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   | Feature | Vol. 35 July 2001 |
Another Perfect Storm
By Alan Hersey, Jr.
 Hunting up a storm, author Alan Hersey, Jr. and friends found 75 pieces of jewelry, including some spectacular gold bracelets, chains, and rings. |
A perfect storm can bring terror to people at sea, but to a TH'er on land it can mean quite the opposite. Large waves pull tons of sand out to sea and bring coins and jewelry within reach of a detector.
In southern California, the last perfect storm hit in 1988. People who were there said little kids were picking up silver half dollars that were flopping in the surf. Some friends of mine, Rick and Vicky Wyatt, found a gold coin with 32 sapphires around it, and a ring with bunches of diamonds and sapphires.
Well, just after Christmas 2000 another perfect storm hit. My friend Denny Jeli called and said that his wife was watching TV and saw a report showing huge waves. This was all we needed to know. We hopped in his truck and headed for the beaches.
 Another of Rick and Vicky's unforgettable finds came when they scooped up this dazzling diamond & sapphire ring. |
Sure enough, as soon as we started scanning the beach, we found coins everywhere. Silver rings were popping up left and right, too. In one ten-minute period alone, I found four silver rings. A short time later I moved a quarter-mile north and found a man's 20 gram gold bracelet. Later, another friend, Gary Brody, arrived, and by the end of the day he had found two gold pieces.
The next day I found another gold bracelet, and Gary got another gold ring. Denny was still finding silver but hadn't found any gold yet.
Another storm hit a couple of days later, with even bigger surf. This time Denny couldn't make it, but Gary and I couldn't wait! It started like the other trips, with coins everywhere; and when I saw Gary in the distance, waving his hands, I knew he had found something good. As I started working my way toward him, I got a faint signal, took a couple of scoops, and there it was- a nice gold chain. It was tangled, and I saw the back of a gold band, so I hurried over to show Gary.
 Searching a storm-swept beach, Rick and Vicky Wyatt were rewarded with this superb pendant featuring a gold coin surrounded by 32 sapphires. |
As I approached, Gary held up a large gold chain, so I opened my hand to reveal my find. Gary stared at it and said, "Hello!"
"There's a ring on it, too!" I told him. I dipped my hand in the surf to rinse away the sand and started to show Gary the ring, but was stopped dead in my tracks. The ring had been encrusted with sand, and I thought it was just a gold band... but it was far more. In fact, it had 24 diamonds- 10 rounds and 14 baguettes.
We figured we were in a hotspot, so we slowed our search somewhat. I remembered seeing people doing backflips off the rocks right where we were standing, and I told Gary to go "low and slow." More coins started surfacing, and then Gary got a signal that promised something even better. He scooped, then scooped again and again. He ran his detector over the spot, announced, "It's still down there," and scooped one more time. Up came a huge diamond ring!
Before the day was over, we found another gold bracelet and 12 silver pieces.
After seeing what Gary and I had found, Denny was fit to be tied because no gold had come his way. So, I told him about our little secret spot, and the next day he went back and found four gold rings and one gold bracelet, and of course several silver pieces.
All together these back-to-back storms had given my friends and me 75 pieces of jewelry, including four gold bracelets, two gold chains, and eight gold rings. We also found over 50 silver pieces, not to mention $200 in clad coins.
But the story isn't over yet. Remember, we weren't the only TH'ers searching these beaches. I talked to several, and they all had great finds to their credit, too.
No, a perfect storm doesn't come along every day, but I hope it isn't another 12 years until the next one. I can't wait... and when it finally does hit, you'd better not wait, either!
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