Salt Water and Dirt

[dodge92]

Thought about posting in the sea/surf forum but decided here since land probably will be my main area of detecting. Was thinking about a Prizm IV until reading the recent posts about wet sand performance. I'm looking at a unit around $600 at the most that will perform good on land (Texas) and also in the dry and wet sands of the Gulf Coast. Anyone have experience with that? After hearing about Prizm/wet sand I was considering a White's XLT (landlubber friend swears by) but I hear that doesn't perform well either. Thanks!!!

 

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[Phil]

Dredging ideas

Dear Friends
We are presently in Grenada and have lost our home and yacht on a reef. We are unable to drag her off and yet she is 25 feet from deep water. The reef is packed coral reef. We have little resources and wonder about labour intensive dredging possibilities. I have heard about using a large compressor with a pipe to suck away sand. Our depth is 2 feet to 20 feet. Any ideal would love to hear them. First time on Phil

 

[Dinkydick]

Hi Phil:

Sorry to hear about your problem. Trust me I have lived on a boat for 30 years and have learned alot.

The device you are refering to is called an "Airlift". You can make one out any type of pipe material but
PVC works best. The bigger the better but the bigger the more air is required. This means a large compressor. I have used airlifts up to 16 inch diameter. These would require a floating crane. Small ones
can be built from 4 to 6 inch PVC pipe. The secret to using an airlift is not air pressure but volume of air
per minute. A 4 inch airlift would require at least a 300 cfm and a 6 inch twice as big. The air hose going to the airlift should be at least 3/4 inch diameter, remember bigger is better.

The next problem is the depth of water you will be working in. I am not familiar with the tides on Grenada. All of your work will have to be done at high tide. The more water the better. I think it can be done. Supply me with more information i.e boat length, which way the boat is facing regarding the deep water, make up of the material to be removed, draft of vessel etc.? Will the engine in the boat
operate?

I think I can help some. Do you khow what a "Jet pump" is?

Dinky

 

[Ocean7]

look at a Minelab Sovereign Elite or a used Explorer XS or II. It will handle wet sand, black sand, dry sand and loves the dirt. It is not waterproof but Sovereign Elite can be chest mounted.