Mangrove relic hunt

Blak bart

Gold Member
Jun 6, 2016
19,211
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Mine lab primary fisher secondary
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i wanted to get in the water but the weather had other plans...so instead it was into the mangrove bush. 20210104_203633.jpggot some silver dimes and a handful of wheats.
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Also got some great maritime relics.20210104_204617.jpg20210104_204548.jpg20210104_204531.jpg I was super happy with the mini bronze double block pulley!!20210104_204339.jpg20210104_204319.jpg20210104_204259.jpg got a wheat penny that had been shot by a 22. Also had a shotgun headstamp that had also been shot by a 22 round....BOOM !!20210104_204828.jpg
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Ended up with a half dozen plated pieces of silverware...5 forks a spoon and a knife handle.20210104_204149.jpg20210104_204245.jpg plenty of bullets and shells also.20210104_205132.jpg plenty of other miscellaneous finds also. Nothing mind blowing but a nice steady day of digging !! Wooo hooo !! Got to admit that seeing those ships dividers on the banner board really got me motivated...thanks FloridaSon....and happy hunting everyone !!

Got to take a picture of some funky looking plate thingy...might be some kind of art deco ashtray or something its soaking !!
 

Upvote 0
i wanted to get in the water but the weather had other plans...so instead it was into the mangrove bush.View attachment 1891473got some silver dimes and a handful of wheats.
View attachment 1891475
Also got some great maritime relics.View attachment 1891476View attachment 1891477View attachment 1891478 I was super happy with the mini bronze double block pulley!!View attachment 1891479View attachment 1891480View attachment 1891481 got a wheat penny that had been shot by a 22. Also had a shotgun headstamp that had also been shot by a 22 round....BOOM !!View attachment 1891482
View attachment 1891483
Ended up with a half dozen plated pieces of silverware...5 forks a spoon and a knife handle.View attachment 1891485View attachment 1891486 plenty of bullets and shells also.View attachment 1891487 plenty of other miscellaneous finds also. Nothing mind blowing but a nice steady day of digging !! Wooo hooo !! Got to admit that seeing those ships dividers on the banner board really got me motivated...thanks FloridaSon....and happy hunting everyone !!

Got to take a picture of some funky looking plate thingy...might be some kind of art deco ashtray or something its soaking !!


Great job Bart. Makes you wonder why folks would travel by canoe or kayak to shoot shotguns and 22's in that grown up mangrove.
 

Great job Bart. Makes you wonder why folks would travel by canoe or kayak to shoot shotguns and 22's in that grown up mangrove.

If I remember the info from our family vacation in Sanibel last year, when we took a trip to a preserve, the mangroves will "move" with the shifting shoreline or water depth. I'm not sure how much it may have shifted since these were lost.
But, I was looking around Roseate Island in Sebastian a couple of years ago when I noticed some type of metal warning sign to boaters about 20' into the mangroves. Evidently, it use to be on the shore in the 60's(?).

RTR, Mel fisher would have liked the way you think. I understand he took an excursion up river to see if there were defensive areas that might have interested the 1715 salvors.
 

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Loved reading your post and watching your video Bart, I 'liked' your video and 'subscribed' as well. :thumbsup:

I really like the mini bronze double block pulley, now what would that have been used on? :icon_scratch:
The first old fork you picked up is probably the oldest of the lot, based on the style I'm thinking late 1800s.

Dave
 

7mm roger.

It broke off right at the taper roger....the bullet and the tapered part are probably on the floorboard of my truck !!
 

Great job Bart. Makes you wonder why folks would travel by canoe or kayak to shoot shotguns and 22's in that grown up mangrove.

So to understand just where and when people used these remote spots one has to keep in mind that the highway is a relatively new invention to the islands.....the real highway in the past was the hawk channel that runs the length of the keys. Many islands that were frequented in the past are now cut off from access. When the main source of travel was by boat many of these remote places today were actually popular before the highway and cars changed the way people traveled. Also before the modern day wave of parks and conservation hunting was a way of life for the old conchs/settlers. Heron, egret,and ibis/curlew were definitely on the menu. What at one time was beautiful white sand beach can be completely engulfed in mangrove now. Throw in a hundred years of storms and hurricanes....and things can change dramatically in less than a weeks time. Artifacts are both covered in one spot and uncovered in another by the shifting sands and king tides. Lately its the shifting piles of seaweed that frustrate me. Seems there is more and more of it in the last few years !! So many dynamics involved in hunting down here....I just keep checking conditions until a window of opportunity opens for me....I love wandering the shifting sands and coastline !! I truly enjoy beachcombing at my core !! Just an old conch at heart....carrying on a tradition that goes back to the heart and soul of keys life...beachcombing!!
 

Sphillips and PetesPockets 55
You guys live in the area. Get together & Hit those islands I posted in Post #18 :) :tchest:
 

If I remember the info from our family vacation on a preserve in Sanibel last year, the mangroves will "move" with the shifting shoreline or water depth. I'm not sure how much it may have shifted since these were lost.
But, I was looking around Roseate Island in Sebastian a couple of years ago when I noticed some type of metal warning sign to boaters about 20' into the mangroves. Evidently it use to be on the shore in the 60's(?).

RTR, Mel fisher would have liked the way you think. I understand he took an excursion up river to see if there were defensive areas that might have interested the 1715 salvors.

100% correct pete....mangroves grow much faster than people think. They can completely take over in just a few years if unchecked. They can also be blasted and uprooted in a single night of hurricane storm surge. Not many people know this but the last storm ETA shifted alot of sand and changed things more than people expected....every storm and king tide is a game changer down here....im still exploring ETA damaged ground !!
 

Loved reading your post and watching your video Bart, I 'liked' your video and 'subscribed' as well. :thumbsup:

I really like the mini bronze double block pulley, now what would that have been used on? :icon_scratch:
The first old fork you picked up is probably the oldest of the lot, based on the style I'm thinking late 1800s.

Dave

Thank you dave....I've been pondering what that little block could've been used for ?? Pennant flag halyard maybe ?? Ships tackle and rigging can be found just about anywhere down here....imagine all the busted lumber and ships timbers that have washed up on the beaches of the keys !! Ships timbers with bits of rigging could wash up on a beach miles from the actual wreck site. The rigging eventually gets knocked off or rots off and then settles in the sands of time....just waiting for me to find it...wooo hooo...anything is possible down here ya just never know what will pop up next !!
 

Yeah for their time they were Monsters ! Someplace I read it to 1,000 trees to build one
 

Wish they were doing that in the keys....I would be a volunteer for sure !!
 



Beautiful ship
 

pepperj
Thats not a ship....its a 'Dream Weaver' :)
 

keep up the good work - wish i was there
now got a cast on my foot taking me out of the hunt for awhile more
but picked up $1700 from casino few days ago - i can still do that from a wheel chair :thumbsup:
 

Sphillips and PetesPockets 55
You guys live in the area. Get together & Hit those islands I posted in Post #18 :) :tchest:

Would be fun to do that. Most of the small islands in the river are spoil islands from dredging the channel, but there are some areas on the river side of North Hutchinson Island that are natural
 

The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 12/13/16 Report - Treasure In The Indian River Lagoon. read this guys....when I lived in vero we would find arrow heads on the spoil islands....we would have parties on the island. Everybody would ferry out by small boat and drink and camp. Then in the mid to late 80s we had a horrible boat wreck under the 17th street bridge....2 of my friends died and 2 others were severely injured. We never went back out there again....my girlfriends face was surgically repaired to better than new....she lost the majority of her front teeth in the crash. I'd get back out there now if I was up there though !!
 

I don't doubt you guys will be snooping around sebastion Wal-Mart now LOL !! treasure found at sewals point ??? Hmmm !!
 

keep up the good work - wish i was there
now got a cast on my foot taking me out of the hunt for awhile more
but picked up $1700 from casino few days ago - i can still do that from a wheel chair :thumbsup:

Hope you mend fast casper....get better my friend....spring is right around the corner !!
 

20210107_080700.jpg cobbs found at wallmart....well looks like more ground to cover there with permission secured....im in someone get permission!!
 

The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 12/13/16 Report - Treasure In The Indian River Lagoon. read this guys....when I lived in vero we would find arrow heads on the spoil islands....we would have parties on the island. Everybody would ferry out by small boat and drink and camp. Then in the mid to late 80s we had a horrible boat wreck under the 17th street bridge....2 of my friends died and 2 others were severely injured. We never went back out there again....my girlfriends face was surgically repaired to better than new....she lost the majority of her front teeth in the crash. I'd get back out there now if I was up there though !!

I was working on the fire department that night but off the marine rotation. We dispatched our boat, very foggy night and awful tragedy. My partner said it was worse than anyone could imagine.
 

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