Water hunting with Minelab

My metal detecting year is basically divided into two seasons: winter, when I detect old parks and town sites looking for old coins and relics; and summer, when it’s time to hit the beach and water for jewellery and coins. I am fortunate that I live near the coast as well as having a large river system where people swim and partake in other water-based activities.

However, you don’t have to live near the coast to go water hunting. You can go to large inland lakes, old town sites located on rivers where there would have been trade and commerce along the river bank, or even smaller rivers and streams with a local swimming hole.  All are good places to search for lost jewellery, coins and relics.

Detector choice

When it comes to detector choice, pretty much any detector will work fine on the shore or in shallow water, i.e up to about 30cm/ 1 foot. As almost all detector coils are waterproof to some degree, the main consideration is whether the control box and cable connections are also waterproof as well. For this reason, a fully waterproof detector is recommended as you don’t want to run the risk of dropping your machine in the water or getting splashed by a wave and damaging it.

My two detectors of choice for hunting in the water are the Minelab Excalibur II and the Minelab CTX 3030. Both are fully submersible, so therefore you may ask “…why not just use one?” Well, both have their pros and cons, which I will now run through.

The CTX 3030

This is a great machine with the most obvious benefit of being able to use a number of different coil sizes. I love shallow water hunting with it, as I can use the full benefit of both audio and visual displays. The CTX 11 coil is a good all-rounder, the CTX 17 is a beast when it comes to covering large amounts of ground on the beach or along the wet sand. The CTX 06  is amazing at picking out targets in trashy ground.

The downside to the CTX 3030, is that in the water the coils are slightly positively buoyant and once out in water deeper than the controls, you lose the benefit of the screen and the unit produces a fair bit of drag when moving it through the water.

The Excalibur II

When it comes to water detecting, this unit was made from the ground up to be used in the water! In fact, it is waterproof to a depth of 66 m or 220 ft. A great benefit of this machine is that signal detection is through audio only, therefore you can focus all of your attention on listening for targets. The coil is negatively buoyant and I have mine on a custom carbon fibre shaft with the controls at the far end which gives good balance and reduces the amount of drag through the water.

For getting the most out of both of these machines in the water, I would suggest checking out the books by fellow Treasure Talk contributor Gary Drayton.

Tools of the trade

A handheld sand scoop will suffice on the dry sand of a beach. But, if you are recovering targets in the wet sand and water or even just want to save your back when detecting on the beach, then a long handled scoop is a must. These come in both aluminium and stainless steel and there is the choice of using a solid wood handle or a fibreglass handle. I personally use a fibreglass shovel handle with an extra handgrip which is very useful dragging up a scoop full of wet sand out of a hole.

If the areas you are planning on hunting in consist of sand and some small shells, then a scoop by itself will be fine. However, if you are in an area with lots of coarse shell and gravel, then a floating sifter will help you recover your finds much easier. A sifter will work anywhere you have flat water.

I made mine out of an old plastic crate, the kind they use at wholesale markets. The one I found is ideal as the holes in the bottom are about ¼ inch square, which is perfect to stop small items falling through.
Originally, it was about a 400mm high, but I cut it down to 90mm to match the flotation tube.

For flotation, I made a float from 90mm PVC pipe and right angle joins. At the front. I used a couple of sealed joiners and an inspection “T” to make a waterproof storage area for my car keys etc. Being made of plastic, I can dump a full scoop into it, level out the contents and then if I can’t see a target, I run my coil over it and pinpoint exactly where to look.

The other thing you will need is a finds pouch, made for water hunting.The one modification I made to mine was to add a cord and snap clip inside the good finds section to put rings on. Rings can be hard to come by so I like a little bit of extra security so I don't accidentally lose them.

What to wear

On a hot summer’s day down the beach, I opt for light shorts, long sleeved fishing style shirt and a legionaries style cap to prevent sunburn. Depending on the beach I’ll go barefoot or wear my dive boots.
If I am planning on spending time wading, then in summer I will wear a 3mm full length wetsuit, to stay warm and again prevent sunburn.
In the cooler months waders are a good option, so long as you don't go too deep. For me once the water and weather get cold I opt for a full dry suit that I also use for scuba diving.

So there you go, water hunting can be great fun and rewarding and with a few extra bits of kit you will be on your way.

Until next time enjoy the history you find!

You can see more about my detecting adventures on my YouTube channel “Westcoast Mark”  and my own blog http://westcoastmark.wordpress.com/.