Alan Hassell
Jr. Member
- Jun 13, 2010
- 53
- 3
- Detector(s) used
- pulse star 2, impulse, spectrum. goldscan, PI 3000
SHALLOW WATER DETECTING SECRETS
By ALAN HASSELL © 18/6/95
All rights reserved.
Last month I covered the basics, of why I believe there are still tons of gold waiting to be recovered from swimming area's around Britain's Coastline. I do not write about anything unless I have first tried it out myself and prove that method to work. I have followed the same principles since I started writing about my detecting experiences back in Australia in 1981.
I am not one of these armchair detectorists, I practise what I preach, my methods work, if they work for me, then they will work for you too. I wrote a similar article in 1991, featuring Bill Harris, who I met on Towan Beach in Cornwall.
Following the publication of the article, a few people started getting in the water and discovered what I had written was correct and they started to recover gold. Mr Harris took a lot of the credit from the article that should have gone to me.
For a start, he could never write informative articles, such as mine, because I have a background in Journalism. Secondly, I started writing about shallow water in 1983. This puts Willy the Wizard in the kindergarten stage where experience, in water is concerned. Recovering those goodies in itself might appear quite simple, and it is provided you follow some simple guidelines.
One could be forgiven for thinking that once a ring falls off an individuals finger it falls to sands below and remains there until someone comes along with a metal detector. Whilst this might be the case in some area's, in other's in is not unusual for an object such as a ring to move about frequently. The sea is in a constant state of flux or movement. This is caused by the wind, which in turn causes waves.
It is these waves that continually change the shape of a beach by tidal and current movement of sand. Therefore it's essential that you know a little about tides to understand how they work. TIDES. There are four tides per 24 hour period, they are spaced about 6 hours apart and consist of a low tide followed by a high.
Tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the moon, sun and by the rotation of the Earth. Earth rotating on its axis produces centrifugal force that is basically the same at all points. The moons gravitational pull is strongest on the earth's side closest to the moon, whereas the side further from the moon the gravitational pull is the weakest. Therefore there is an imbalance and tides occur as a natural occurrence.
Maximum tides are known as spring tides, these are when the height and fall of water is at it's greatest. These occur when the sun, moon and Earth lie in approximately a straight line. These tides are regarded as the best suited for Shallow Water Metal Detecting. Minimum tides are known as Neap tides and these occur when the Sun and Moon are approx 90 degrees apart when viewed from Earth.
Because the gravitational pull of the sun and moon almost cancel each other out tide levels is approx 20% above and below average tidal limits. In layman's terms this means the water does not go out as far as with spring tides. Knowledge of tides are important if you want to be successful recovering objects from a well used beach because it would be pointless going to a beach when the tide is at it's highest. We therefore use the Low tides that allow us to get into the area's once used by swimmers.
The ideal time to search is two hours before low tide and two hours after. This gives the individual four hours detecting in which to recover a few goodies. Because the times of tides can be worked out in advance, Tide tables and charts are available in fishing shops and newsagents around the coast. Having one will become one of your most valuable tools.
WIND AND CURRENTS.
As the Earth rotates, a wave moves continually around the Earth but that is not the cause of waves. It is the wind that causes waves, the greater the force of the wind the greater the frequency and force of the waves. Whenever the wind blows directly off the sea, onto the beach, we can expect waves. However, if the wind blows offshore onto the sea, a strange thing happens, this offshore wind not only flattens the sea, but also makes the water recede further out than normal.
It can also extend the length or duration of the tide for quite some considerable time that one can use to their advantage. One word of warning here, the wind has been known to change direction without warning. When it does happen, water held back by an offshore wind can flood in at a tremendous pace. Never, allow yourself to get into an area, where there is no retreat from a beach or you could end being cut off and trapped or even worse drowned.
LONG SHORE DRIFT.
The power of water should never be under-estimated, almost every beach will be influenced by Long shore Drift. Long shore Drift is caused by waves breaking on a beach with the returning water meeting incoming water in the breaker zone. The returning water meeting a force greater than it's own has no where to go except parallel to the beach. This causes a current which usually develop along long straight stretches of beach. These currents transport suspended sand and sediments caused by wave action.
Most beaches will have a near shore channel and further out a long shore channel. It is these channels that are important to the beach hunter or shallow water metal detectorist. When an individual loses a ring, the specific gravity of gold being 19.2 is far greater than sand that has an S.G. of 2.5. Therefore the ring acts as a circular razor blade and buries itself under the sand in a matter of moments.
The ring will continue to bury itself in the sand until such time as the sand becomes compacted under the pressure or weight of water exerted upon it. This is why people are seldom able to find the lost object at the time unless they have an underwater metal detector at the disposal at the time.
As stated earlier, the beach is in a constant state of flux or movement and for this reason objects buried in the sand move about when disturbed by the action of currents. Have you ever seen a river in flood, and watched it carefully? If you have then you would have noticed how trees and even boulders can be swept along in it's path. Water develops enormous forces and it is these forces that do your work for you.
The entire shape of a beach can change dramatically overnight during a storm. It is the storms that take sand away from a beach, exposing either a rock or clay bottom. During calm weather, sand is deposited onto the beach adding to the sand that is already there.
Long shore currents often feed rip's currents, which flow offshore through the surf at certain places. As the water from the long shore current meets the rip, water on the inside curve slows down and allows some objects to drop out according to their specific gravity. Ever wondered why you have met with an accumulation of coins or even rings in what might be called a Glory Hole. Well, that's the reason why they occur. Now you might be asking yourself, where do I find these channels. Simple, look on any beach and have a good look at the sand, notice any area's filled with water.
Those depressions in the sand must have been caused by something, maybe tidal action, if you think about it hard enough. SAND. Sand is perhaps your biggest enemy, I know it's mine. Sand consists mainly of light coloured Quartz and Feldspar sand grains that originate from erosion and weathering of rocks. This is eventually transported via the medium of water down to the sea and eventually washed up onto beaches.
Long shore Drift is responsible for beach development and maintenance of a constant supply of sand. Manmade structures such as groynes and jetties are used to maintain the sand on a given beach. However the use of such devices can deprive another beach of sand completely.
If you have ever encountered a beach with no sand, chances are if you look at an ordnance survey map, you will notice groynes or barriers have been placed on a beach nearby. If this is the case, then you will know what I have just attempted to explain is also correct. I have heard of such beaches in England and that detectorist's seem unable to find anything on these beaches. If you ever encounter one of these beaches, you might as well move on and find another beach that does have some sand.
It is the sand after all that keeps the goodies localised. The more one learns about oceanography or coastal processes of erosion, the closer one can come to grips with what you liable to encounter once you get onto those golden sands. There is an abundance of such material just sitting in your local libraries waiting to be digested by someone like yourself.
If you think that you have to get into the water to recover goodies, you do not, there are still plenty of trinkets to be found on the beach. You of course have to hit the beach at the right time. The right time is two hours before low tide and two hours after. These times can be extended when certain conditions prevail, such as an offshore wind.
Do not under-estimate the sea and the fact the tide has been held back, as stated earlier, the tide can come in with a flood. It only takes one wave as a warning, that should be enough because the other's that follow could come in fast and furious. You, like other people reading this article, will only remember about 10% of the information.
The Human brain is the greatest computer ever designed, but humans only use a fraction of it and sometimes only for bodily functions. Napoleon Hill, wrote a book called, "Think and grow rich." He states that ,"Anything the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve." Irrespective of what your occupation might be in life, if you really desire to get on and be successful, this book can give you a few clues.
I gave a lecture at the Chalfont St. Giles M/D Club, out of a total of 40 people only 10 % or 4 person believed what I told them and took up the gauntlet, they have realised that I wasn't having them on, because they have all found gold since my talk.
One of them now works at it full time and it has become an obsession with him so much so that his marriage is now in tatter's. Women don't know how to compete with a metal detector. I prefer Pulse Induction on wet sand or in the water to VLF type metal detector's.
Pulse has superior depth qualities and well as totally ignoring salt water and highly mineralised black magnetic sands. VLF types are useful, but I prefer to use them on dry sands, because some of them cannot handle salt water or black mineralised sands. The tidal range in Australia is only 1.8 metres meaning the only way to search is in the water.
You are lucky to have a great tidal range of between 30 and 40 foot, which means when the tide goes out fast area's up to half mile or more of beach is exposed. For this reason, you can use a good quality Pulse Induction machine, such as the Goldscan, which I use or Goldquest and search the wet sands.
A pair of rubber wellies, a windproof jacket to keep you warm and a spade can put you onto the beach. Getting into the water will be explained in detail at a later date, because of the need of special wet or dry suits, long handled scoops and sieves all of which you can either build yourself or find someone to make it for you. HAPPY HUNTING.
By ALAN HASSELL © 18/6/95
All rights reserved.
Last month I covered the basics, of why I believe there are still tons of gold waiting to be recovered from swimming area's around Britain's Coastline. I do not write about anything unless I have first tried it out myself and prove that method to work. I have followed the same principles since I started writing about my detecting experiences back in Australia in 1981.
I am not one of these armchair detectorists, I practise what I preach, my methods work, if they work for me, then they will work for you too. I wrote a similar article in 1991, featuring Bill Harris, who I met on Towan Beach in Cornwall.
Following the publication of the article, a few people started getting in the water and discovered what I had written was correct and they started to recover gold. Mr Harris took a lot of the credit from the article that should have gone to me.
For a start, he could never write informative articles, such as mine, because I have a background in Journalism. Secondly, I started writing about shallow water in 1983. This puts Willy the Wizard in the kindergarten stage where experience, in water is concerned. Recovering those goodies in itself might appear quite simple, and it is provided you follow some simple guidelines.
One could be forgiven for thinking that once a ring falls off an individuals finger it falls to sands below and remains there until someone comes along with a metal detector. Whilst this might be the case in some area's, in other's in is not unusual for an object such as a ring to move about frequently. The sea is in a constant state of flux or movement. This is caused by the wind, which in turn causes waves.
It is these waves that continually change the shape of a beach by tidal and current movement of sand. Therefore it's essential that you know a little about tides to understand how they work. TIDES. There are four tides per 24 hour period, they are spaced about 6 hours apart and consist of a low tide followed by a high.
Tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the moon, sun and by the rotation of the Earth. Earth rotating on its axis produces centrifugal force that is basically the same at all points. The moons gravitational pull is strongest on the earth's side closest to the moon, whereas the side further from the moon the gravitational pull is the weakest. Therefore there is an imbalance and tides occur as a natural occurrence.
Maximum tides are known as spring tides, these are when the height and fall of water is at it's greatest. These occur when the sun, moon and Earth lie in approximately a straight line. These tides are regarded as the best suited for Shallow Water Metal Detecting. Minimum tides are known as Neap tides and these occur when the Sun and Moon are approx 90 degrees apart when viewed from Earth.
Because the gravitational pull of the sun and moon almost cancel each other out tide levels is approx 20% above and below average tidal limits. In layman's terms this means the water does not go out as far as with spring tides. Knowledge of tides are important if you want to be successful recovering objects from a well used beach because it would be pointless going to a beach when the tide is at it's highest. We therefore use the Low tides that allow us to get into the area's once used by swimmers.
The ideal time to search is two hours before low tide and two hours after. This gives the individual four hours detecting in which to recover a few goodies. Because the times of tides can be worked out in advance, Tide tables and charts are available in fishing shops and newsagents around the coast. Having one will become one of your most valuable tools.
WIND AND CURRENTS.
As the Earth rotates, a wave moves continually around the Earth but that is not the cause of waves. It is the wind that causes waves, the greater the force of the wind the greater the frequency and force of the waves. Whenever the wind blows directly off the sea, onto the beach, we can expect waves. However, if the wind blows offshore onto the sea, a strange thing happens, this offshore wind not only flattens the sea, but also makes the water recede further out than normal.
It can also extend the length or duration of the tide for quite some considerable time that one can use to their advantage. One word of warning here, the wind has been known to change direction without warning. When it does happen, water held back by an offshore wind can flood in at a tremendous pace. Never, allow yourself to get into an area, where there is no retreat from a beach or you could end being cut off and trapped or even worse drowned.
LONG SHORE DRIFT.
The power of water should never be under-estimated, almost every beach will be influenced by Long shore Drift. Long shore Drift is caused by waves breaking on a beach with the returning water meeting incoming water in the breaker zone. The returning water meeting a force greater than it's own has no where to go except parallel to the beach. This causes a current which usually develop along long straight stretches of beach. These currents transport suspended sand and sediments caused by wave action.
Most beaches will have a near shore channel and further out a long shore channel. It is these channels that are important to the beach hunter or shallow water metal detectorist. When an individual loses a ring, the specific gravity of gold being 19.2 is far greater than sand that has an S.G. of 2.5. Therefore the ring acts as a circular razor blade and buries itself under the sand in a matter of moments.
The ring will continue to bury itself in the sand until such time as the sand becomes compacted under the pressure or weight of water exerted upon it. This is why people are seldom able to find the lost object at the time unless they have an underwater metal detector at the disposal at the time.
As stated earlier, the beach is in a constant state of flux or movement and for this reason objects buried in the sand move about when disturbed by the action of currents. Have you ever seen a river in flood, and watched it carefully? If you have then you would have noticed how trees and even boulders can be swept along in it's path. Water develops enormous forces and it is these forces that do your work for you.
The entire shape of a beach can change dramatically overnight during a storm. It is the storms that take sand away from a beach, exposing either a rock or clay bottom. During calm weather, sand is deposited onto the beach adding to the sand that is already there.
Long shore currents often feed rip's currents, which flow offshore through the surf at certain places. As the water from the long shore current meets the rip, water on the inside curve slows down and allows some objects to drop out according to their specific gravity. Ever wondered why you have met with an accumulation of coins or even rings in what might be called a Glory Hole. Well, that's the reason why they occur. Now you might be asking yourself, where do I find these channels. Simple, look on any beach and have a good look at the sand, notice any area's filled with water.
Those depressions in the sand must have been caused by something, maybe tidal action, if you think about it hard enough. SAND. Sand is perhaps your biggest enemy, I know it's mine. Sand consists mainly of light coloured Quartz and Feldspar sand grains that originate from erosion and weathering of rocks. This is eventually transported via the medium of water down to the sea and eventually washed up onto beaches.
Long shore Drift is responsible for beach development and maintenance of a constant supply of sand. Manmade structures such as groynes and jetties are used to maintain the sand on a given beach. However the use of such devices can deprive another beach of sand completely.
If you have ever encountered a beach with no sand, chances are if you look at an ordnance survey map, you will notice groynes or barriers have been placed on a beach nearby. If this is the case, then you will know what I have just attempted to explain is also correct. I have heard of such beaches in England and that detectorist's seem unable to find anything on these beaches. If you ever encounter one of these beaches, you might as well move on and find another beach that does have some sand.
It is the sand after all that keeps the goodies localised. The more one learns about oceanography or coastal processes of erosion, the closer one can come to grips with what you liable to encounter once you get onto those golden sands. There is an abundance of such material just sitting in your local libraries waiting to be digested by someone like yourself.
If you think that you have to get into the water to recover goodies, you do not, there are still plenty of trinkets to be found on the beach. You of course have to hit the beach at the right time. The right time is two hours before low tide and two hours after. These times can be extended when certain conditions prevail, such as an offshore wind.
Do not under-estimate the sea and the fact the tide has been held back, as stated earlier, the tide can come in with a flood. It only takes one wave as a warning, that should be enough because the other's that follow could come in fast and furious. You, like other people reading this article, will only remember about 10% of the information.
The Human brain is the greatest computer ever designed, but humans only use a fraction of it and sometimes only for bodily functions. Napoleon Hill, wrote a book called, "Think and grow rich." He states that ,"Anything the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve." Irrespective of what your occupation might be in life, if you really desire to get on and be successful, this book can give you a few clues.
I gave a lecture at the Chalfont St. Giles M/D Club, out of a total of 40 people only 10 % or 4 person believed what I told them and took up the gauntlet, they have realised that I wasn't having them on, because they have all found gold since my talk.
One of them now works at it full time and it has become an obsession with him so much so that his marriage is now in tatter's. Women don't know how to compete with a metal detector. I prefer Pulse Induction on wet sand or in the water to VLF type metal detector's.
Pulse has superior depth qualities and well as totally ignoring salt water and highly mineralised black magnetic sands. VLF types are useful, but I prefer to use them on dry sands, because some of them cannot handle salt water or black mineralised sands. The tidal range in Australia is only 1.8 metres meaning the only way to search is in the water.
You are lucky to have a great tidal range of between 30 and 40 foot, which means when the tide goes out fast area's up to half mile or more of beach is exposed. For this reason, you can use a good quality Pulse Induction machine, such as the Goldscan, which I use or Goldquest and search the wet sands.
A pair of rubber wellies, a windproof jacket to keep you warm and a spade can put you onto the beach. Getting into the water will be explained in detail at a later date, because of the need of special wet or dry suits, long handled scoops and sieves all of which you can either build yourself or find someone to make it for you. HAPPY HUNTING.
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