Friday, October 7, 2016

More on beach hunting after hurricane Mathew

I expect many beach hunters will be scratching their heads today, after hitting the beaches to search after hurricane Mathew just moved along almost the entire east coast of Florida.
Plenty of flooded areas close to the beach, trees toppled and property damage, but not the beach erosion many beach hunters had travelled long distances to detect.
There are several factors that determine if a beach erodes, the main two things that produce cut beaches are the wind and waves hitting the beach from just the right direction.
A good direction for wind and waves will depend on how the beach runs along the coastline.
I really did not expect this storm to erode the majority of east coast Florida beaches, because of the high tide times and the fact that good directional wind were only going to hit beaches for perhaps half a day.
Huge onshore directional swells were softened up in very sanded in shallow water close to shore.
Sand bars all along the Florida east coast are high and wide with beach replenishment sand washed off the beaches after previous rough seas this year.
They act to cushion the blow from the raging surf and help push more sand onto already sanded in beaches.
The good news if you are a water hunter, a huge amount of sand has been moved around.
Sand has to have been moved from somewhere, and perhaps the water is the place to take advantage of the hurricane.
This hurricane just goes to show how important it is to know before you go, meaning knowing what to expect.
I did doubt my beach reading skills after being contacted by so many people saying they where traveling to the east coast of Florida to detect after the hurricane, what if I am wrong I thought?
Knowing what conditions are needed in order for  beaches to erode comes in very handy, especially if you are traveling to detect.
I would not have been able to spend much time on the beaches if they had eroded, the safety of my family and friends comes first.
My wife and youngest daughter are out of town and I am pulling double daddy duties with our eldest daughter and monster pitbull.
All the webcams and beach reports posted online today confirmed my suspicions about this hurricane hugging the coastline and causing little beach erosion, but who knows it could have taken a jog to the right or left and been a different story.
Going back to my previous blog, I am sure many beach hunters have learned valuable lessons for the future from this hurricane.
They may not be returning home with pockets full of jewelry, coins or artifacts, but many will now know that not all coastal storms are guaranteed to improve beach hunting conditions.
I am quite sure many frustrated beach hunters will now look deeper into what conditions are needed to open up Davy Jones locker, also what equipment to take for the next big coastal storm.
PS
Why does the local beach report blogger always disappear for a few days during a storm lol!
As I always say, learn to read the beaches you want to hunt and you don't have to wait for anyone to tell you when to go.










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