1715 area trip report

[jsturg]

I just returned from a trip to the 1715 area and wanted to share my experience. I tried to take advantage of the full moon/low tide. I worked the areas hard for nearly 5 days without much luck. All beaches looked like they have had at least some sand work done. First...as a warning for anybody unfamiliar with the area: Beach detecting is allowed from the dune line to the mean low tide line only. Only in a few areas did I find good shell layers within moderate digging distance.

From the South:
Rio Mar
Slightly populated beach but beaches looked fairly built up. Didn't work it for long.

Turtle Trail
Parking area closed. Tried asking permission from foreman to park in a construction lot just to the North of the parking area but he said due to liability and concrete trucks in and out of there I couldn't park there. Suggested parking just outside the closed gates of the beach access. The walkover is partially on the ground. No repair work even attempted yet. Worked sand in construction site near dunes just to the South of the parking area with no luck. Worked beach North with little luck. Had a good repeatable signal at the tide line but it was deep. The more I dug, the more my hole caved in. Even at low tide, the hole was filled with water. Couldn't make progress. Had another detectorist hit the hole and he had a good signal. He dug a while to no avail also. Finally had to give up. Seemed like a large target.

Sea Grape
Parking lot open (sometimes...one day, they never opened the gates. That's when I went down to Rio Mar) Hit this beach a lot. Sand has been pushed up to rebuild the dunes for several hundred yards to the South. Look at the difference in the dune line half way up in the attached photo. I didn't work it North. Found some change in the wet sand area that has obviously been in the surf and sand for quite some time. Coins almost totally without features. Found a small chunk pretty deep that I think read silver. No corrosion on it though. Too light for lead. Has a pewter/silver look. My Quattro thinks everything is silver though. If it's silver in color, it seems to read silver on the display. Clearly aluminum stuff reads silver often on my Quattro, except for thin aluminum like pieces of the side of an aluminum can. Found a target in the side of a dune that read silver. Looks like the threaded washer that locks wires on a metal junction box. Looks like it might be threaded on the inside too. Heavily corroded. Unless the Spanish had metal junction boxes or there are some unbelievably rich people living there, I don't think it's silver or of value. Entire Corrigan's area was constantly being hit hard by detectorists. Nobody had any luck though.

Wabasso
Didn't detect here. Beach closed. Numerous dump trucks hauling in sand.

Ambersands/Cabin wreck area
Ambersands lot and walkover is open. Treasure Shores and the other big public beach to the South were both open.
Hit the area North of Ambersands towards the Kip's cabin/Mclarty's area pretty good twice. Beach was replenished about 2 years ago. Lots of aluminum & trash.

Mclarty's Treasure museum people said some people have been having recent luck up near old Chuck's area. Couldn't find parking area they suggested though (Bonsteel Park).

As a side note, Bob "Frogfoot" Weller is conducting a few seminars this Summer. Info can be found at http://www.atocha1622.com/wellerseminar05.htm I am not affiliated with him or the seminar and have not attended before. I will be attending May 6 - 8 though. I am simply posting it to be informative.

Wouldn't mind finding somebody that wouldn't mind diving one of the sites just before or just after the May 6 - 8 Frogfoot seminar. No metal detecting in the water! Just a 1715 site shallow reef dive. Of course, if somebody has a lease, I'd be glad to do some "grunt" work and would gladly share fuel costs. I am a divemaster and am certified through Trimix so I'm quite comfortable in the water. I have been on the Atocha with Syd and K.T. for a 10 year Atocha anniversary dive.

Jeff

 

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[Darod]

Great post.

Very informative on the beachs down there.

I'm surprised you couldn't find the parking for Bon Steele? You probably just got some bad directions from someone, unfortunately. The Bon Steele parking area is actually pretty easy to find,.....if your in the right area

Sounds like you had a fun time even though you didn't find much. I'm sure you'll agree that it's always fun if your out there hunting

Thanks for sharing your experiences with us!

Rod

 

[jsturg]

Thanks Rod. I might not have driven far enough North to hit Bonsteel. There was a tackle shop on the West side of A1A and I turned around just North of that. All I saw were a couple of small spots where it looked like surf fishermem accessed the beach.

Yes, it was certainly fun and the weather was good. Even a bad day detecting beats a good day at the office!

Enjoy that new Excalibur! I used an Excal 1000 last year but sold it and opted for the Quattro with the display since I only can do beach detecting. Sweet machine. That's a good, deep machine that works well with the sand in your area.

Jeff

 

[Darod]

I will enjoy it! Thanks.

I haven't made it to the beach yet with it but I'm really looking forward to it.

The Quattro isn't waterproof is it?

Are you just going to use it in the sand? Is that it?

The Quattro is quite a machine from what I have read and heard!

Rod

 

[Darod]

Jeff,

Since you just visited the beachs down here you may find this link to a previous post of mine rather interesting.

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,8732.0.html

Rod

 

[jsturg]

No, the Minelab Quattro isn't waterproof. I can hit the surf zone with it as long as I don't get water near the display. Just using it for the beach/shallow surf zone. I am extremely impressed with its depth capability but I think it leaves a little to be desired on the identification of targets. Dense aluminum seems to read silver. Got me all worked up for the bottom of a soda can a few times! I dig just about everything though since I'm still getting familiar with it so it really didn't matter.

 

[Darod]

I bet you got all worked up! Figuring in the local and all

I don't use displays myself. I bought my son's an Ace 250 and everytime I used it I kept getting distracted by the display

The Excalibur, as you know, has no display and I do much better concentrating on the sound.

Next time you head down here and hit the beach, let me know, maybe we can hook up and work the beach together for a day.

Rod

 

[Jimi D Pirate]

Rob, Excellent information thanks! My wife and I too are friends of the Weller's. We are also taking his seminar in June. This year I plan on diving quite a bit from shore on many of these areas and purchasing a 33 footer at years end to pursue my interest in sub-contracting for Taffi on the 1715 fleet. Maybe we can hook up on some dives? I live in the Orlando area

 

[Jimi D Pirate]

Sorry ROD, I meant this for Jeff, but you are more than welcome also

 

[wreckdiver1715]

I attended ?Frogfoot?s? seminar last summer. You are in for a real treat, and be prepared for a very informative and fun adventure. The only negative thing I have to say about the seminar is that the time went buy way too fast, and before I knew it I was on my way back home wishing that I could do it all over again. I had the opportunity to meet some very wonderful folks, and share some history that can?t be captured in any books. Enjoy!

Rod, your number got lost in my washing machine, drop me a line at X 4-8551, the Enterprise will be ready to sail in another month or so.

Tom

 

[jsturg]

Jimi - that sounds good. Have you made any dives on them from the beach yet? Once I get my airline and hotel reservations complete, I'll let you know. Since the seminar is a weekend thing now, dives would have to be a week day thing. Hopefully, that won't be a problem.

Tom - I wish I made last year's seminar. I think he included a 1715 dive in that seminar. He has changed it to a weekend thing now and has eliminated the dive from the program. I'm still looking forward to meeting him and hearing his stories. We've e-mailed back and forth a good bit and he has been quite helpful.

Jeff

 

[Jimi D Pirate]

Jeff sounds good. We will be attending Frogfoot's seminar for June 17-19 and diving that following Monday. My wife and I were fortunate enough to spend several days with Bob and his lovely wife Margrate last year. What a amazing and re-markable couple with many tales of true life adventures! I have read all of Bob's books and most I have read twice, they are very captivating and all have good infomation from a great author and friend. Keep in touch I should be able to pull away from Universal to dive just about anytime! I'm in Orlando and only 1 to 3 hour drive to any of those beaches. Look forward to it. Keep in touch.

Tom, I just received a letter yesterday from Taffi about the contractors meeting April 15. I will not be sub-ing this year but will attend to meet some of you guys/gals. I look forward to meeting you the best of luck to you this year!

Jimi

 

[wreckdiver1715]

Jeff; I am sorry to hear that it has been scaled down to a weekend. Bob was having a hard time keeping up with us some times last year, as both he and Margaret had been under the weather health wise. They can both tell a story! Last year we did two days on the water, with one of those was off the Pandion, in the aria between Sea Grape and Wabasso. And yet another day was via van and the beaches to all of the known 1715 sites.

Jimi, just for the record. I have never been a sub contractor for the Fishers. However, I have considered it. And I have reviewed the sub-contractor program they put out, and believe that they are offering a good deal to the sub-contractors. It?s definitely a good way for someone with very little experience to get started. I may just show up for the meeting (Tax day).

I will be doing an aerial survey between Cape Canaveral and the 1715 sites this afternoon (weather permitting), and will post findings, some of them anyway.

Tom

 

[billinstuart]

Just came down the coast from Melbourne yestiddy myself...stopped to check out some of the sites.

BONSTEEL: Have had discussions about beach condition, but hadn't seen it until now. The steep slope artificially constructed at the dune line appears to have been constructed from material removed from the beach system and bulldozed into its present configuration. IF this is so, then everything in the top 2-4' of beach is now in this berm, and despite some mixing of material, the top layer of the berm WAS the bottom layer of the beach? Also, they are putting in a ramp to the beach, and have excavated a really neat trench to accomplish this. Of course this berm will erode from wind, rain, and surf, exposing successive layers of new material (i.e. goodies). Thoughts

Ambersand: no change

Colored beach: Has had some dozer work on the beach, but area south is pristine.

Am interested in the survey of the Cape Canaveral vicinity. It would seem that the area south of the cape should be lucrative, as sailing ships heading north and barely skirting the coast would be trapped by the projection of the cape. Unfortunately, much of this is surely off limits.

btw..went to St. Lucie inlet state park the other day, beautiful beach, nothing, not even any trash.

 

[Jimi D Pirate]

Sorry Tom, didn't mean to assume. I have thought about doing it on my own since I am right down the road from Port Canaveral and dock my boat there ... focusing on the the hunt for the "Concepcion" I did hear a story from a 3rd party about a diver here at work that was lobster diving last year and talked about a "Bowling ball" he noticed on the bottom This diver is now back in LA and I have been trying for months to get in touch with him for information on this "Bowling Ball". It very well could be a bowling ball but I'd like to believe it very well could be something much differant.
Jimi

 

[jsturg]

I will be doing an aerial survey between Cape Canaveral and the 1715 sites this afternoon (weather permitting), and will post findings, some of them anyway.

Sweet. Hopefully, you have as nice of a day down there as it is in Maryland today. I thought about renting a plane/instructor on my recent trip to the 1715 area but couldn't find any good info on FBO's at Vero. I'm sure there are several there and I should have just stopped by. I caught a bad case of "I'll try just one more spot_itis". I rented a 172 on a trip to Key West two years ago and had an awesome time doing some low level work!!!

Thanks for offering to share some photos. I'm looking forward to seeing them.

Do you or anybody else have any info on scuba tank rentals in the 1715 area for some diving (with Jimi D Pirate hopefully) while I'm down there next month for the seminar?

Rod - I probably won't take my detector on this trip since I'll be hauling scuba gear in my luggage.

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[cobra]

Bill;

You and I have been discussing the Bonstell/Chucks area recently. Sorry to say but the sand was trucked in from somewhere in North Brevard. I watched the trucks? dump the sand at chucks and then the dozer move it down to Bonsteel. So the berm is not sand from that beach. Also last week there was a crew there finishing off the new walkover.
From my first hand observations I can say that the new berm was built with trucked in sand. They seemed to be trying not to get much new sand on the flat part of the beach, but keep it up near the dunes. Doesn't really matter as the high tides will erode the "new berm" and the sand will end up on the beach. In his 1942 report of the salvage site(where the museum is located, and south to Kip Wagners cabin) Charles Higgs reported the dunes to be almost 14 feet above the beach. We are about 6-7 feet now. Although I think the dunes are 7 to 8 feet above the beach at Chucks. Safe to say there is alot of sand on the beach now. I went to Corrigans several days ago to check out Seagrape and it looks like they have done the same thing there as they did at Bonsteel/Chucks. Did they truck in the sand at Corrigans or drag it up from the beach?

 

[billinstuart]

Richard:

Interesting...thanx for clarification. The material on the top of the berm appeared to be beach related..probably the last scraping from the project. Dunes are mostly composed of fine windborn sand....usually blown from the beach and trapped by vegetation. These fines are the first to be lost from the beach system due to inlet stabilization (carried out to sea or into inlet by water current). With no new fines traveling south along the beaches, dune erosion is the result. Not to mention the destruction of the dune line from development. Corrigans appears to be just plain scraped, but not sure. To me, one telltale for renourished material is a dark grey unnatural color to the material. A distinctive characteristic to true beach sand (not shells etc.) is that it is smooth when viewed under magnification..as opposed to rough like sand blasting sand. Went past Jupiter Island yesterday also...nasty looking new beach, musta been renourished.

 

[wreckdiver1715]

Jimi, that is OK my friend I get that a lot. I also am docked south of the Port; specifically I am docked at the Patrick AFB marina on the Indian River. The Concepcion is also one of the targets that I am searching for as she was had a quantity of registered treasure aboard her that fateful day. She had almost 5 thousand pesos in three reales and 3 thousand pesos in gold doubloons in registered treasure.
Saw very little on the flight Friday, lots of beach reclamation projects all up and down the coast, it?s a sad sight to see that is for sure. The good news is that as of 1 May, Turtle nesting season begins, and all that work on the beach must stop by law. However, most of the damage has been done, and we will have to let Mother Nature set things right again.

Tom

 

[Jimi D Pirate]

Hey Tom thanks for your reply ... checkin to see if my picture appeared. A bad day of Treasure Hunting is better than a good day at work!