Kayak Treasure Hunting

[romeo-1]

I recently bought a kayak with the notion of using it to access sites that are inaccessible by land. I've had it in the water several times just getting used to it but haven't taken my detector with me yet. I have been scouting potential sites and this morning I went to a site that was a busy river port through the 1700s and 1800s. It's just river bank now but I timed the tide to be there when it was low and had no difficulty finding the site. Tons of iron and glass in the water. I'll need to go back with my scuba gear but I was able to find one "treasure" at the low tide line. It a broken but monogrammed ivory brush. I tested it (hot needle and loupe) and it is ivory! A new obsession is born!

 

[Ahab8]

I'm telling you bud that little kayak is going to put you on some great sites. That brush is really cool. Something different

 

[Zodiacdiverdave]

Now I need to buy a Kayak....or I could use the Zod I guess. Nice finds buddy.
ZDD

 

[Old Dude]

Nice brush! I have been waiting on a new coil so I can take my kayak out too. Good luck to you.

 

[Argentium]

Wow , When I saw the surface colors of that brush back I thought tortoise shell - what a find !

 

[ironhorse]

Not all treasure is found with a detector, that's a pretty interesting piece!

 

[Rick (Nova Scotia)]

Sounds like an interesting place.
I'm guessing that would have been an expensive brush, even in the day.

 

[dirtlooter]

this is just the beginning of many good/great finds

 

[huntsman53]

Congrats on the really nice finds and congrats on a great new way to find treasures! I have been thinking about a canoe, raft or even a kayak lately to explore areas along some rivers here that once had homes along them or docks where supplies were delivered. Many items were lost along or in rivers or washed away and can be found with some type of water transport and a metal detector. I know of where some homes once stood where the occupants hid all kinds of treasures inside them or on the property but much of these were washed away by floods. Well, most everything that goes down river, eventually gets hung up somewhere and I just need to find the somewhere!


Frank

 

[70monte68]

The kayak is a great idea! Good luck!

 

[Scrappy]

Nice find.

Don't forget about the shoreline as well.

Also watch for snags while diving. Old shipping dock areas are notorious for snags.

Stay safe and good luck!

-Lady Liberty is hot stuff...especially on a coin

 

[Garrett424]

I recently bought a kayak with the notion of using it to access sites that are inaccessible by land. I've had it in the water several times just getting used to it but haven't taken my detector with me yet. I have been scouting potential sites and this morning I went to a site that was a busy river port through the 1700s and 1800s. It's just river bank now but I timed the tide to be there when it was low and had no difficulty finding the site. Tons of iron and glass in the water. I'll need to go back with my scuba gear but I was able to find one "treasure" at the low tide line. It a broken but monogrammed ivory brush. I tested it (hot needle and loupe) and it is ivory! A new obsession is born!

View attachment 1036178

View attachment 1036183

View attachment 1036187

I too have a kayak but I got tired of paddling and not having room to haul much stuff. I also have a 14' Old Town extra wide canoe (for stability; you can stand up easily in that thing). I bought a motor mount and a 28 lb. thrust electric motor. It's freakin' awesome for getting up and down the river.

it's pretty shallow where I go so the canoe is about the biggest boat you can get in there. There are spots where you have to get out and drag a bit but it's great; especially on the flat water stretches where the current is almost non existent.

Great finds, keep up the good work and HH.

 

[Davers]

Been thinking about the Canoe option for a few years now but have never acted on it , a Kayak would seem to small for my many relic hunting needs .

Cool finds & hope it works out well in the future.

Davers

 

[Garrett424]

One more thing.

I also search the river, the bank and the creeks. We had two small floods this spring and I managed to find two old Coca Cola bottles, a 1946 hobble skirt 10 oz.Baltimore bottle and a 1956 12 Oz. bottle, a really nice multi tool, a 60.00 fishing reel that still works fine (after a serious cleaning and "de sanding") and a beautiful quartz crystal point that was perched on top of a pile of new sand like it was just waiting there for me.

I'll try and get some pics up at some point.

Anyway, I LOVE river hunting. I'm often amazed at how much gets churned up after a good rain or flood. I've tried a bit of detecting along the river but my BH 202 doesn't like wet sand too much. I did manage to find a fake gold ring though. I have to stay in the drier sand for the most part.

But ,throughout my life I have picked up lots of river treasures since I was a little kid. I have many old bottles. It's one of the things that got me more interested in metal detecting. My prize is a native hand ax I found about a year ago after hundreds of hours of creek walking and picking up thousands of rocks. Metal detecting gives much more immediate gratification.

keep up the good work and keep posting those pics.

HH

 

[coinman123]

I like that ivory brush, it looked like it cost a lot of money back then

 

[Garrett424]

I recently bought a kayak with the notion of using it to access sites that are inaccessible by land. I've had it in the water several times just getting used to it but haven't taken my detector with me yet. I have been scouting potential sites and this morning I went to a site that was a busy river port through the 1700s and 1800s. It's just river bank now but I timed the tide to be there when it was low and had no difficulty finding the site. Tons of iron and glass in the water. I'll need to go back with my scuba gear but I was able to find one "treasure" at the low tide line. It a broken but monogrammed ivory brush. I tested it (hot needle and loupe) and it is ivory! A new obsession is born!

I saw a show on PBS about a month ago about a guy who scavenges the River Thames in London.

he's finding stuff from centuries ago. It's pretty incredible that the stuff remains intact for so long.

What was really cool was seeing another grown man doing the same thing I do.