Remote, rugged beaches EVERY..

[westattam]

Greetings all! I'm new to the hobby and glad to be here. I live in a very remote, isolated island community in the Pacific Northwestern corner of British Columbia, Canada. It's called the Queen Charlotte Islands. I bought a starter machine (Garrett Ace 250) and I'm still getting used to it. I'm finding pinpointing quite a challenge with this unit.
Any specific hints on hunting saltwater beaches would be appreciated!
We get HUGE tides and many winter storms here. I'm not quite sure of WHERE on the beaches to hunt? Is there anything left in the low tides after the huge, heavy tides and waves all winter long? What about searching in the bushes/trees immediately ABOVE the high water line (where stuff may end-up after a storm). Any idea exactly how to set my Ace 250 for hard-packed, very wet salty sand?
So far, I've had most of my success just in playgrounds! I'd like to graduate into finds better than pennies and nickels though! Or at least some OLD pennies and nickels.
This community has TONS of history and a First Nations community that has lived here for thousands of years.. I just need to find those key spots.. Ideas???

[pris]

Welcome to TQ!!! I also have an Ace250 and find that it hunts on the dryer sand a lot better than the wet salty sand. However, if you bring the sensitivity way down, you may have better luck. I have heard that after storms, you should look from the high tide mark and down. I have also heard that the good stuff is about 3 feet(ish) into the surf, but I haven't braved going that deep. I don't have a cover for my control panel and don't want a new 3' long, yellow and black paper weight. I'm sure there will be some mo' bettah' advice from experienced beach hunters. Until then, enjoy the forum!

[bdahunter]

I lived in Comox for most of the 1990's and loved every minute of it. The Queen Charlottes is beautiful country and you are a lucky guy to live the. I think the Haida ladies are stunning too, so you are doubly lucky.
The Haida People were and are fiercely independent so they didn't allow european settlement on their lands, so you will be lucky if you can find the location of an old european trading post in the local archives. This would be your best bet for finding something older with your current detector as the Haida didn't work metal until after contact with the europeans.

I used an Ace250 for a while before buying an Excal 1000 as I was frustrated by the falsing on the beach anytime I got near the wet sand. You can cut the sensitivity WAY back to reduce the falsing but you won't be detecting more than a few inches. Typically you are going to find lighter targets like pull tabs in the first few inches, gold works itself deep quickly because of its' higher density.

The dry sand is your best bet and you should concentrate on the towel line at popular beaches. Just go to a busy beach and see where people lay down their towels in a row and you'll have an idea of where to look for loot. Another area that is good to look for finds after a good storm is the cut in the beach caused by wave action. This is a drop off from the old beach to the newly exposed beach, work this area below the cut as it will have targets that were previously too deep for you to detect and targets that have been left behind when the sand has been swept away by the storm. Don't forget to work the first few feet back from the top of the cut as coins will get flipped up there as well.

The Ace250 is not a beach machine but it is a very versatile detector that packs more bang for the buck than anything else on the market right now, Good Choice. You can use it on the beach with good success in the dry sand and limited success in the wet sand and no success in salt water. If you cover the controls with a clear sandwich baggie and tape it tightly you could use it in fresh water but not too deep 2-3 feet, a trickle of water and it's bye bye Ace250. Never submerge the controls or the connection to the control from the coil, baggie or not, Game Over.

Personally, I would be researching areas visited by european traders and work those areas, especially trading sites. You could try working old Haida settlements for old trade goods but you should be careful that you don't offend the tribal elders. That could be very bad for you.

Good Hunting,

BDA

[Joe(TX)]

For Wet salt beach hunting, you really need to get a waterproof pulse induction machine. I like the Garrett Seahunter. Although they like small iron, they are also very sensitive to small and medium size coins and gold and silver jewelry!! These machines do not react to the wet salt beach sand. They ignore it as it doesn't exist! I use a small magnet in my scoop to collect all the bobby pins and small nails. Also good targets such as gold rings have a certain clinking quality in my scoop!! Good luck...........Joe