LAW ON THE TREASURE BEACHES!!!!

[deepsix47]

The treasure beaches that stretch from Sebastian Inlet to just South of Ft Pierce Inlet offer us some remarkable MD'ing. We have the opportunity to actually find Spanish Treasure. Due to State Laws however we are required to follow certain rules they have established.

We are allowed legally to work from the Dune Line to the Low Tide Line. We are not allowed to go onto the Dunes or out into the water. Like it or not, it is the law. If we violate these laws we are subject to being arrested, our equipment confiscated and can receive heavy fines.

I don't necessarily like these laws as now my TH'ing on these beaches is confined to them but I do understand them. I have been on the other side of the coin. The Lease holders and their sub-contractors invest thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in their search for treasure. They do not want tresspassers taking what they have legally paid for the right to hunt for.

The Beach Patrols are out there to keep tresspassers from hunting treasure in the water, NOT on the beach. If they stop and tell you that you need to stay out of the water, you can do one of two things.

1) You can simply comply politely and come out of the water, listen quietly to any admonishment that is given, then both you and the patrol can go merely on your way.

OR​

2) You can give the guy a bad time in which case he will just get on his radio and call the local law in and let them deal with you. Should this happen you will in all likelyhood at least be cited. At worst, you can be arrested for tresspassing on the leases, your equipment confiscated, go to jail (and if you in anyway threatened the Beach Patrol additional charges will be added), and end up in Court where more jail time and heavy fines are VERY possible plus the loss of all of your equipment and what ever you may have found.

It is not a question of do I agree with these laws or not. I do however understand them as I have been on the opposite side of the coin. The Lease owners and their sub-contractors invest thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars into their treasure hunting ventures. Ask yourself, If you had that much invested in a legally sanctioned enterprise, would you want someone tresspassing and removing (stealing) from you? I think not.

Yes, there is a lot of treasure out in the water yet to be found. There is also a tremendous amount of treasure left to be discovered on the beaches. The divers on the leases have the same basic problems that we do on the beaches. We are both held at bay by the greatest power there is, Mother Nature. We both depend on her whims to either "open the chest for us or close it".

There may be a lot of temptation to venture into the water or even up onto the Dunes but consider the possible consequences to both yourself and to TH'ers in general. Thats right, think about it. If there are enough violations and the local cops get tired of dealing with them, could they not just decide to pass ordinances that would keep us away from the beaches alltogether. It's been done on some of the beaches down south.

I'm no choir boy as anyone that knows me will tell you BUT it would seem to me personally that the risk of being arrested etc, out weighs what I MIGHT find a few feet out into the water. Although we are considering sub-contracting again, for now I'll be content to make the drive after a good storm and find what the ocean has left for me.

Just my opinion,
Deepsix

 

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[grizzly bare]

deepsix,
thanks for the info. Just one question. If the tide is in can I detect (or dig) in the water to the low tide line?

grizzly bare

 

[deepsix47]

Is there a written law on the books that limits how deep an MDer can dig? This is important. What if I spend MY money on cutting edge technology, find the queens iron chest eight feet down on the ebach, and then these Beach Patrols pull up and say..no digging?

Cap Z.
Getting ready for a fight

I like you Cap Z. You do like stirring up the s**t....lol. As far as I know there is no limit on how deep you can dig (at least until Mother Nature finally stops you). In the mid 90's we found a deep target near the Turtle access. It barely showed but it was definitely there.

We had been going through a stretch of bad weather and had not been able to get out in the water. The results were CABIN FEVER big time. Someone remembered this very faint hit so we decided to load the kids (three teenagers that were on the verge of being executed for various infractions or at the least being grounded into their 30's), shovels and the MD's into the van and headed to the beach to dig it out. The spot was close to the dune line and we put the boys to work. The resulting hole was about 8/9' long and close to 7' deep (no easy job in beach sand but the boys felt it was better then what could await them at home....lol). We kept reminding the boys that if there was a cave in they should be sure to throw their hands up over their heads so we would know where to dig at It was a scene to be remembered.

Anyway, the results were a long and very heavy wood plank (we never did get the whole thing uncovered) with several massive steel spikes in it. The spikes held a large piece of angle iron onto the plank. We broke a piece of the plank off to determined the age of the wood, dutifully tagged and recorded it, then the boys half way filled in the hole (heavy surf that night did the rest and in the morning no sign of our dig could be found.

The wood turned out to be from a much later period (around the turn of the century) and some research at the Sebastian Library turned up some info that helped us tentatively identify what we had found. A steam powered side wheeler had gone aground on the outer reef in the area. It's crew started throwing anything they could over the side in an attempt to re-float her before an approaching storm hit (they didn't make it). The storm broke her up and a large piece of her side wheel was reported found on the beach. We believe we found that section.

During our digging a number of people saw us and we did report the find in our records that we turned in and were forwarded to the state (less the details about the slave labor used of course). There was no problem at all.

Now we know we can dig that deep anyway....lol.
Deepsix

 

[deepsix47]

deepsix,
thanks for the info. Just one question. If the tide is in can I detect (or dig) in the water to the low tide line?

grizzly bare

Good question Grizzly!! The lease reads to the "mean low water mark". But, because that is not clearly defined it is generally interpreted (and backed up in court decisions) to mean where ever the low tide line is. Actually, I've never seen the patrols out, except during Turtle season, at the high tide. I personally just stay out of the water. Work the lane at low tide then there is no question.
Deepsix

 

[deepsix47]

2) You can give the guy a bad time in which case he will just get on his radio and call the local law in and let them deal with you. Should this happen you will in all likelyhood at least be cited. At worst, you can be arrested for tresspassing on the leases, your equipment confiscated, go to jail (and if you in anyway threatened the Beach Patrol additional charges will be added), and end up in Court where more jail time and heavy fines are VERY possible plus the loss of all of your equipment and what ever you may have found.
(Deepsix)
WHAT KIND OF CRAP IS THIS? THE ASSUMPTION HERE IS THAT AN MDER HAS TO BE POLITE TO SOME NOSEY WANNABE OR ELSE HE CALLS HIS BUTTBUDDY LOCAL COP AND SOMEONES CIVIL RIGHTS ARE VIOLATED.
THE ASSUMPTION SHOULD BE...I JOHN Q PUBLIC HAVE A RIGHT TO MD THIS BEACH BETWEEN THE HIGH AND LOW WATER LINES AND WHY DONT YOU MIND YOUR BUSINESS?
THE CONSTITUTIONALLY CORRECT THING TO DO..IS STAND UP FOR YOUR TAXPAYER RIGHTS..AND LITERALLY DRAW A LINE IN THE SAND.
Cap Z.

Again, nothing I have said indicates that ANYONE is telling us we cannot MD on the beach.
Deepsix

 

[deepsix47]

Deepsix,
Thank you for your educated and informed feedback.
If I am perceived as ' stirring up' the atmosphere...well guilty as charged. On the flip side if you had the opportunity to meet me in person, I am a good listener, slow to anger, a peacemaker, and always treat people with respect and hospitality.
HH
Cap Z.

I know that Cap. I do like reading your posts.
Deepsix

 

[gold-digger]

Just curious, Does the reference to not being allowed in the water mean that you cant even get your feet wet.

 

[deepsix47]

Just curious, Does the reference to not being allowed in the water mean that you cant even get your feet wet.

I can only say this from personal experience. I have never been bothered if it was just wave run off I was working in. ALL of those that I have seen stopped were actually working in at least calf deep water. You are then "in the water" not at the edge.

You can push the line all you want, it's each individuals choice. Just keep in mind, on the Treasure Beaches, if you step over that line you could be asking for serious problems.
Deepsix