Should I be annoyed or intrigued? Upcoming OBX vacation beach nourishment.

[sndngrvl]

Does anyone have any experience with beach nourishment/replenishment and finding cool items?

Every year, we pre-book our vacation, same week, same house, in the OBX. This year, they decided they'd start a beach nourishment that will last the summer, closing 1000 foot sections of beach for 3-5 days at a time. Of course, they are starting in the town in which we stay. I think we'll need to be really lucky for our section, to escape either a really dirty beach, or one which is completely closed.

Being that there are all sorts of pirate wrecks off the coast of the OBX, has anyone ever searched the beaches immediately following a nourishment program? Are we likely to become accidental millionaires, or is it just going to be flopping fish and stinky seafloor detritus?

I'm hoping that the dredges will just be pumping pirate loot onto our beach blankets.

The best I can hope for, is if life gives us 'wrecked vacation', we can turn it into a delicious 'ship-wrecked treasure-ade'.

Dan

 

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[ron lord]

if they are doing a renourishment of the beach you forget finding any thing for about 6 months . go on vacation some place else.

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Where is the "OBX?"

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo, CM

 

[SD51]

Don't know where you are talking about, but I agree with ron lord. Last fall we spent two weeks on the gulf side of the panhandle where they had just completed a beach re-nourishment project for a few miles of the beach. I found only a few fishing sinkers and a few pull tabs. It was nothing to scan a path on the beach for more than 300 yards and get not one signal!

 

[sndngrvl]

Maybe I should clarify that this is our actual vacation and not meant to be a treasure hunt. And, OBX is the Outer Banks, of North Carolina. Hundreds of shipwrecks litter the shelf just offshore, including Blackbeard's flagship. Pieces of ship commonly wash ashore to the point that an entire section of shipwreck was dislodged in a storm and beached a few years ago, just after we left. (That's the ocean bringing the treasure right to you.)

Since this once-a-year vacation is already paid for (and non-refundable), we won't be heading elsewhere. Just wondering what, if anything, we could have found. Apparently 'nothing' is the answer. I guess we'll just hope they don't make enough progress to make it to our location by the time we visit. While I do have a cheapie metal detector, it's not something we ever take with us.

 

[cudamark]

So, you're asking what could be found by just walking along and eyeballing? Light junk would be my guess.

 

[RVRoamer73]

People like to look around OBX for sea glass. Have fun and enjoy your vacation.

 

[1KBlueTuber]

I think your asking about barge re-nourishment. That's the question. If they're trucking sand in like they most recently did in the Naples area then chances are slim other than fresh drops. But if they're pumping in sand from a barge off shore you might have better odds of finding wreck items.

 

[sndngrvl]

I think your asking about barge re-nourishment. That's the question. If they're trucking sand in like they most recently did in the Naples area then chances are slim other than fresh drops. But if they're pumping in sand from a barge off shore you might have better odds of finding wreck items.

I believe they said they were dredging & pumping sand from 6 miles offshore. I'd have to look up the project to verify, though.

 

[LawrencetheMDer]

If you can work AHEAD OF THE Replenishment jump at it, as suggests significant erosion has taken place. If you're thinking working the replenished sand - Go to the other coast.

 

[SweetCorn]

OBX

Beach renourishments are known to be un-good for metal detecting. Should be great for making sand castles for the kids however.

 

[rykroll]

ToI'm honestly concerned for her safetyj there plus I feel she needs extra help I'm honestly concerned for her safety there plus I feel she needs extra help and stuff . Why do you want her to go there so bad? tstuff . Why do you want her to go there so badhy y?cvg gotten

 

[dsdigger]

Hey sndngrvl, check the area you will be staying in as any area of the OBX south of Whalebone Junction (16 Mile Post ) is supposed to be Metal detecting prohibited due to the Pea Island Wildlife refuge among other things. Pretty much everything north of there (North Nags Head, Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk, Southern Shores and up) should be okay for detecting. I have never been there during or after a beach nourishment so I can't tell you about that. I was last there in September 2016 and I found some clad, lots of trash and some exercise. We were at the 10 mile post in Kill Devil Hills. Check local ordinances to be sure but that was what i found before we went. Good Luck.

 

[dsdigger]

Of course, you could give the new sand a try and if nothing shows, let everyone else that is not detecting stay and enjoy the beach there and run up a few miles to a Public Beach access and go in there and try there to see if hunting is better on up the beach. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Most of my finds down there have been clad coins and the best has been a sterling ring. Hoping that now I have a better detector, my next rip will get me the gold one. There's a lot of beaches north going toward the VA line so there 's still a lot of area to hunt. Hope that may give something to look forward to.

 

[eathabs]

Hey sndngrvl, check the area you will be staying in as any area of the OBX south of Whalebone Junction (16 Mile Post ) is supposed to be Metal detecting prohibited due to the Pea Island Wildlife refuge among other things. Pretty much everything north of there (North Nags Head, Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk, Southern Shores and up) should be okay for detecting. I have never been there during or after a beach nourishment so I can't tell you about that. I was last there in September 2016 and I found some clad, lots of trash and some exercise. We were at the 10 mile post in Kill Devil Hills. Check local ordinances to be sure but that was what i found before we went. Good Luck.

dsdigger is somewhat incorrect in that you can detect farther south in South Nags head to around MP 21. https://www.nps.gov/caha/planyourvisit/maps.htm Enlarge the map and you will see that the green does not go all the way to the ocean in South Nags Head, it stops at the western edge of the beach road. Also take note of where it starts at the southern end of beach road. The sand is being pumped in from offshore so you may find some goodies.

 

[dsdigger]

Hi, if you are going and plan on detecting, I took this from the Outer Banks Beach Guidelines website.

Metal Detectors in the Outer Banks

Metal detecting is allowed on the Northern Outer Banks beaches (Carova, Corolla, Duck, Southern Shores, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, much of Nags Head).
Metal detecting is prohibited within Cape Hatteras National Seashore (some of Nags Head, Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo, Avon, Buxton, Frisco, Hatteras and Ocracoke).
eathabs may be right about the map and the South Nags Head Beaches but I was not taking any chances and since there are plenty of Public access spots and we were in Kill Devil Hills, I was no longer worried. I just left no holes went finished digging. Good Luck!