My First Non-Junk Ring

[alienbogey]

I'm a beach detecting newbie and still learning my Excalibur, so this is a benchmark for me.

I had a Honolulu layover and found a few hours to go out to one of the tourist beaches. I was astounded at how clean (meaning very few targets, not even trash) both the dry sand and water were. I didn't have a signal for the first 45 minutes in the water, and it got to the point that I was swinging my wedding ring hand over the coil to make sure things were still working.

(Is it normal to have so few targets?)

Anyway, some targets did show up, and I put 69 cents, a bobby pin, and a little sterling silver toe ring in the bag:

I was kind of proud that I detected the toe ring at all. It's not a complete loop, and you can see that the main face is lattice work, but I was moving along in waist-deep water and I realized that something had just whispered to me. I had the target in just a couple of scoops and at first I thought it was junk, but I saw no evidence of corrosion, noticed that it had a kind of dark grey patina, and when I got it home I could just make out with my 10X loupe "925" stamped on the inside.

So, this was only my second time detecting in the water and I got a precious-metals ring, even if it is very small.

My next goal: Gold

 

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[sandnut]

Nice looking little ring there. Great job with the Excalibur! I can not answer about the lack of targets here there are plenty of trash targets everywhere on the beach and in the water trash everywhere!

 

[cntrydncr1]

congrats on the cute little toe ring!

 

[CSMPEREZ]

Great start, don't give up, it gets better.

 

[Da Sand Crab]

It's a small island with small beaches my friend.
There is a lot of hunting going on around the clock.
The competition is stiff. At least you got out and gave it a go.
Good for you and I hope you had good time.

 

[firemac]

nice job on the first good target, and don't lose your wedding ring!

 

[alienbogey]

Thanks for the replies, and thanks for the observations about HI beaches.

Yes, Da Sand Crab, I figured there must be other detectorists, and I saw one, but he stayed on the dry sand.

That's okay, for whatever reason I just like to swing the coil, it relaxes me, and I'll take whatever beeps come up.

I have another trip tomorrow, so I should be out giving it another try tomorrow afternoon.

(P.S. I won't lose my wedding ring, been on there 28 years come April!)

 

[grizj]

Go get that first GOLD, good luck.

 

[lorraine]

Interesting post, alienbogey

I like that toe ring...could you post a close-up photo of it so as to display the detailing? It is very pretty.

Lorraine

 

[Da Sand Crab]

You actually did well.
I went out the Ala Moana beach on Friday.
In two hours I got 2 pennies and a hair pin.

 

[alienbogey]

You actually did well.
I went out the Ala Moana beach on Friday.
In two hours I got 2 pennies and a hair pin.

Yes, Ala Moana was where I hunted and I was out there this afternoon for over four hours, working mostly the water, and got six pennies, a hair clip, a pull tab, and two bottle caps that I knew were bottle caps but dug anyway because I wanted to dig something.

The funny thing is, while I'm supposing that the beach is so clean because of detectorists, when I got there I took three steps into the water, got a strong signal, recovered the target, and got a beavertail pull tab maybe an inch down. If the detectorists are scouring the beach how could a 30+ year old pull tab still be there?

Then, after getting that pull tab in the first 30 seconds, I didn't have another target for almost an hour.

But, I enjoyed myself.

 

[Da Sand Crab]

I have found some nice items at that beach. This hobby is all about being in the right
place at the right time. Like you say, You gotta enjoy the experience.
Good luck.

 

[alienbogey]

I guess I did do better than I thought by finding that little silver ring. I'll see if I can remember to get a better closeup of it when I get home.

In the mean time, I went out and hunted the dry sand for a couple hours very early this morning (easy to do when you're on West Coast time). Here are the results:

Yes, I scored a Matchbox car!

As you can see, I got a couple more beavertail pull tabs. That gives me some hope, on the other hand maybe everyone else is so good at discriminating that they ignore them...

I have another HNL trip in a couple weeks and will likely be out there again.

 

[jbrown]

i am sure more will come your way