
and rebuild the beaches on the first calm day after the storm
passed. The chance to make good finds after a small winter storm
closes rapidly, and you cannot wait till seas become calm. The
best time to hunt these winter storms is during the storm. As a
storm approaches the coast, I make frequent checks
on the beach, and get my gear together. I wear a short wet
suit unless it is late in winter and the water temp has dropped a
lot. I have a couple pairs of sneakers that have the toe area and
parts of the sides and back cut out to allow sand and water to
flow out and not fill up my shoes. The
sneakers help with pushing on the scoop, and serve a second
purpose, namely keeping my feet from getting cut up on sharp or
rusty objects. When the storm seems to be at its maximum build up I
hunt the wet sand and ankle deep water. Lots of goodies here. As
the storm starts to wane, I
begin to work my way out into the surf, but only knee deep.
| Going any further out can be very
dangerous as rouge waves don't give any warning, and can
suck you out with them. Never turn your back on the water
when hunting in a storm. Always face the water and keep an
eye on the wave action. The smaller coins and pieces
of jewelry are washed far up the beach and tend to remain
close to the surface, not sinking far into the sand.
Heavier pieces will only get to about the area that is
just over your ankle, but not to your knees. |
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With small winter storms that only last a day or
so, the window of opportunity will be gone within a day or less.
The seas will generally remain rough for a few days unless there
is a drastic change in the
wind direction. The smaller wave action will begin to bring back
sand almost immediately. As the sand is placed on the beach, the
wind and sun will dry some of it out and it will be blown farther
up onto the beach and replenishment of the beach, and the reburying
of objects will begin. Some beaches have high banks and large sand
dunes. Erosion caused by the storm will allow a longer period to
hunt and make good finds. Large cuts on relatively flat beaches
can also remain good producers for several days after
a storm. If you are fortunate enough to have the seas go fairly
calm quickly after the storm, deep holes and pockets out in the
water will be the best producing areas, but these can fill up with
sand very fast.
The one thing that you want to be sure and do
before you hunt during a storm is to sit and watch the water for a
while before you begin to hunt. Waves are very unpredictable, and
in a heart beat you can go from standing on dry sand to being
waste deep in churning water, and risk being sucked off your feet,
and pulled out to sea. Nothing out there is worth risking your
life over. Be safety conscious, and remember, it will be there tomorrow.
If you know your beach area well, and have regular cuts and holes
that you hunt frequently, you can expect to see these areas move a
short distance to either side of their original location, or be
filled in for a while.
| If you come across an area with a scattering
of coins and heavy objects, be sure to see if there is a
trail of finds goes up onto the beach, as larger waves
would have gone farther inland and moved objects up onto
the dry sand area and buried them. Structures built in the
sand, such as sea walls, pilings, or heavy objects that
did not get moved are very good areas to hunt.
Targets will tend to gather around these things, and in
the path of the receding water that flowed past them.
A large scoop is recommended for this kind of hunting, you
want to be able to recover targets quickly and move on to
the next one. If a storm occurs during the period of the
full moon and a high tide, you can expect to find good
targets far back from the water, and in areas that you
would normal ignore. |
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No matter what part of the coast line you hunt, at
some time you will get to experience a storm and if done
carefully, it can be one of the best hunting experiences you can
have, just be sure to make it a safe one. Good hunting.
Ozzie ---OO OsGone@aol.com
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