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Surf PI Pro and BeachHunter ID
find Mediterranean gold!
It was only a few more weeks until Christmas when
the invitation came to join my English friends, Brian and Mo'
Cross, founders of http://www.ukdetectornet.co.uk/, on one of
their winter excursions to hunt for Mediterranean gold. Having
seen the results of their past trips, I jumped at the chance.
For a Pennsylvania boy who was already suffering from cabin
fever, the opportunity to get into the water in January would be
a welcome interlude. Even if the equipment list required a
Drysuit and insulated 'Huggies'.
Fortunately my wife Connie encouraged me to make the trip. I
think she was anticipating some tangible reward for her
understanding, and since she has 'adjustable fingers' I was
pretty confident I would be bringing home some nice surprises
for her in the form of recovered gold rings. You might say the
anticipation of success was causing me to underestimate the task
at hand, as I was to soon learn.
Plane fares are not prohibitive in the winter, but the weight
limit is still in effect. Two underwater metal detectors, a
water scoop, Drysuit, Huggies, boots, recovery pouch, loads of
batteries, and even suntan lotion were all crammed into my
luggage. Not knowing what to expect, I was making sure I had
packed for all the possible contingencies. However, when I
arrived in England for an overnight stay before departing for
the Mediterranean, my friends tactfully informed me I was out of
my mind to have so many 'extras'-like clothes. Imagine, an 8-day
trip with only two sets of street clothing. The available
luggage was needed for equipment. Besides, we would be in the
water from morning until dark, and there would be no need of
extra clothing.
The Mediterranean is gorgeous in January. The water is clear and
it is normal to see the detector coil on the bottom even when
the water is up to your neck. The beaches are wide and clean,
but the temptation to detect on them is quickly forgotten once
the coins and jewelry begin popping up in the water scoop. And
the scenery is wonderful. There were many times I just stopped
and looked around, imagining the countless thousands of people
who have visited these beaches since Roman times.
We hunted the water exclusively on this trip. Brian and Mo' knew
far more than I, how to 'read' the beaches, and their friend
'Dyson' who accompanied us was even more experienced. I was
indeed in the company of living legends. At times we would look
at a beach and they would agree not to try detecting it. Other
times, it seemed they just gave a quick glance and agreed it
would be 'brilliant'. During the entire week, my guides were
never wrong.
On the very first day, after suiting up and testing our gear I
was given a brief description of what to expect. We were all
using PI's and I was confident my White's PI would be just the
ticket. Then I heard the dreaded word for all water hunters.
Nails!!! Lots of nails. Of course the PI would reach deep, but
it would also respond to the dreaded nails.
It seems there had been at least two old piers, which ran for
hundreds of feet out into the sea. Both were gone now, but the
thousands of nails, which held them together, still remained.
The sheer number which we recovered was testament to how
infrequently these waters had seen metal detectors. Not wanting
to hog all the nails for myself, I found myself wandering down
the beach several hundred yards.
We had developed a sort of sign language so we could inform each
other of our finds without shouting and attracting attention.
Within a short time after leaving my friends in the nail field,
I began to notice quite a few 'signals' coming from them. Then
it happened. I already had a dozen or so coins in my pouch, and
4 silver rings; but I suddenly found a nice gold signet ring. My
first Mediterranean gold. And then, within ten minutes, I had
another. This was fun.
We signaled each other to take a break by the waters edge. What
I learned during that short break was very enlightening. Sure,
they were all finding nails, but that's not all. Each of them
had gold, silver, and lots of coins. The nail bed was covering
hundreds of good signals and they were working them slowly and
effectively. I made a mental note to go through the same areas
when they were done, using the White's BeachHunter ID I had in
the car. I figured the discrimination that it offered would be
ideal in such an area.
The rest of that first day was wonderful. I managed to find
another gold ring and finished the day with 6 silver rings and
80 coins. Both Brian and Dyson had more gold than I. Mo and I
tied and jokingly blamed it on the fact that we are not as tall
as the other two. But I was thrilled. Dead tired, but thrilled.
Some beaches produced very quickly, with each of us recovering
gold. Other beaches gave up their treasures more grudgingly, but
our patience was eventually rewarded. During the seven days of
actual detecting, the four of us recovered 104 pieces of gold.
We never did count the silver pieces, as most of them would
eventually be sold for scrap value. The weeks total for coins
came to 2,221, many hundreds of which were the new Euro coins.
All of our spending money for the week came from recovered
coins.
As the week progressed, I would reach my unspoken goal of
recovered gold targets and revise it upwards. The eventual total
of 22 gold was a respectable showing for a newcomer and I was
very happy to have some of the finest quality items in my pouch.
I was anxious to try the BeachHunter ID in the nail area and we
found ourselves several hundred yards from there on the third
day. Some gold was being recovered, but most of it was in deeper
water and I could see that the taller guys were benefiting. Mo'
was methodically working the shallows with some success, so I
decided to hike up to the nail area. Wow. The BeachHunter really
did its stuff there. I worked the area that had been pounded by
the PI's just days before. In about three hours time I recovered
160 coins, 2 more gold rings, and only 1 nail. At one point I
switched the unit to the all-metal mode just to see if there
were really still nails there. It was unbelievable. There they
were, by the hundreds, but the Discriminator in the BeachHunter
was blocking them out.
My friends were amazed when I rejoined them. I offered the
machine to them so they could see for themselves and Brian
jumped at the chance. It was nearly dark when I worked my way up
to where he was detecting among the nails. He was wide-eyed when
I approached and said he had just had a tug of war with a squid
that had been attracted to the searchcoil. I nearly forgot I was
standing in the same water, I was laughing so hard. We both
headed for shore and he said he had found dozens of good targets
among the nails, just like I had. He was really impressed with
the way the BeachHunter handled the iron.
Each night we would gather in the hotel to compare, clean, and
count our finds. It was amazing to see all of these lost items,
which we had recovered from the sea. Some of the rings carried
dates indicating they may have been lost over fifty years ago.
As I listened to stories of detecting trips from several years
ago, I was amazed to learn that my friends had sometimes
recovered over a dozen gold rings per day, each. Although this
area of the Mediterranean has no noticeable tide, the sea
occasionally strips enough sand to uncover buried gold jewelry
from long ago. It's just a matter of being in the right place at
the right time.
The trick when working deeper Most days we awoke to find some
considerable wind blowing. It was obvious we needed to find
beaches that were protected so the waves would not be pounding
us all day. There were several times when we found calm water to
hunt in, only to find that later in the day the wind had shifted
and the waves were getting bigger. These were not 'breakers' as
we think of them here in the Mid-Atlantic region, but more like
swells. water was to time the swells so you could get the scoop
in the bottom in time to hang on to it when the high water
arrived. At one point I had planted the scoop quite firmly over
a target and was holding onto the T-bar handle with my left
hand, and my detector in the right. I noticed something floating
out of the corner of my eye and was surprised to discover it was
my own feet. I was flying like a flag, using the scoop as a
flagpole.
January is a great time to go to the Mediterranean for water
hunting. The beaches are virtually empty, no one is in the
water, and it is easy to go about your business. I would
certainly recommend making the effort if the opportunity arises.
And if your mate is understanding, maybe you will return with
goodies for those 'adjustable fingers' like I did.
Keith Zorger (PA)
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