Found this close to a wreck site

[Joe Lee]

Hi everybody,
I found this with me Seahunter close to a wreck site. Is it just a ship's nail?
I think it is brass but I can't tell exactly....

[SEAHUNTER]

Looks like a small bronze spike. Nice find.

[signumops]

Nice piece! Did you find that with your Garrett?

[Joe Lee]

Nice piece! Did you find that with your Garrett?

Yes I did. It was about a foot deep buried under small rocks.

[ivan salis]

if rocks are not normal for that area -- the "small rocks" might be small ballast stones used on old wooden vessels

[Joe Lee]

if rocks are not normal for that area -- the "small rocks" might be small ballast stones used on old wooden vessels

Rocks are normal in that area but there were some bigger black pebble shaped rocks I always got a strong signal from. I wonder what that is.

[ivan salis]

some rocks have minerals in them that will react with a metal detectors feild -- they are called "hot rocks" by those who detect -- and if they do not look like they "fit" and are not common to the area -- it might be a form of ballast * --or-- it might be something other than stone (some sort of cargo) -- silver ore pellets will turn black in time in sea water --so look closely and be sure of what your looking at.

[MyLuckyDay]

Hi everybody,
I found this with me Seahunter close to a wreck site. Is it just a ship's nail?
I think it is brass but I can't tell exactly....

What wreck site? A 1715 wreck?

I use the Sea Hunter too. Great little tool, eh?

[Joe Lee]

Hi everybody,
I found this with me Seahunter close to a wreck site. Is it just a ship's nail?
I think it is brass but I can't tell exactly....

What wreck site? A 1715 wreck?

I use the Sea Hunter too. Great little tool, eh?

Yeah, the Seahunter is a great tool and no, it is not a 1715 wreck. It is an unknown wreck in the Eastern Caribbean.

[Joe Lee]

some rocks have minerals in them that will react with a metal detectors feild -- they are called "hot rocks" by those who detect -- and if they do not look like they "fit" and are not common to the area -- it might be a form of ballast * --or-- it might be something other than stone (some sort of cargo) -- silver ore pellets will turn black in time in sea water --so look closely and be sure of what your looking at.

I had a very close look at them and they are unfortunately only hot rocks. There are a lot of them but not enough to be ballast stones (even though they look like ballast stones).

[ivan salis]

how much ballasr stone carried on a vessel depended upon many factors -- the size of the vessel and how much cargo she had were 2 major factors --stop and think if the vessel had lots of cargo --very little (if any) ballast stone might have been on board --why carry non paying worthless "ballast" rock if you can carry paying cargo $$$? -- ballast rock often was only used if cargo could not be found to give enough weight to keep her properly "bottom heavy"--

a smallish sailing vessel with a good load of "heavy" cargo might not have any "ballast stone" upon her.

[Bum Luck]

some rocks have minerals in them that will react with a metal detectors feild -- they are called "hot rocks" by those who detect -- and if they do not look like they "fit" and are not common to the area -- it might be a form of ballast * --or-- it might be something other than stone (some sort of cargo) -- silver ore pellets will turn black in time in sea water --so look closely and be sure of what your looking at.

I had a very close look at them and they are unfortunately only hot rocks. There are a lot of them but not enough to be ballast stones (even though they look like ballast stones).

You sure? I'm not aware of any glacial activity in the Caribbean. I'd take a second look. Take one home and have a geologist look at it.

[Joe Lee]

how much ballasr stone carried on a vessel depended upon many factors -- the size of the vessel and how much cargo she had were 2 major factors --stop and think if the vessel had lots of cargo --very little (if any) ballast stone might have been on board --why carry non paying worthless "ballast" rock if you can carry paying cargo $$$? -- ballast rock often was only used if cargo could not be found to give enough weight to keep her properly "bottom heavy"--

a smallish sailing vessel with a good load of "heavy" cargo might not have any "ballast stone" upon her.

This makes sense to me but I was diving at that site for over an hour and the only signal I got - beside the hot rocks - was that little thing I posted here. I will be going diving in this area next week and check out this site again.

[Joe Lee]

some rocks have minerals in them that will react with a metal detectors feild -- they are called "hot rocks" by those who detect -- and if they do not look like they "fit" and are not common to the area -- it might be a form of ballast * --or-- it might be something other than stone (some sort of cargo) -- silver ore pellets will turn black in time in sea water --so look closely and be sure of what your looking at.

I had a very close look at them and they are unfortunately only hot rocks. There are a lot of them but not enough to be ballast stones (even though they look like ballast stones).

You sure? I'm not aware of any glacial activity in the Caribbean. I'd take a second look. Take one home and have a geologist look at it.

I did another dive in this area (about a mile away from my find) and I had the same hot rocks as well. Found some huge ankers (at least 12 feet) there but nothing else.

[MyLuckyDay]

This makes sense to me but I was diving at that site for over an hour and the only signal I got - beside the hot rocks - was that little thing I posted here. I will be going diving in this area next week and check out this site again.

Don't give up on the site. Do a nice perimeter (or two or three), and see if this is part of a debris field.

[ivan salis]

at times the hull breaches leaking ballast stone from the bottom of her hull * but the vessel does not always go down right away -- she might stuggle on a for bit --thats known as a debris feild leakage pattern -- think of a car with a hole in its oil pan and how the engine does not always quit right away but instead leaks oil leaving a trail --now once all the oil leaks out the engine quits -- or in this case, once the ballast stone is lost the ship becomes "top heavy" rolls over and the ship sinks .

[Red_desert]

I'll bet that made a nice sounding signal! Nice find...seems iron use for small things on a ship switched over to either brass or bronze sometime in the Roman ship era? i think it is how they date those older ships. The iron stuff of certain parts on deck, like for wrapping a rope around didn't last nor do they exist and when replaced by the bronze, you still can find them.

[Joe Lee]

This makes sense to me but I was diving at that site for over an hour and the only signal I got - beside the hot rocks - was that little thing I posted here. I will be going diving in this area next week and check out this site again.

Don't give up on the site. Do a nice perimeter (or two or three), and see if this is part of a debris field.

I spoke to a fisherman and he told me there is a site very close to were I found that thing that is full of those "nails" - that's what he thinks it is. He will show me the place next time I go diving there. I guess this could be the place the ship actually sank.

[stevemc]

Its a nice artifact. Keep looking in that area, and find other signs, and keep following until you find it. I agree, the rocks are most likely ballast rocks. Sometimes there is no treasure, but the artifacts are really nice to have.

[stevemc]

Go to the spot and start looking around, and checking it with your detector. It might be a good one! Those ships spikes are worth hanging onto.