Hello Everyone and Happy New Year to All!!
Today is a bittersweet day with now many fond memories of last year still fresh in my mind. 2007 was a year I will never forget. It surpassed all my previous years of md'ing combined. I met and have detected with many knowledgable and enthusiastic md'ers in '07. I consider all of them my good friends. I have also helped many here on Tnet with their Explorer detectors, giving them hints/pointers and intial setup advise; more than a hundred questions from newbies and experienced hunters. I really did feel like a "CAPTAIN".
All of these finds you will see would not have been possible if I had worked a 40-50 hr. week like I have been doing in the past 15 years. '07 was unique. In mid '06 through the beginning of '07, I came down with chronic fatigue syndrome and stayed on medical leave/disability for the duration of that time. My disabling chronic fatigue was caused by a wheat/gluten intolerance (celiac) which hampered my body's ability to absorb key nutrients/minerals in my food. Being fatigue was a definite understatement. I could barely walk up 5 stairs to my kitchen in Dec. '06. It was very depressing and frightening. Before this all happened, I was an avid runner(30-40Km/wk) and backpacker. Under a strict diet, I also needed to get outside and keep my body moving, which my doctor said would benefit me more than being immobile all day. I decided to try detecting again, after taking a near 15 year hiatus from a hobby I thoroughly enjoyed back in my teens. I brushed off the dust from my Whites 6000 Di Pro and started swinging my coil at a local park. At first, I couldn't even detect for 15 minutes. Each time I bent down to recover my find left me completely exhausted,and my muscles twitching profusely. While at home, I found Tnet and a local CA detecting forum on the Net. Everyone's finds inspired me to continue to go out and detect a little each day, no matter how bad I felt. Within weeks, 15 minute detecting days increased to 30 minute days. Within months, I was able to detect for a few hours, and feeling much better than I had in a while. My finds weren't that great in the beginning(I managed a few silver coins), but it was just my increased stamina that I looked forward to each and every day I got out detecting. After meeting up with some avid md'ers in my area early in Jan. '07, I decided that I wanted to take my hobby to the next level. With their advice, I traded my old detector in for a Minelab SE. The machine was so different than my older detector. I wasn't sure I made the right decision, but didn't give up. In short time, I was starting to get the hang of the machine, while my body was healing in the process. It didn't take me long to find my first silver coin. I struck silver on my second hunt with my SE. I was ecstatic. Looking back on some of my first posts with my SE, I see I was finding 1 to 2 silver coins for each hunt. As the months went by, and my knowledge of my machine and my stamina started to increase, my old coin finds were equally rising. Soon, I could detect over a half a day, and was starting to find 3 to 4 silver coins each hunt. This inspired me to continue, creating an obsession to hunt whenever I was able to. My silver fix grew, and my finds started to get even better. My 3-4 silver days started to increase to 5-6, followed by a few 8-12 silver days. Almost everyone on the detecting forums started to wonder who I was, and a few began questioning whether I was actually finding my coins. After meeting with about 7-8 other md'ers in my area, it didn't take long for them to see I was an honest person who was leeching the ground of old coinage at a better than average rate.
I had such a great time with everyone I've hunted with in '07. The comeraderie/friendships/competitiveness was priceless! I even got to travel to Iowa/Nebraska with a couple of my best buddies and had a wonderful week hunting there. Over 90% of my finds in '07 came from a total of 55 parks within a 60 mile radius of my home. That's a lot of turf!! Today, I'm about 80% back to my old self in terms of my stamina, which I consider my greatest achievement in '07. I'm very glad I found Tnet and my local forum (Kinzli) in '07. I've made many lasting friendships, while also making a few green with envy.
Thanks to all for helping to inspire me, and for making '07 my best detecting year of my life.
Happy New Year,
CAPTN SE
Dan
