HURRICANE WILMA

-Jones-

Hero Member
Aug 11, 2005
519
20
NW Arkansas
Detector(s) used
Minelab GO-FIND 60 and Excalibur II
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Gosh, aren't I the lucky one! A dream come true! I live in Missouri and am scheduled to fly into Tampa Monday afternoon. To be able to detect beaches the day after! I've been to FL 5 or 6 times, detecting beaches on the atlantic and gulf sides. My 14 year old son found a gold wedding band about 5 inches down in the sand on Bowman's Beach, Sanibel Island. On south Miami beach I found a gold medallion of Jesus with a row of diamonds encrusted in the crown of thorns. Lots of coins, lots of junk. A nice silver ring find West Palm Beach.

It's been a dream of miine to detect beaches the day after. As long as the flight doesn't get cancelled and the hotel remains open, I'm there!

Any thoughts or advice from the ones that have been there and done that? I have a minelab 800.

I would like to have a meet-up to detect with any serious minded one available to detect the beaches south of Fort Meyers to Naples and from South Miami Beach to West Palm Beach Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday week of October 24. I'll be staying in a Holiday Inn Express in Naples. Any one can contact me at

[email protected]
 

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jeff of pa

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Dec 19, 2003
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Bigcypresshunter said:
update; Wilma has made landfall in the Naples area Cat 3, 125mph. Ft. Lauderdale will see its worst 8-11 am...Naples expected 9- 15 ft storm surge..,160,000 people evacuated....all s. florida to experience hurricane force winds....300,000 without power...need to post...electric keeps flickering and have to reboot...need a battery.


Thanks for The UPDATE, You Reminded Me to Turn News On.

GOOD LUCK !

BE SAFE !

JEFF
 

omnicognic

Bronze Member
Jan 22, 2005
1,321
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Tampa, Florida
so far, here the power never wavered, took the wife to work at 5:30 this morning got home around 6:30am a little wind and a lot of rain, but that's it I hope you guys south of me fair just as well! Good luck!
 

billinstuart

Hero Member
Oct 17, 2004
578
11
stuart..the treasure coast..well, used to be
Detector(s) used
Minelab Excalibur with a WOT!
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Well, it's a little after 2:00, just went thru both eyewalls and the eye (treasure coast). Thought the front of the storm would be the worst...wrong. Back 1/2 0f storm had strongest winds, from the NE, musta had gusts over 100. Not much storm surge, but ocean must be really nasty. And cold air! Awesome display of mother nature at her pissed off best. No damage to home, tho.
 

vic910

Bronze Member
Mar 14, 2005
1,097
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Orlando, FL
Well, we made it through pretty good. I've got a lot of limbs down, and my mother-in-law who lives about five miles from me lost her power for a couple of hours. Had a lot of rain coming through her garage roof from leftover damage from Hurricane Charley last year. Still pretty windy out but the sun is shining!!!! Let's hope that's the last one for the year!

vicki
 

FISHEYE

Bronze Member
Feb 27, 2004
2,333
399
lake mary florida
Detector(s) used
Chasing Dory ROV,Swellpro Splash 2 pro waterproof drone,Swellpro Spry+ wa,Wesmar SHD700SS Side Scan Sonar,U/W Mac 1 Turbo Aquasound by American Electronics,Fisher 1280x,Aquasound UW md,Aqua pulse AQ1B
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No damage here just more leaves on the ground,MD is still on charge,never lost power,im headed to sebastian in the morning,i have to check on HRD's R/V Deep Venture to see if shes still afloat,then im hitting the beach,My MD holds a charge for 4-5 days so i will be there for awhile.
 

Bigcypresshunter

Gold Member
Dec 15, 2004
27,000
3,338
South Florida
Detector(s) used
70's Whites TM Amphibian, HH Pulse, Ace 250
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Fort Lauderdale got hit the hardest, but I'm OK. Apparently the warm flat waters of the Everglades did nothing to slow down this enormous storm that shook South Florida. I'm using an old generator I had in the garage. Problem is I have no gas. Telephone poles snapped like matchsticks. 98% of traffic lights are down. 3 million people lost electric in Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, and most of St. Lucie Counties. We are not expected to have power until Nov. 15 or Nov. 20. The gas stations have gas in the ground but cannot pump it. People are waiting hours in line and tempers are flaring. Police are having problems containing angry crowds. TV news will not be able to keep broadcasting if they cannot get gas for their emergency generators. FEMA is late in helping because their trucks could not gas up. Ice and water being distributed at some places, but are too far away and crowded. My city water is back on. FPL crews working on hospitals and critical infrastructure like water treatment plant first.
 

Bigcypresshunter

Gold Member
Dec 15, 2004
27,000
3,338
South Florida
Detector(s) used
70's Whites TM Amphibian, HH Pulse, Ace 250
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
I was able to make a trip to the Treasure Beaches the day after storm. I didn't know if I could get gas to make it back home, but Vero Beach was not hit hard and they had gas. Passed many poor people on the side of the turnpike that just left their cars where they ran out. Gas station at Palm Beach on the turnpike had a line 5 miles long. Limit $20.
I will post my find at a later date. Met a nice guy from Tampa that found an old silver bracelet at surf line. Police would not let me on the Ft. Pierce beaches. Could not get past roadblock.
The trip back home was OK, but traffic going North in search of gas was enormous. I need to siphon gas from my truck to put in generator. I will try to keep y'all updated. The damage here is not bad in that we still have our roofs. But trees and poles are down, no electric, no gas, no food, and most people can not get to work or to FEMA ice and water.
 

OP
OP
-Jones-

-Jones-

Hero Member
Aug 11, 2005
519
20
NW Arkansas
Detector(s) used
Minelab GO-FIND 60 and Excalibur II
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Monday, Oct. 24, my wife and I flew into Tampa. About 3 pm I was on Clearwater beach at the pier detectin with my minelab 800. Winds were 40-50 mph and it was like being in a major freakin sand storm! I found a dozen or so coins, some crusted over and will need to do some cleaning etc.

I change our hotel stay from Naples to Cocoa Beach. Tuesday I drove the coast Melbourne to Vero Beach, detecting the sands as I went along. Found a few coins, no rings, no old stuff. The cops had AIA blocked off at Saint Lucie. Thats as far south I was able to get.

On Wednesday, I detected the beach at Daytona Beach. Again, just finding coins, and some junk, no good stuff!

Thursday, we tried to drive to Palm beach. I filled the tank at Vero Beach. The cops had road blocks up at the bridge that crosses over the water to AIA Palm Beach. I told the cop we were headed for the beach and he replied it was full of sewage and closed. What the heck! Turned right around and drove the 130 miles back to Cocoa Beach! I really wanted to detect South Miami Beach, however, most of Miami was without power, gas stations were closed, I bet it was a real zoo down there!

Thursday afternoon, I was in the surf chest deep on Cocoa Beach and a big a_ _ wave caught me off guard. Lost my sunglasses and lost touch of my $150 shovel scoop! Never did find my glasses but after searching about 15 min, found my scoop in about 2 feet of water! I then took a break and went to Walgreen's and bought a cord to fasten to my eye glasses!

Friday morning we drove from Cocoa Beach to St. Pete's beach. Again just found some coins and some junk, nothing more. Caught a 2 pm flight out of Tampa back to Misery, I mean MISSOURI!

My Minelab 800 performed beautifully! Having owned and detected with a White's Beach Hunter ID and a Surfmaster P.I., IMO, the Minelab is superior.

Next trip is being planned for February. GOOD LUCK ALL. IF ONE DOESN'T TRY, ONE DOESN'T HAVE A CHANCE!
 

Bigcypresshunter

Gold Member
Dec 15, 2004
27,000
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South Florida
Detector(s) used
70's Whites TM Amphibian, HH Pulse, Ace 250
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Ones, I read your posts and I agree that you have to try. I am running on an old generator that already froze up once but was able to get it started with Marvel Mystery Oil. I am using gas syphoned from my truck and cannot stay online long. That stuff is valuable down here. I wanted to E-mail you my phone # to hook up if my house survived, but we lost electric and cell phones still do not work. I will talk to you later, I have some treasure hunting ideas and could always use a good determined partner.
75% of people in Broward County are still without electric 5 full days after the storm. Over a million people still without power in Dade and Broward. 8pm to 7am curfew changed to 11pm to 7am in some places. Water is now safe to drink in most places. Schools, courts remain closed. Most hospitals are up and running. Power is not expected to be restored until Nov. 20 in my area. Cellphones out. 160 gas stations supposedly open in Dade & Broward but expect a 5 hour wait and limited supply. I'm glad you were able to make it back out of this mess. Gas stations are having problems getting in touch with their distributors, many people cannot get to work, and deliveries are slow with curfew and no traffic lights. Many tempers are flaring. When will this end? bigcypresshunter
 

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