ToastedWheatie
Hero Member
- Jun 30, 2013
- 527
- 749
- 🥇 Banner finds
- 1
- Detector(s) used
- 800
Infinium
Whites M6
- Primary Interest:
- Relic Hunting
Well, got home yesterday with as much as I left with. Murphy Law was in FULL effect this trip.
Not a big cruise ship fan, but I convinced myself to go after allowing myself to purchase a HeadHunter Wader specifically for this. The trip was to be three days in Clearwater with family, then a 5 night cruise to the Bahamas. One of the stops was to be Little Stirrup Cay (AKA Coco Cay), owned by a cruise line. No locals living on the island, no overnight guests. Googling and searching forums provided little info from guys detecting this spot. So I figure it doesn't get hit often, and certainly not everywhere.
Worth the shot, making it worth the trip.
I figure I can practice some on the beach of Clearwater, as I have no salt water experience, and the machine is not PI. The first stop on the cruise is Nassau, home of Atlantis Resorts. Maybe get lucky there, as well as some more practice. Then on to the main spot, that little island that gets three or more cruise ships a day there (thousands of people) and minimal detecting. Getting more excited by the day....
We started on Thursday the 21st. Flying out at 7:30pm. The plane was delayed until 8:30. Boarded at 8:15, and the wife has a claustriphobic induced panic attack as soon as she sits in her seat. We were off the plane by 8:20.
We don't live far from the airport, so we were back home by 9:15. Grabbed some pillows and blankets from the house, gassed up the car, and we were on the road driving by 10pm. New York to Florida. Gonna make this work.
Somewhere around Maryland, I realized I left my scoop along side the garage. Damn.
Then I remembered Kellyco is in Orlando! Maybe I can salvage this trip.
We drive straight through, except for a two hour nap somewhere. I can't let the wife know why, but I need to make it to Orlando before 6pm on Friday.
With some luck and no traffic, we made it to Kellyco 45 minutes before closing ( wish I had more time. Soooo many display machines. Finally could have tried out a bunch!). One scoop left that matches what I need (price, breaks down, size). Woo Hoo. It's all coming together.
Now, you remember that cold front that came through the U.S. last week? It made it to norther Florida that day.
The days in Cleawater were cold (high of 60), windy, with rough surf.
Couldn't get the hang of the machine in the surf. Figured out how to reduce and 'read" the salt mineralization chatter, so something productive came out of it. But the waves kept moving me, and/or any targets. Maybe I need more practice. I'll get it in Nassau.
Ship left out of Jacksonville 3 or 4 hours late, as it arrived late because of rough seas. Sat around outside in shorts and Tshirts in the wind and 55 degree weather. But still psyched about that island, so all is good.
Day three on the ship. Still haven't seen the sun. Kids are motion sick, and no one goes outside on the decks. Waterslide still hasn't opened, as well as all activities up top. Too windy, and unsafe. But I brought on my own Bacardi and Capt. Morgan, so I can endure.
Off the ship to go to the beach near Atlantis. I catch a ride there (note to others: Take the $4 cab ride. As soon as you get off the dock there is a $4 ferry option. Takes 45 min. and leaves you with a 1 mile walk. I learned the hard way. Stick with the cab!)
As I arrived on Paradise Island, and had to walk to the beach,the rains came. With welt inducing hail. At least there was a Dunkin Doughts nearby to wait out the storm.
At the beach, I notice rough surf, but at least I'm there!
Made it to the beach about an hour and a half after I left the ship.
The surf here was also more than I can handle. I could stand in chest deep water, only 4 or 5 feet from the breaker and shin deep water. Don't know the air temp, but the water was warmer. That cold front pushed all the way down here!
I don't know if it was my inexperience, or it really is difficult in those conditions.Should I be able to detect in this
But it didn't matter, because after 10 minutes the arm strap came off my handle. It just came unstuck from the metal. I tried another half hour but with the added restistance of the water, and it not being strapped to the forearm, my wrist became fatigued. Any repeatable hits that I had I couldn't relocate after being tossed around.
So I just hit the dry sand for an hour or so. Nothing. Nada. Not even a bottle top. This must get gone over pretty well.
But that's OK. I now some experience with the salt, am comfortable with the machine, and that island I've been looking forward to has a lot of protected coves.
Day 4, still no sun or outdoor activities.
Up at 6am (no drinking the night before, plan on a full 8 hours of swinging that day), as the tenders are to deliver us to that island starting at 7:30 am. Early coffee and breakfast, got some duct tape from mainteance to make an arm strap, and then the announcement:
" We are sorry to inform you that because of rough weather, the tenders cannot safely transport you to the island. We will be redirecting to Freeport."
WT*?
Ugh.
So we get to Freeport at noon, and I'm calmed down a bit, determined to "make lemonade" out of this.
Off the ship, find a map, talk to a few taxi drivers, 10 of us to a public beach (at $7 per, each way). Still windy, and not warm. But the surf here is manageable. Put my machine together, calibrate it to the salt, grab my scoop.... where's my scoop? You know, that one I went out of my way to get at Kellyco?
Take a look at my first pic. The one I took with my equipment in front of an Atalntis sign. My scoop was left there. In that position.
I was so peeved about that strap, I never thought to pack the scoop after I broke down the machine into the duffle bag. I'm such an idiot.
So, in the calmer surf, I devise a way to dig a hole and seperate the target with my foot. Each hit would take me three or four minutes. Working in hip deep water still had every third wave coming chest deep, so bending over to find target with my fingers was time consuming.
Oh, did I mention that although the shipped docked at this place at 12, and wasn't leaving 'til 8pm, the taxis do the last pick up at 4pm. So we only had a few hours on the beach.
I was able to do my part in eliminateing that beach of some garbage, but that's it. Here's some:
So, after driving 2500 miles round trip ( and the plane tix were not refundable), LOTS of money spent, sick kids (youngest got fever on day four after motion sickness cleared up), hours and hours of research, that was the result of the trip.
But the time spent with family made it all worth it. Sort of........
Not a big cruise ship fan, but I convinced myself to go after allowing myself to purchase a HeadHunter Wader specifically for this. The trip was to be three days in Clearwater with family, then a 5 night cruise to the Bahamas. One of the stops was to be Little Stirrup Cay (AKA Coco Cay), owned by a cruise line. No locals living on the island, no overnight guests. Googling and searching forums provided little info from guys detecting this spot. So I figure it doesn't get hit often, and certainly not everywhere.
Worth the shot, making it worth the trip.
I figure I can practice some on the beach of Clearwater, as I have no salt water experience, and the machine is not PI. The first stop on the cruise is Nassau, home of Atlantis Resorts. Maybe get lucky there, as well as some more practice. Then on to the main spot, that little island that gets three or more cruise ships a day there (thousands of people) and minimal detecting. Getting more excited by the day....
We started on Thursday the 21st. Flying out at 7:30pm. The plane was delayed until 8:30. Boarded at 8:15, and the wife has a claustriphobic induced panic attack as soon as she sits in her seat. We were off the plane by 8:20.
We don't live far from the airport, so we were back home by 9:15. Grabbed some pillows and blankets from the house, gassed up the car, and we were on the road driving by 10pm. New York to Florida. Gonna make this work.
Somewhere around Maryland, I realized I left my scoop along side the garage. Damn.
Then I remembered Kellyco is in Orlando! Maybe I can salvage this trip.
We drive straight through, except for a two hour nap somewhere. I can't let the wife know why, but I need to make it to Orlando before 6pm on Friday.
With some luck and no traffic, we made it to Kellyco 45 minutes before closing ( wish I had more time. Soooo many display machines. Finally could have tried out a bunch!). One scoop left that matches what I need (price, breaks down, size). Woo Hoo. It's all coming together.
Now, you remember that cold front that came through the U.S. last week? It made it to norther Florida that day.
The days in Cleawater were cold (high of 60), windy, with rough surf.
Couldn't get the hang of the machine in the surf. Figured out how to reduce and 'read" the salt mineralization chatter, so something productive came out of it. But the waves kept moving me, and/or any targets. Maybe I need more practice. I'll get it in Nassau.
Ship left out of Jacksonville 3 or 4 hours late, as it arrived late because of rough seas. Sat around outside in shorts and Tshirts in the wind and 55 degree weather. But still psyched about that island, so all is good.
Day three on the ship. Still haven't seen the sun. Kids are motion sick, and no one goes outside on the decks. Waterslide still hasn't opened, as well as all activities up top. Too windy, and unsafe. But I brought on my own Bacardi and Capt. Morgan, so I can endure.
Off the ship to go to the beach near Atlantis. I catch a ride there (note to others: Take the $4 cab ride. As soon as you get off the dock there is a $4 ferry option. Takes 45 min. and leaves you with a 1 mile walk. I learned the hard way. Stick with the cab!)
As I arrived on Paradise Island, and had to walk to the beach,the rains came. With welt inducing hail. At least there was a Dunkin Doughts nearby to wait out the storm.
At the beach, I notice rough surf, but at least I'm there!
Made it to the beach about an hour and a half after I left the ship.
The surf here was also more than I can handle. I could stand in chest deep water, only 4 or 5 feet from the breaker and shin deep water. Don't know the air temp, but the water was warmer. That cold front pushed all the way down here!
I don't know if it was my inexperience, or it really is difficult in those conditions.Should I be able to detect in this
But it didn't matter, because after 10 minutes the arm strap came off my handle. It just came unstuck from the metal. I tried another half hour but with the added restistance of the water, and it not being strapped to the forearm, my wrist became fatigued. Any repeatable hits that I had I couldn't relocate after being tossed around.So I just hit the dry sand for an hour or so. Nothing. Nada. Not even a bottle top. This must get gone over pretty well.
But that's OK. I now some experience with the salt, am comfortable with the machine, and that island I've been looking forward to has a lot of protected coves.
Day 4, still no sun or outdoor activities.
Up at 6am (no drinking the night before, plan on a full 8 hours of swinging that day), as the tenders are to deliver us to that island starting at 7:30 am. Early coffee and breakfast, got some duct tape from mainteance to make an arm strap, and then the announcement:
" We are sorry to inform you that because of rough weather, the tenders cannot safely transport you to the island. We will be redirecting to Freeport."
WT*?
Ugh.
So we get to Freeport at noon, and I'm calmed down a bit, determined to "make lemonade" out of this.
Off the ship, find a map, talk to a few taxi drivers, 10 of us to a public beach (at $7 per, each way). Still windy, and not warm. But the surf here is manageable. Put my machine together, calibrate it to the salt, grab my scoop.... where's my scoop? You know, that one I went out of my way to get at Kellyco?
Take a look at my first pic. The one I took with my equipment in front of an Atalntis sign. My scoop was left there. In that position.
I was so peeved about that strap, I never thought to pack the scoop after I broke down the machine into the duffle bag. I'm such an idiot.
So, in the calmer surf, I devise a way to dig a hole and seperate the target with my foot. Each hit would take me three or four minutes. Working in hip deep water still had every third wave coming chest deep, so bending over to find target with my fingers was time consuming.
Oh, did I mention that although the shipped docked at this place at 12, and wasn't leaving 'til 8pm, the taxis do the last pick up at 4pm. So we only had a few hours on the beach.
I was able to do my part in eliminateing that beach of some garbage, but that's it. Here's some:
So, after driving 2500 miles round trip ( and the plane tix were not refundable), LOTS of money spent, sick kids (youngest got fever on day four after motion sickness cleared up), hours and hours of research, that was the result of the trip.
But the time spent with family made it all worth it. Sort of........
Last edited:
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for your trip from hell. But you all made it home safe and future hunts have to be better. You've paid your dues. Good luck and your picture is in the dictionary next to "tenacious"!!
How many times did you do this......
