Okinawarelics.com

The Return of Makoboy...?

2012-01-28T17:11:00.000-08:00

Fossil Fiends,

During the Christmas holiday WildRick proposed a planned dig at the tail end of January... as I looked at my hardhat with the most recent sticker dated 2009 I decided to circle the date and put in some leave papers for the day. That day was just here FossilFiends, and unfortunately at least for Rick who traveled down from Raleigh weather was a issue with the mines in Eastern Carolina barring access. Rick headed to the spoils piles at Aurora. I decided to try my lucky elsewhere. The rain was still a problem at my local friendly mine, but after showing Mr. Meadows my scuba license and MSHAW and OSHA regulated distress whistle I got access by my lonesome to the muddy,sticky,sandy,gooey million year old slop.

In no more than five minutes.... five minutes.... there was a Ricky that my buddy WildRick has been dreaming about as he drives down I-40. Too bad for him, lucky for me! After a time out for a 20 minute downpour, I headed back out, to uncover a bunch of fresh marl lumps full of interesting shells take a look! It was some rough hammer work to say the least, and without my MSHAW / OSHA approved safety glasses quite hazardous. But like Dewayne Varnum, and George Powell taught "you pick up and bring out what you don't know." So, what are these shells? Are they top shelf or shoebox?
http://www.okinawarelics.com/

First Dive of the season!

2011-05-24T16:45:00.000-07:00

Flat seas, a cool breeze and the promise of 5 gallon bucketfuls of 6 inch Megalodon’s had everyone in a somewhat decent mood. You see, Captain Al just got finished talking about how the guys who dove with Spearit the day before had problems with too many teeth in the dive bag and that we were going to the same spot!

On board the boat called Littlefeet, you had a motley crew of teeth grubbing divers that often frequent the beautiful North Carolina reefs. Yes, I’m talking about Meghead and Wild Rick two modern day teeth pirates who stay down till the gauge is in the red. Bruce, Taylor, and myself rounded out the more mellow of the divers, who like to talk about the joy of diving but in reality are undercover teeth hoarders too.
(Wild Rick sleeping like a baby meghunter, and the sweet smile of success!)

There was some banter about Somali pirates, in fact I believe I heard Meghead and Wild Rick talking about the feasibility of forcibly boarding the big boat that comes out of the Outerbanks with spear guns in order to confiscate their teeth. These guys come with tons of divers and anchor overnight!

Brother…… the ships were out there on this beautiful spring day, with flat seas, and pods of dolphins frolicking in the sea, there was 4 or 5 other dive boats working the reef for Megs. Also of note, one of the outfits uses blowers to make the bottom look like Verdun in search of the big Megs so the possibility of actually being able to say that the ledge is hunted out may be valid sometime in the near future. The blowers allow the diver to go to hardpan scooping up the teeth as they are uncovered.

(Ring a ding ding -Meghead's 6.5 inch Meg! Fresh from mother earth!)

The diving conditions were excellent due to the flat seas and sun. We all did 3 dives at various spots and the winners of the day were Meghead pulling a 6.5 inch tooth from behind me, which is always a bummer for the other guy i.e. me, and Captain Al Highsmith (littlefeet charters) also finds a 6.5 inch tooth as he searched for Grouper and other tasty sea life with the spear gun.

(Captain Al with some throw backs! )

Cool stuff seen: A nice Mahi-mahi that WildRick hooked twice, then as the battle ensued for round three; the big fish took to flight as Meghead swam up alongside the boat ruining a fantastic dinnertime feast for Rick. Bruce and I also spotted a really big black triangular fin cruising in the water. I wasn’t too thrilled about watching this but Meg-fever will make a guy scuba in lava if there are teeth on the bottom. All in all can’t wait for the next time!

The Haunted Helmet

2010-10-27T16:06:00.000-07:00

One day many years ago, back when I was a young collector I happened to stop at this North Georgia Flea Market in the middle of nowhere. Soon I spied on the table a WW1 doughboy helmet offered for sale by this overall wearing older country picker. I might have paid 10 bucks tops.
Anyway, I brought it to my new apartment (I just got out of the barracks cuz I was getting married) and hung it on the wall. A few weeks later, sleeping off some beer I awoke to a smoky apparition in the doorway of my room. I was sooooo scared I could not move while it was floating there. But, I chalked it up to the beer and early morning sleepiness. Then, I got married and the wife moved in. Strange things started to happen like doors slamming in the middle of the house, and mysterious knocks.
Then one night I was sleeping on the couch (because of a fight) when I awoke to some strange sounds in the hallway. As I listened as quick as a flash this beast of some sort stampeded down the hallway and spun around right where my face was. It seemed like a boar but with red eyes. It seemed like a eternity but then it was gone. I had trouble beliveing on just what happened. The next day I finally told the wife about it and she then told me how last night something was touching her legs in the bed.

Sooo what happened to the helmet? My buddy was having trouble with this Ahole in the unit. So he gave this helmet to the Marine as a peace offering to get back some revenge!
Mission Complete!

Ode to the teeth

2010-08-27T16:49:00.000-07:00

Wild Rick

Ode to the Teeth

To God this morning I did beg

To let me find the biggest Meg.

For 40 miles we sailed about

To find the bottom hunted out.

We blew the sand all around

glancing at each other with a frown.

Finally, yes finally one turned up

a broken half with a shitty cusp.

Well it wasn’t that bad, Hell.. it was damn good. The sweet salty smell of the sea, the roar of the diesel and the bold flavor of a big ole Foster Lager at the end of the day. Many divers say the Meg Ledge here in North Carolina is hunted out, but it’s a big ocean and Wild Rick can sniff out teeth with the best.

A hand picked crew of 4 met up with Captain Highsmith in Surf city a few days back and... “By the looks of that flag it doesn’t look too good boys” said the Captain. “That wind is out of the Northeast and that means rough seas…… are you boys tough?”

Needless to say, like the Fabulous Thunderbirds we were Tuff Enough to go out in the choppy seas. Yours truly, Wild Rick, Bruce the Scientist, and Marine Taylor “Smells like a” Rose took some Dramamine and hopped aboard Littlefeet.

After 2 hours of spine shattering, bone jarring, teeth gnashing, surf splitting motoring, the seas calmed down a little for the final hour to Fry Pan. After 3 hours in the little boat I was ready to head down the anchor line and take a pee in the ocean. Upon jumping in the first thing to go wrong was my USMC Recon spare air let loose and dumped its air from the reg. Soon afterwards on the bottom at 100ft below the surface the expensive device was now somewhat buoyant it came out of its holster and is now lying on the bottom forever.....

Sweet Patho tooth is money in the bank!

However, the sea life as always was simply beautiful on the ledge with Lobster, colorful shrimps and the endless variety of small to large fish in the area. As you concentrate on fanning the bottom and throw around all the whale bones if you pause and look around the fish are all watching you to see “What’s up? & what he hell’s going on? Diving in this fishbowl takes your mind off your f’ups real quick.

Oh yeh, I forgot to mention that Wild Rick sent me to Beaufort to get his ass a Dive scooter for the trip and this mad scientist from Durham used it 3x and each time sucked up any and all dive lines and reels in his underwater location. It was unreal but he is now a certified Dive propulsion specialist and can be reached via email for any fix it jobs. Everyone had a successful trip except Sergeant Rose who after spearing a couple grouper was visited by a Tiger Shark. This undersea greeting prompted Sgt Rose to drop his junk and shoot a line to the top which screwed up his dive computer and put him out of commission on the 2nd dive.

Captain Highsmith

The Captain soon jumped in looking for our gear during our interval time and picked up 2 five inch Megs to show us how its done “Thar jus layin thar by the anchor line!” said the NorthCarolinian. My second dive netted a sweet 4+ pathological and 3 5inchers while Rick was on his way to and I’m guessing here 10 + 5 inch teeth and 10 or more smaller ones. The best tooth of the day seemed to belong to Bruce who was not getting much the first two dives but happened to spy a 6 inch tooth in nice shape under the unsuspecting Rick as his dive fin blew its sandy blanket away. - Good Times

Diving the River, Hazards extra!

2010-05-24T15:55:00.000-07:00

Yeh, We’re still alive for anyone that gives a sh*t. But just barely… Yours truly, Meghead and Wild Rick hit the murky erMinreh River this weekend for a fossil hunt to remember. Oh yeh in case your wondering I’ve taken the liberty to letter scrabble the river name to comply with the FossilFinders Guild to keep exact information off the web. Yes my friend, you are extremely lucky that I was even able to keep a few photos of the hunt for you to eyeball as pictures of fossils and landmarks were erased by the secretive Guildmembers who met us at the dock before we left….

Canoeing down the river RalieghStyle!
(with tow-rope)

Now back to the story, Me and Meghead have been talking about doing this for the past few years, and after meeting Wild Rick (WR) thru www.blackriverfossils.org we came up with a plan which was executed on the 23rd of May.

Previously, Wild Rick did some reconnoitering and extensive research on where we need to go, and since he’s a for real deal scientist I didn’t disputed his information as he showed me the massive ******** in the bed of his pickup truck from his canoe trip upriver the evening before.

Fortified with a McDonald’s breakfast we headed to our entry point and paddled upriver against the tide. However, we soon had this figured out as Meghead’s 100hp Jetski towed our canoe caravan the miles we needed to cover in recorded time. Disembarking at WR‘s first site, soon had me donning my scuba gear in record time as the Chesapeake shell layer littered the high banks and crunched underfoot in the river.

JetSki SafetyDiverPatrol

WR and I went in first with Meghead providing over watch on the Jetski. The river dropped off steeply to the bottom where it was dark as sh*t. My new Intova dive light was doing it’s best to give me some vision in the murk.

Additionally, as you went out towards the middle of the river the current was pretty bad too. WR didn’t have much problem with this, but yours truly does not like freefall descending in a swift current in zero visibility. I mainly stuck to the bottom of the ledges and poked and fanned the fine slit which hid underneath countless shell remnants, bone and hopefully *********.

Nice layer of fossils right down to the river!

The scariest thing was all the trees & logs in the river. Near shore was the worst but even in the middle you’d be startled and your fear level jacked up to new levels by bumping into solid objects, i.e. entanglements as you fought to maintain your sanity on your quest for the Megalodon.

On our second dive, I did have a scary moment when I found I could not ascend towards the surface. With my mask a few inches from the shell bed I moved upwards, and something solid hits my scuba tank, “Thump, W.T.F? I move a little bit to the left, “Thump, Holy sh*t! I move a little bit more, “Thump”! Now due to the stress everything seems darker and your mind races “Which way outta here”!

Wild Rick circumventing the tree obstacle course.

I was able to find a gap between the two logs and swam thru it head first, bumping gear along the way. But even as I raced towards the safety of the reddish light above I was chastising myself for doing such a risky move as getting stuck that way was a surefire end of the dive trip… forever.

Meghead getting ready to go under after writing his last will and testament.

So to wrap it up.. Fossils = Good Camaraderie = Excellent Trees in water = Bad

Until next time, - Bob

Makoboy vs. the King of Fossils

2010-02-12T18:28:00.000-08:00

The Radio blurts out the extremely unusual. A winter storm warning for 4 P.M. along the coast of North Carolina with 1-4 inches of off shore snow covering the coast from Savannah to the Outer Banks. That’s another bad omen as I tool down the road for my no tap out cage match with the “King of Fossils”. He’s travelling up from Myrtle Beach and bringing along Joe to referee the FossilFight.

A neutral arena was selected, one we’ve only been to a few times. The Rocky Point Mine! As I pull in (A little late) The King is there, he’s got his 4x4 all done in a new fossil sticker scheme. You know things like MegHunter and Meglomanic. He’s got waders. He’s got rakers, He’s got GPS, He’s got UV glasses. Me..? I even forgot to bring gloves and it’s not going to break 40 today.

“It’s jus you n me pal.” He sneers “Waah do y’all wan to do and wer you wanna go”. He drawls as the tobacco spit dribbles down his chin. “Man.. I am here for the teeth”. I reply and he smiles. The conditions for a FossilFight are simply gorgeous. Ton’s of rain recently and nobody has been hunting much. We didn’t see a footprint the whole day.

Taking a tip from Fossil fanatic Linda Wooten, we jump a major water obstacle and start on endless ridgelines. The erosion is fantastic and within a minute the King of Fossils has a small Ric in hand. I’m speechless because I haven’t found one in 6 months, but if you could have seen the King’s face this is a garbage tooth. I make a column right and head away from the King to stake my own claim down the line and a ridgeline over.

I’m walking around by myself scanning all the cubic yards of eroded dirt wondering if a big ric is going to appear and thinking maybe I would be better off looking for echnoids down on the bottom. Also I wonder just how bad the King of Fossils is going to pound me this time, you see I have never, ever come close to getting this guy. Sure I can bet up on easy marks like N.Y.Rob but the pro’s, well that’s another story.
I walk around on top of a ridgeline and see a cliff of red dirt up ahead tumbling down to the gully, as I peer over the side there she is just laying there in the sun . Yessir the ric I’ve been looking for to finish out a shadow box. I’m elated and know the King will have to work his royal ass off to bet this pristine 40 million year old relic.

Back at the vehicles the King pulls out his own ace of spades. A smaller ric… thin and rapier sharp. I’ve never seen one that thin before and for all I know it may be ultra rare! I got big and he got thin; Who won the fossilfight? I guess we both did!

Afterward, we headed out to a Civil War encampment which is in the area. This is Joe’s passion and we spent the afternoon talking about the fights around Wilmington. I did get a period pistol bullet and some odd silver plated lead box remnants which rounded out a great day to be goofing off rather than working for the man.

2010-01-11T19:35:00.000-08:00

Ok. Allright… I haven’t posted in awhile but it doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy collecting relics. I’ve been out digging for fossils, diving for bottles, hitting civil war battle areas and even sites that were tussles between the Indians and the Europeans off the boat. But today I’m going to talk about stinking echinoids. I don’t really collect these things but some fossil collectors go gaga for em.

A year ago I secretly tailed a expert on the things during a club hunt wondering why he was going opposite everyone else. Then I finally saw him down in the gully in the deepest part of the mine, after working my way towards him from a ridgeline I confronted him on why the hell he’s over in this area. “Dude, the only place on earth you can find these baby’s are right here and at Castle Hayne. Just think what they’ll be worth when the mine shuts down. They’re a hundred bucks on ebay now sometimes”. Unfortunately for me that day he cleaned up and only left me a few little guys I really had to get muddy for.

Fast forward to now! It’s cold and nobody’s out there poking around. Just like this summer when I score when its freaking hot outside and everyone’s in the A/C. I get to the mine and it’s cold as Shet! Water is frozen on the sides of the ridges, it’s like Surviorman and the glacier episodes! But nobody has hit this area for awhile and sure nuff these noids start to fill my pocket! After I picked up everything I think I got me a 1000 dollar haul of fossilized orbs! Here’s some dude’s website for the two types I found, 56 complete in all.

http://www.marksfossils.com/Echinoids.html

Beer and Coke Please!

2009-10-23T09:36:00.000-07:00

It’s that time of year for bottle prospect’in! Around these parts of the tidal rivers of the N.C. Coast you have about a month were the water clears up enough to actually see a few feet around on the bottom. Then around mid November the water at least for me gets too cold to jump in. If you have a old town in the area well…. it’s time to look for bottles, fishing rods, and the big ticket items are the old 1900’s turn of the century Cokes and Pepsi’s. There are also tons of old medicines’ , elixirs and if you’re really lucky maybe a 1700-1800’s whisky flask but,…. they are usually broken. After leaving work, I shot to my favorite spot were bottles litter the bottom. Conditions looked good as I drove the Buick Grand National down the Hwy staying off the turbo so the Sheriff doesn’t gun me down. The only thing that would ruin the dive would be fishermen or the tide ripping through the tidal river.

Running from the Sheriff!

As I got to the dock, the tide was slack. All conditions were go! Water was cool and the fishing pier was empty so, after deploying my diver down buoy I shoot down the 20 ft or so and found conditions on the bottom superb with 3 ft of vis. I starting running around piling up known crappy bottles in piles and putting in possibles in the bag. After three runs back to the breakwater to empty the bag I started to sort what I had and fortunately I had what I came for.

Pile of bottles

Sure enough after a little cleaning a mint 1900 PBR beer bottle and a bubble blown early 1900 Coca Cola were in the pile among a few other keepers. Coke and a Beer Please! What a way to end a day! Yowzaa!
Semper FI - Bob

No Detector Needed!

2009-10-06T18:43:00.000-07:00

The other day N.Y. Rob emailed me at work looking to see if I wanted to do some Indian relic hunting over at the sod farm west of New Bern that I have never been to because of work. “Dude, didn’t you say that there’s some old pottery and glass laying around?” “Let me bring up the detectors if the farmer doesn’t mind maybe there’s some old coins and buttons in the ground.” I emailed back. So the stage was set for a afterwork Friday afternoon pleasant hunt in rural North Carolina. Ole N.Y. Rob and his father in law Dan have been hunting these fields for the last few years pulling Indian points and tools. They call the pounding tools made by the X-man cuz they have a x chiseled in them by the maker, I guess kinda like Craftsman marks their tools.
N.Y. Rob and Danny feeling up some sod.

We checked in with the sod shop and fingered some of the nice Indian relics that they have picked up that were laying around the shop, then headed to the fields. You could make out where in the past the house must have stood as the few trees stuck out in the middle of one field and the surrounding field was littered with old glass and whatnot. I was digging alone with my Excalibur, Danny and N.Y.Rob were a team with a extra detector and a shovelman. Digging around the probable house area turned up everything such as old solid irons, and other house debris. N.Y. Rob found a lump of silver which must have been a coin that melted when the house burned down, while I pulled a 1920’s era Marine Corps eagle globe and anchor emblem.
Moving over the road, we passed a small cluster of headstones shaded by a few trees a few feet off the highway. The man who once owned the place was a Confederate in the N.C. Calvary during that war as his cracked gravestone was there with the C.S.A. marker.

Me, and a 1903 penny.

“Hey Bob check out what Danny found!” N.Y. Robs calls from across the street. I look and see Danny pulling something from his mouth , so I wander over.

(Add N.C. drawl for effect) “Lookit this man! I jus found it laayin right ther on top of the dirt man.” And there it was, the best coin I have ever seen found metal detecting, except I guess since it was picked up off the top of the sand without a metal detector it probably doesn’t count. Anyway it was a 1823 Half Dime that the old Confederate must have dropped a few years after the minting date as it was in FINE shape indeed. (Later Danny said it’s about a $500 buck coin from a internet search) Me? Well I finally found a coin, a 1903 Indian head so we all came out alright, just gotta find some time to hit it again!

Me and Ron

2009-08-08T15:01:00.000-07:00

Ok, I've been making the rounds three fridays straight. It's pissing off Goosebumps to no end because he's stuck at work longer than me most of the time and I get to drive past multiple mines on my 50 mile commute home every day. This Friday I decieded to bypass Belgrade and head to Richland where I met professional fossil hunter Ron Edwards who was looking for a associated Ricky or Mako set I think :^).

After shooting the breeze and comparing finds, Ron tells me that this particular shell "A Nautoloid" is a great find since I found it complete. "Hey Ron on a scale of 1-10 with a common Noid a 1 and a Archetote (Archie) a 10 what does this little guy rate?" I ask the professional. "Well I think it would be a 7." Ron states. Hey! that's good enough for me, as I wrap it and bag it! Ron found 2 of the Nautoloid's himself bigger ones but with a few chips. Both of us struck out on finding any teeth of any size Friday, but..... Ron told some stories....... Anyway, I did find this larger shell after Ron took off any thoughts on it? Is it destined for the Rock Garden or do I need to rock hammer it carefully?

F@*k'in A! I finally found one!

2009-07-31T16:43:00.000-07:00

Today was the day I finally found the piece I've been looking for long and hard, in sweltering summer heat and frigid cold winters. There were many variables in finding it today and everythingl fell into place for today to be a end to my quest.
It all started with being assigned to the Rifle Range today at Stone Bay which is located down Hwy 17 towards Rocky Point and Castle Hayne and not too far from Richlands and Belgrade. I was up at 0400 and on my motorcycle and headed down the Hwy at 0445. I threw in my helmet in case for some reason it was a quick range, since after all today is Friday and the mines are open in Eastern Carolina!

After doin some shooting with the other couple hunnerd Jarheads, we wrapped it up. I pondered what I should do since it was god-almighty swealtering hot, and I was dripping from head to toe. But I figured, “what the hell, I'm dirty smelly and feel lucky” and filled up my 48 ouncer with water and headed to the mine.

After checking in at the mine and asking if anyone else was poking around, the manger said “Are you kidding! If your lucky maybe you'll get some rain in there to cool you off.” I left after he wished me lucky in finding something good and rode the bike down the gravel rode and past all the trucks moving thru the pit. I thought to myself that I'd only be able to last a couple of hours at most in this burning rotisserie of fossil hunting misery.

I headed to a area that looked like it was some new work and wandered around when I suddenly spied a large Ricky's enamel pasted in the dirt of the crushed roadway. Sure'nuff after prying her out she would've be a beauty if she was complete but, they never are....

I was thinking these types of thoughts knowing that somewhere in here there must be a complete money making, picture taking, I'm not faking, complete Big Boy Aooowricckcuuueliiiiitetisssss. I looked down on the ground and there it was looking up from the dirt.

I had to catch myself from tinkling in my pants, then I pulled my Gerber out and started to dig away the dirt around the blade of the tooth. As the Gerber kept going down and I kept seeing perfect blade I gently pulled and in a nanosecond could see that this was finally the one that I've been looking for these past three years! After 10's of millions of years this perfect black with gray striped mottled enamel birthed in just shy of 4inches!

I almost called it a day right there but that's not me, so I pulled this odd-ball tooth out a little while later, it's fragile as can be and I've haven't noticed around on the boards anyone know what it is?
“When its boiling summertime, it's time to hit the mine!”

OMG! Noids

2009-07-17T17:06:00.001-07:00

I pulled into the lot about 1230, and some girls from VA. Tech were just coming out of the pit, dog-tired and sweaty. "Didn't get much at all, and it's too hot"! They warned me as they hightailed it back to Ole Virginia. Me and Fred the Foreman swapped some Marine Corps stories, then he mentioned that very few fossil hunters have been coming by during the summer. And folks, he was right! I only saw one set of footprints and that was in the popular Kellum Zone.

Rocky Point has changed quite a bit from the springtime. First, the Northern hills which were old and weathered and where most of the Auriculitis's were found in the past is, well..... all gone. You can kiss your Ricky finds goodbye. Like Fred the Foreman said " There isn't many teeth coming from the southern edge of the mine". And he's right. There just ain't much of a chance in finding any big teeth on the south side. However, if your into Noids errr I mean Echnoids then you are in for a treat. At least I was cuz there hasn't been anyone through the area. Noids were plentiful, I only picked up perfect ones and the others I chucked at the birds. I follow that great fossil theologian Meg-Head's motto which is "Buddy! Just how many Noids do you really need? They're a girl fossil man!”
But hey, I did find some weird stuff, and as always weird stuff is good! Maybe I'll be enlightened on some of these ultra-rare finds and Bill Gates will contact me soon thereafter.

Army of the Potomac

2009-07-08T13:15:00.001-07:00

Last week I was able to visit a old stomping ground near Fredricksburg Va. since I was attending a Marine Corps conference up in Quantico. About ten years ago I was able to get a few three ringers and some lead slag in this tiny valley between two hillocks in the woods off of Interstate 95. I always wondered over the years if there was anything left as I did not do the area justice with my old Tesoro detector.

Army of the Potomac Company "B" cap badge

Nowadays with armed with a Minelab Excalibur I jumped into the woods from a newly laid parking lot and searched for the area I knew "they" were at from my hunt ten years prior. I walked along the ridgeline of a meandering hilltop which may have been a footpath long ago, and stumbled upon some old hand formed bricks haphazardly strewn about under the leaves in places on a flat plateau.

With mosquitoes buzzing and ticks crawling I did manage to find a very old piece of silver spoon and a flat button also some old iron kettle pieces but nothing definitive. I was getting a bit tired as the Minelab is no lightweight machine and it was getting late in the afternoon so the woods were darking up a bit. I decided to head back straight over some ridgelines and toward the sounds of traffic.

I soon descended into a small valley and pondered that this may be the spot from before, so I slowed down and started to scan the center wherein the past runoff from rains carved a small depression. It was nice to hear the detector sound off after a long silence and lead slag was soon in hand, then a foot away the first bullet sounded off. I knew this was the spot, and started to work every inch slowly, as the time before I just ran thru and never had the opportunity to go back like I planned.

Supply tin and lead bullet

As I flipped over the divot with my boot and saw the companybadge lying in the dirt, I knew the relic hunting gods were treating me with a favor! The week before I lost a WW2 lapel pin I just purchased at a military show for 50 clams and I guess this was a payback from the Gods for being such a swell guy! What I really need to I.D. are these pieces of some sort of tin. Some ofthe pieces have a copper threaded stud soldered onto the top. It was found within a few feet of the cap badge and some minne balls. Anyone have aclue on what was inside 147 years ago?

2009-03-28T16:10:00.000-07:00

In the Union Lines

“At last the orders came to turn the right flank of the enemy. We passed down into the hollow, filed off still farther to the left, and passed over another elevation, when we came to the railroad, just below the brickyard. Then, with General Parke at our head, we pushed on, passed in rear of the breastworks of the enemy, and as we came upon the high open ground behind it we came under a raking fire from the rifle pits across the railroad and the brick-yard, where the enemy lay in large force.”
JOHN WRIGHT,Major, Comdg. First Bat. Fifth Regt. Rhode Island Vols.

“Where do you want to go man? The Fairgrounds?” N.Y. Rob asks as we look for some 9v batteries in his garage. “Naw, I mean that place has been hit so hard and the only thing we’re going to find is trash and pennies. Lets try behind the woods behind the Toyota dealer. The Union marched right down the railroad tracks there.” I say, and off we go.

"The first one of the day!"

Me and N.Y. Rob are getting spooled up quick on the CW battle of New Bern, and due to gaps in our relic hunting schedule which is usually filled with fossil, bottle, and Indian relic hunting days I’m rekindling my Civil War passion and he’s just starting his.

“We pushed on at the double-quick until we came under cover of the trees, where we formed in line of battle and prepared to charge on the enemy in the battery. As they had retired, I was ordered first to send one company and afterward the whole battalion, and to proceed cautiously and find out what the firing was on our left. I sent the adjutant ahead to find out the direction we should take. As it was pointed out by the general's aide, Lieutenant Lydig, we passed down into a hollow and ascended the left-hand side cautiously until we reached the brow of the elevation, when we came in view of the enemy and immediately opened upon them a brisk fire, which immediately had an effect, for their fire slackened and stopped when we ceased firing.

We opened upon them two or three times afterward until we were afraid of firing upon the Fourth Rhode Island, who were advancing upon them on our right. When the Fourth charged upon them we ceased firing and awaited orders.”
JOHN WRIGHT,Major, Comdg. First Bat. Fifth Regt. Rhode Island Vols.

"Relics right off the front line of battle!"

N.Y. Rob is just about jogging thru the woods swinging his detector way too fast and high, he’ll learn I think to myself. This little patch of woods between Hwy 70 and the tracks has been hit by hundreds of enthusiasts over the decades, and the woods are clean as a whistle. No relics and like a good detectorist no trash either. I have the right tool for this deal the mighty Excalibur, and I’m moving slow and steady.

After a while I’m kind of resigned to not finding anything but enjoying my after work fun with Rob and eyeballing some of the remaining CW entrenchments still in the woods when “BANG” the Excalibur sounds off with a deep target. As I dig I don’t expect to see what is in my hand when the dirt is moved around. A nice expended .58 3ringer. Man! What a thrill to find a actual front line bullet shot by some Reb at one of N.Y. Rob’s relatives.

Rob comes over and I stay a few yards off the railroad grade and soon am rewarded with more fired rounds. The Excalibur penetrates thru rotting wood and any deep and missed rounds are mine to keep. It really was quite a nice way to close out a day, and reinforces the metal detecting mantra “No place is ever hunted out.

Searching the Neuse

2009-03-17T17:36:00.000-07:00

Searching the NEUSE

The other day me and N.Y Rob finally got our schedules insync! We both had high hopes to find a few Yankee or Rebel war relics around Rob's neighborhood as he lives right behind the front lines for the Battle of NewBern N.C.

N.Y. Rob way out in the river looking for something good.

Since we just started daylight savings time here in the east, so me and Rob had a few hours of daylight to poke around the area after work. We first hit the back acre of his house for a few minutes with nothing to show, then decided to hit the beach along the Neuse River. The beach starts at the end of his lane and once long ago during the war had fortifications with a 4 Gun shore battery.

Just downriver from this spot are the front lines of the battle anchored by Fort Thompson which today sports a subdivision on its high ground. Hopes were high as N.Y Rob's father in law talks of his childhood days when the locals would roll cannonballs home from the river during low tide, and as luck would have it today was a unusually low evening tide.

Also, N.Y.Rob has found a few CW pipebowls, and lead poker chips among other period pieces right on the shore.

BBS technology really works in the water!

My Excalibur worked excellent on the Neuse and penetrated deep into the muck, finding stuff a foot and a half down. The matrix was a few inches of muck, 6 inches of sand, then clay. I'd love to tell you I found some relics, but only a fired bullet was found and that was on the shore in the river bank.

However, I think with a little luck and perseverance a arty shot will be pulled someday. I'll keep you posted!

New Year Plans!

2009-01-22T11:35:00.000-08:00

Hey Friends & Family oh…and visitors!

Boy Howdy, I’ve been busy lately and haven’t had any time to do much of anything ‘cept work at home and with the Corps. However, I figure I’ll post my plan for 2009. Lets see, hmmm for sure I hope to be lucky enough to hunt the barren moonscape at the PCS Aurora Phosphate mine this year! With a little luck maybe I can pull down a nice complete Megalodon tooth and stare in wonder at its pristine beauty; Only at Aurora!
http://www.elasmo.com/

On the fossil front I hope me and Glenn keep our dive buddy system in tack and hit the Atlantic in search of that big 7inch tooth that will make one of us a legend in the fossil community! Glenn keep those 120’s filled with Nitrox!
http://www.aquaticsafaris.com/

Stink'in trans blew up in South Carolina n when your a bucks down type of guy well, hey you rebuild it yourself. But now nobody wants to drive the beast outta town.

What else, well today I’m starting off on my Civil War kick, seems my pal Goosebumps has spied some of Burnsides Union entrenchments in the swampy area off the Moorehead to New Bern railroad. So the metal detectors are in the trunk and ready to go for later.
http://www.civilwarshop.com/

Me and N.Y. Rob always have big plans and this year we are gonna do it up right. See N.Y. Rob bought a nice big boat and plans are in action to dive off of New Bern’s old dock area for some of those 1800’s bottles. Also nearby across the river is the abandon Civil War Union fort which was shelled heavily during D.H. Hill attack in 1863. “Shells and shrapnel fell into the Neuse like raindrops on a pond” Of course we are just looking n touching but not taking.

Indian relics are getting in the mix this year for sure, plenty of sites to hit and I’m making sure to put my miles in on the field looking for points. Of course, I’m gonna hit the gold mines of North Carolina http://www.bearfootgold.com/ at least once if not more. I got sluice parts over at the weld shop jus gotta get over there!

Okinawa? Hey, If everything is right I may do a space A holiday deal in the fall when the weathers good for caving for relics and nighttime raids on the resort beaches for the platinum and gold! So stand by and check in once in awhile! I look forward to hearing from you!
- Robert Wilke

Field Trip to one awesome collection!

2008-12-15T05:31:00.000-08:00

On a beautiful fall day in eastern North Carolina, members of the East Coast Fossil club were treated to a special event prior to a scheduled hunt of Greens Mills Run park. The Club members were able to view noted amateur paleontologist George Powell’s fantastic fossil collection collected from various spots along the coast from Virginia to South Carolina.

The one of a kind relics were truly an awesome collection of one man’s passion for the fossil collecting hobby. His collection as evident in the pictures truly rivals if not surpasses many large museum quality displays.

George was such a great host welcoming us to his private collection room and then spending a few hours explaining different nuances of the hobby and answering many questions from club members.

Everyone learned much about our hobby from the visit, and the one on one time with George was great as we did not have the hills of Aurora tempting us into short conversation.

George’s famous 114 Parotodus-benedeni associated dentition was only one of the highlights of the collection, all of the members were impressed with the display of Meg’s in all their glory with the red felt and highlighting! (Glenn’s got to do something about his Megs kept in the tool box!)

My question to George was “What’s going to happen to your collection in the future…? Are you going to donate it to a museaum?” “Nope, I told the wife and daughter to sell the whole thing and enjoy the money from it!” was the reply. And that my friends is probably what will happen to ours too!

In Search of: 18 grand!

2008-11-16T15:11:00.000-08:00

What you diving fer? Asked the grizzled old man. “Oh, just old bottles and whatever other junk may be laying on the bottom.” I answered. The old man points off into the water, “Well you mights want to keep your eyes open for a safe down thar.”

Hooch waiting for the safe, and me in the water.

The old fella, is local seaside historian “Hooch” Henry. A Marine Veteran of WW2, Korea, and Vietnam, he’ll even show you the bullet hole he got on Okinawa. “That Jap popped up outta nowhar and shot me right in the gut”.

Anyway ole Hooch and the neighbor next to the pier both state that a few years back the Sheriff and two inmates in orange jump suits were at the seawall and the story goes that they threw a safe containing 18 grand in the river off the end of the pier.

According to the neighbor he has never seen the safe come up or anyone dive for it, that’s why he’s asking what I’m diving for. We all agree to share in the spoils (if any) and they show me the area the Sheriff indicated a few years ago. The water is swift with the current not yet at slack tide however, the visibility is good with the cooling of the river water. I spend about 30 minutes on the bottom working my way haphazardly around . I spot a few unidentifiable heavy objects in the muck but I’m pretty sure they are not a safe even though nobody knows the size and shape I’m supposed to be looking for.

I’m soon out of air, and the only startling find was a decomposing large piece of mammal of some sort, with ghostly white pieces of flesh swaying in the current. As the Governor of CA. would say at a time like this "I'll be back!"

A few days later, Me, Hooch, the Neighbor and my buddy Culley a deep sea Navy diver with access to the Navy Dive locker goodies are back to run grid lines over the area and lift bags to the heavy objects.

The search starts out slow due to heavy slit in the water due to the recent rains, but on the second tank the visibility clears and we can scan and cover more ground easily. As we work the area, occasionally Culley’s and my goodie bag fill up with bottles and fishing gear. When we surface and have Hooch haul it up and dump it out on the dock and get ready to head back down.

Kevin Culley- Navy Diver finding bottles but no safe.

I’d love to tell you that I’m drying 100 dollar bills in the clothes dryer but, it wasn’t so. We both got a couple of nice old bottles and I got a sweet rod and reel but no safe. Maybe we were off a few yards or the memories of those men slipped a little in the intervening years, but for me the water is probably going to get too cold by the time I’ll get some off-time to try again. Any underwater safe is going to have to wait till next year!

Fossil Hunt

2008-11-05T10:51:00.000-08:00

Whaaaaaaap! Clunk! Swoosh….. Swooosh. Soon a man is seen scuffling thru the muddy flats towards us. He’s holding his hand gingerly as he maneuvers thru the debris scattered along his path. Perhaps your thinking this must be a description of WWI Verdun France and a doughboy is making his way to an aid station. Naw, it’s just Gerald “Reel Tooth” making his way along the creek bed of GMR to show off another one of his great finds during his amazing dig.

Yessir, quite a crowd showed up for a early morning dig along the chilly banks of Greens Mill Run. It seems that after posting a few of my finds recently on the web, a all-star lineup of diggers showed up primed to find fossils due to the Aurora fossil hunt cancellation.

A professional Gold mining crew led by RobJon from up country North Carolina showed up for the first time. I was sure they were going to start suction dredging the mighty GMR but they were unsure of the city ordinances. I soon found the Professor in the stream working Will and Lois’s claim. He had a professional GMR local hunter and ole Goosebumps busting gravel from 10 feet below the river bed. “Hey Professor, don’tcha know that’s Will’s claim? He’s got that on file at East Coast HQ! You’ll get fined if you get reported.” I stated to him. “I’m claiming this area in the name of ECU educational research!” He exclaimed, as he showed me a possible 3 inch Great White that had the top broken off.

I knew where I was not wanted so I kept moving upstream. Soon, I spotted the “King of Fossils” himself waiting on his folding chair for his hireling to produce a fossil worthy of his highness’s collection. It was good to see Brian in good health and back in the game; I just wonder how he gets these guys to do all the digging?

King of Fossils

The V.P. of E.C.F.C came up to me about then and demanded to be taken to the area that I worked a few weeks prior where I found that G.W. Anyway, this is the part of the story were chance took a turn for the benefit of Gerald.

Me and the V.P. met Gerald as he was returning back downstream, (maybe he was lonely) Anyways, he had a simply beautiful Great White in perfect shape I’m guessing over 2.5 inches. He decided to turn around and go back to the area he was working before instead of downstream and that my friends turned out to be the play of the day.

Within 30 minutes, Gerald scuffled over to where we were, and I could tell by the sh*t eating grin (see picture) he had something good. A rare perfect Megalodon! No dings, all serrations, beautiful color, 4 + inches. It was a great find! Over the next hour I still did not have even a piece of bone from where I was digging! However Gerald kept pulling fossil after fossil from the same dang hole. Fossils such as, a turtle shell, another perfect front GW, the second 4inch Meg, and possibly the largest Mako from GMR in recent history.

It was nuts, but a fine day it was for Gerald! For the rest of us, the report was that everyone got something very nice, except for the V.P.of E.C.F.C who has bad luck at GMR. I’m not sure about the Gold mining team, but they were working hard to claim their first GMR mantelpieces. But as we all know the lady of the river doesn’t give her treasures to newcomers easily.

LSM-45 (Landing Ship Medium) Oct 2008

2008-10-06T12:33:00.000-07:00

Landing Ship Medium – 45

On a beautiful Friday afternoon, I headed towards a little visited training area aboard Camp Lejeune to check out the local Jacksonville semi-historical ship LSM-45. The ship has been in the local paper off and on over the last few years as its final fate ebbs and flows as the seasons change around it.

WW2 era muscle and 1980's Detriot MUSCLE!

The ship was transferred here to be a part of the new Marine Museaum of the Carolinas when that agency was planned to have a building built off the New River. However that plan fell apart due to local political issues regarding the proposed site. The proposed Museaum now will be land locked near the Beirut Memorial in front of Camp Johnson.

I headed out to see her myself after getting finished retaking my Range Safety officer class aboard mainside. Riding along in my Grand National during this late summer day was a nice treat, except I couldn't open her up on the backroads as you never know where a Military Police may be lurking. Soon I motored near the wharf were the LSM lay by herself. Other than a few people who were casting for shrimp down the way there were no other people to keep the old ship company.

The ship was shocking in bad shape, more than I imagined. It would take a act of extreme sacifice in money and effort to make the LSM shipshape. That was unforunate as one reason I was there was to take a looksee at the ship to ascertain the possiblity of requesting it for one of the bombing targets at Bombing Target area 11.

Up at the island as we call it, we have problems with getting hulks of ships out in the shallows for fixed wing aircraft and helos to shoot at with rockets and bombs. Something as large as the LSM and especially the fact that she's made of steel which takes the explosions better than newer decommision ships makes her a real jewel as a target ship.

It would be a great shame to blow up a old WW2 Pacific warhorse, but I guess she would have some life left training the new breed of warrior and save the goverment some target money while she's at it.

Military Show

2008-09-28T16:34:00.001-07:00

On Saturday I jumped into the ole Grand National, and after checking the oil turbo’ed my way thru the rural back roads of eastern North Carolina as I meandered towards The Old North State Antique Gun and Military Collectors Show in Raleigh. The show is held at the state fairgrounds and a flea market is held every weekend with a specialized show in the exhibition hall. This week the event was the militaria show, and I really wanted to get a handle on retail prices on some of the militaria dealing with the Battle of Okinawa.

Excellent Common Helmet with Kanji Name on Rim $750

As expected the prices of Militaria climb ever upwards, upwards to eye popping levels. The Okinawa and mainland Japan antique shops and flea markets offer a great discount on prices unlike buying military collectables in Europe. Also, in some of the other Asian rim countries, leftover Imperial Japanese relics are overpriced way beyond their value. A few years back I thought I scored a real find when in a small shop in Bangkok I spied a barrel full of beat-up Japanese swords. These relics were used on the farm after the war but they were priced as true museum treasures!

White Cotton Enlisted Naval Jacket w/Gold naval buttons $200

Keep in mind if your lucky enough to be stationed in Japan keep your eyes open for good value! On the tables at the Raleigh show, Japanese helmets in great condition with excellent liners and soldiers name were at least $750. An excellent helmet with tropical cover was an astonishing $1500. These were supposed vet bring backs with no history known by the sellers. A 7.7 Arisaka rifle with Aerial sights was going for close to 600 dollars, I priced some common canteens and the prices ranged from $150 - $175, a good price in Japan is around 40 bucks. USMC gear is always in demand and WW2 era battle gear is pricy. A nice cammo helmet was going for $200.

Helmet with Tropical Cover - $1500

As can be expected due to the high prices of the gear and today’s financial mess, the crowds were sparse and I did not see much money changing hands. Also as I left, I came to value more the possible discounts Ebay offers to collectors who are savvy bidders and resourceful searchers.

Semper Fi,
Bob

Various Photos from show.

Marine Corps Post and Relief Ceremony

2008-09-15T08:29:00.000-07:00

The other day I was one of the main parts of the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point North Carolina Sergeants Major Post and Relief.

That's me in the center saluting.

I figured I’d post this here to capture a few action shots on a duty Marines participate in on a regular basis. Me, I enjoy it because truth be told I simply love the POWER! Oh yes my friends, shouting out commands and making the Marines snap and pop on order is a rush many don’t experience.

Just imagine having the undivided attention of spectators and Platoons of Marines in parade formation who will respond to every command you utter. It’s a natural high that I’ll miss someday.

Labor Day Fossil Fun at Greenville North Carolina

2008-09-02T11:19:00.000-07:00

Goosebumps looking for the Great White teeth!

I ran up the stairs to answer the phone. “Yo, whadup! Youse reddy for tomorrow?” The man from N.Y says. “Yeh Man. I was just loading up the truck with shovels and the screen. Should be a good time with the weather looking fine and all.” Me, N.Y. Rob, Goosebumps, and Gerald “Real Tooth” Real were scheduled to have all the East Coast Club fun at GMR on a beautiful Labor day morning!

Upon reaching the park, the conditions were perfect for a great hunt with the water level low, temps perfect, and snakes at a minimum. I had the pleasure of meeting Brad from Black River Fossils who carpooled down from High Point N.C. with Gerald. Soon, Brad had a rare find for the area with a handsome piece of petrified wood screened from the bottom of the river. N.Y. Rob scored a huge Mako and Goblin tooth early but then his luck went stone cold. “I got absooluuutely nut’in outta my gravel bank! Whadda %@!*.” he was heard to say.

BlackRiverFossils go-to guy Brad digs out the rare wood!

When I talked to Gerald, he and I both had nothing really noteworthy to display at the time however, downriver Goosebumps (who jumped my old claim) had a riker box full of treasure with not one but two Great White teeth, one in perfect condition. A horse tooth and 2 sazzy hemi’s among a ton o’stuff he pulled from my spot. Now that I think about it, I was cursed yet again by this fellow being in my proximity.
( Note to self: Push Goosebumps overboard next time were on ship together.)

Everyone has fun at GMR!

It was definitely a lot of fun and we need to schedule a big hunt up there soon, now especially that we have a Hurricane scheduled to clean it out!

Bob

Is it a Meg or a piece of tile?

Dancing with Sharks, and Digging Teeth!

2008-08-11T06:46:00.000-07:00

Clicking thru emails at work last Thursday I spy the following email:

I signed up for the Cape Fear dive for Sunday. Jeff is not going. So his tanks are available. Plus, my new tanks came today.

Glenn

Early morning at the dock.

A short and to the point note, now I have to make a last minute call on the dive. Why? Because I don’t feel lucky….. The dive makes sense however, first its on Sunday so I don’t have to burn up a day of leave, secondly the weather and sea conditions are predicted to be good, and Meg-Head got extra 120’s I can bum. But, something inside me lets me know if I go I will not score on the Meg’s.

I decide to bit the bullet and sign up and call Eric at the shop: “Yeh Man, should be good! I’m even going out, getting outta the shop, my first dive for Megs. Weather looks great. Wanna give me your credit card number to hold a slot?”

“Yeh man, sign me up!” I say. I think to myself after hanging up the diving will be worth it, even if I don’t score big on the teeth scale. I just hope the bad feeling is not something worse like a premonition of a mishap….

Sunday morning I pull into a Hotel parking lot to pick up ole Meg-head. Glenn’s in high spirits as he’s the one feeling lucky today. That’s good for him! I say something about working hard on the bottom to even out my chances and who really knows about luck anyway.

Check out Scott's fin as he counts over 30!

At the docks, it’s the usual suspects. Big time local hunters Scott and Stan are on hand to give Meg-Head and Captain Guy a run for the money. Junior league scavengers, myself included are here too. Corporal Long and his cousin Trevor return from last months dive to try to up their numbers. They’ve the Meg flu. Dive shop countermen past and present Billy and Eric are going to pass the torch on vacuuming the bottom. An added bonus is having a bevy of young women divers take part on this charter. I know Captain Guy’s happy about that fact, and keeps a lookout to assist them when needed.

Dive conditions were great on the ledge and I figured I’d be able to do some big-time fanning on the bottom and pull up some choice mantle piece teeth. After, going down the anchor line and checking my gear, I slid my gloved hand thru my swim paddle and started to push up the bottom inside out. I pushed and pushed until I had to stop and switch hands. Finally, after 10 minutes and who knows how much sand I got a nice 4 incher followed soon by another 4 incher. With 4 minutes bottom time left I fanned and scanned the sand to no avail. “Not a good haul” I thought to myself as I ascended up to about 90 feet.

Visibility on the bottom was excellent, however at mid-water vis was poor. Oddly there were no thermoclines present. As usual I was one the first one back on deck due to my terrible air consumption rate however; as the divers came out of the water from the initial dive some big scores were ready to be shown on the deck. Scott pulled up a heavily loaded bag from the sea bottom and as he spilled out the contents some fine large teeth out of the 33 or so he found made this a awesome haul! After everyone was back on deck, Billy and Meg-Head each showed off a 6+ inch tooth they scored! Eric released from his shackles on the dive shop counter, scored 13 teeth on his first dive on the Ledge.

Captain Guy doing the song and dance
"I got teeth on my belly"

Captain Guy went down during the off-gas period and sure enough, all the divers got to see the hidden teeth in the wetsuit comedy show that Cape Fear is famous for! How does he get so many teeth each time is amazing!

Anyway, I was pumped to have another go at the bottom and was the first diver in and headed down the line. I worked the sand hard to no avail, then switching tactics swam a bit trying to pick out shapes in the sand. When I was at the end of bottom time I saw Meg-head and after swapping some signals I headed toward the anchor line on my compass heading. I was bummed as I only had 2 small 3 inch teeth, what crappy luck, just like I felt before signing up.

As I swam in the general direction of the boat and ascended slowly I could not pick up the line in the gloom. What I did see were the bubble stream coming up from the bottom even though I could not see the divers or the bottom.

Meg-Head's big 6 inch!

I made a bad decision at that time. Rather, than swim in the general heading of the compass I decided to ascend around the bubble stream thinking that the divers on the bottom are near the ship. As I started my safety stop at 20 feet I still couldn’t see the boat even though I was in a sea of bubbles coming from below. I knew I woundn’t like what I saw when I broke the surface, and sure enough as I emerged slowly from below and my mask broke the water there she was…….. way…. the…. F**K…..over there. Anyway, I had a nice swim back to the boat by myself, and wondered what happened.

What is it? We didn't know either.
Maybe a fossilized tree nut?

After the long swim back, stowing the gear, grabbing a sandwich and coke other divers started to pop-up way out, off starboard. Tiffany and Scott went out and swam the line out to help out the other divers while Captain Guy coordinated the rescue efforts. He needed a smoke after that…. Well, that explained why I was out of the area too, referencing their bubbles and all.
The third dive was on the Hyde and the sharks were out in force! I counted 16 off the stern and too close for my comfort with beasts coming out of the gloom from every direction. I headed back where more divers were and kept my eyes peeled the remainder of the dive.

Sharks on the Hyde
Photo by Tom Tilmon
For more diving action check out his site at:

http://members.aol.com/fpsndiver/fpsn11.html

Above Photographs by Sally Medling: For more photos of Dive on Hyde check out her site at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/sallymedling/Hyde_08_10_08?authkey=WoE93Rhzl8o

2008-08-01T11:59:00.001-07:00

Wow! It really was a great weekend! It’s not often enough that your average neighborhood relic hunter scores a trifecta of fun and success as I had recently. But I’m getting ahead of myself a bit. Lets see, my dive buddy aka Glenn “Meg-Head” Branch had set up a 3 Dive run out of Carolina Beach to search for big money fossilized sharks teeth among other fossils that lie in 115ft of water 40 miles off the coast of North Carolina.

Piedmont treasure hunter N.C. Bob signed on for the trip from Asheville, and also changed the dive plan to a two day trip with 2 more additional Meg-dives for Saturday and a wreck dive on the way in. In all, 5 chances to score the big money 7 inch Megalodon tooth we all know is lying off the coast.

Simply put, the ocean conditions on Friday were excellent, with flat seas and a slightly overcast sky. As the 40 something foot dive boat “Hawks Bill” captained by the world famous Captain Guy churned thru the flat seas, schools of flying fish would stream across the flat aqua green water. Sprits were high as anticipation of finding many large teeth were the sign of the times as many of the divers were local guys who have scored some nice teeth before.

Soon we were at the site, and plans were made for conducting the dives. Me, I got a mixup on my tanks and now I had 120 cu in of regular air vice NITROX .

Captain Guy shows off his invisable ships wheel!

So I was going to have to be a little careful on the dive plans. Big Stride in, and Splash… Down the line I went however, soon it was apparent that as always it is just too hard to stay with the plan of action due to the ease of losing site of your buddy in the gloom, the cloud of sand kicked up while fanning and so on. If you are really down to find some teeth, normal diving procedures are thrown out the window anyway. You are really on your own at 115 feet.

As wonderful as the surface conditions were, thermoclines were present at varying depths. The cold water brought in weird loads of plankton type sea plants of some sort and hurt visibility. However, after 3 dives we all had a few keepers. I think I had 4 or 5 good teeth one being a 5 incher , Glenn and N.C. Bob had about the same. But, truthfully we were looking for a whole lot more! I figured I needed to find about 14, 3 – 4 inch teeth over 2 days to break even covering the cost of both days of scuba.

Glenn was in a foul mood, as we travelled back to Jacksonville. “They’re not bringing us to a good spot.

Calm seas are a Diver's dream 40 miles off the coast!

That place was all picked over”. He opined. “Hey man, you never know when your going to get lucky. Look, Captain Guy had a great haul on his dive. Next time it could be you or me.” I said as I tried to motivate Meg-Head, and convince myself that tomorrow would work out for us.

Early Saturday morning Glenn and I headed out from J’ville and after a pitstop at MickyD’s we were headed down Hwy 17 toward Wilmington. The weather conditions were just fantastic and the crowd that gathered at the dock foretold of keen competition for fossils during this trip. Soon we were joined by N.C. Bob and had all of our gear stacked and packed.

It was just simply a perfect dive day and things went pretty good on the first dive, I got about 5 teeth, Meg-Head 3 or 4 and N.C. Bob got shut out for the 3rd time in 4 dives. But on our final dive on the Meg ledge things got interesting. I dropped down the line, and took a fix on the anchor line and proceeded to drop down to the bottom. On my 3rd fan in the sand, there…. she…. was! A big ole tooth! I knew it was the biggest one I have found and as I twirled it around and saw it was in great shape I thought I won the lottery! I stowed it away in a zippered pouch on my BC vest and started to fan. I tell you what, it was the fabled “Honey Hole” that Captain Guy has named for teeth below the surface of the sand/rubble matrix. I was finding keeper after keeper and after each find I would shove the tooth straight into the top of my wetsuit, damn the scratches! Anything to save time and keep this lucky streak alive.

The haul for me on this one 15 minute bottom time dive was 13 teeth.

It was satisfying to finally have a lucky streak, but the real treasure to be found was; being able to have a couple great days in the sun goofing off with old and new buddies, shooting the breeze and talking teeth and treasure with other divers with the sea spray wafting in the air, that’s making memories! And brother that’s what’s life’s all about!
3 Amigo's in search of 10 million year old relics!

Indian battleground

2008-07-10T11:17:00.000-07:00

(Ready to cut up some venison ribs!)

Late on Sunday night I saw the flashing numbers on the answering machine. It was N.Y. Rob. I had semi-forgotten that we were kicking around the idea of doing something on Monday since we were both off. I wasn’t initially too enthusiastic about the idea since I was coming off a 5 day straight wood working binge building kitchen cabinets at the wood hobby shop on Camp Lejeune. But I figured I’d give him a call and see if he could talk me into something. “Yo, bout time youse called! We doin sumptin tomorrow or waaht.” The man from N.Y. mumbled on the phone.

We decided to head up thru the backwoods of Eastern N.C. and check out a fella’s antique store who I knew is/was a big Indian relic hunter. As we traveled thru the backroads I had N.Y. Rob pull over to check out a historical marker I always thought to be quite relevant for Indian enthusiasts.

“On the morning of March 20th, every man was at his post when a trumpet sounded the signal for the attack. Three days later Fort Neoheroka lay a smoldering ruin and the enemy acknowledged defeat. The Indian loss was 950, about half killed and the balance taken into slavery. Moore's loss was fifty-seven killed and eighty-two wounded. With this one crushing blow, the power of the Tuscarora nation was broken”

Right down the road we pulled over into the driveway of a old dilapidated country home I have been keeping tabs on as a possible buy as its location is choice. Soon, after we were done poking around the property the farmer who rents the land pulled up and started to chit-chat. After talking about the house for a bit the topic turned to the battlesite. “Right over there cross the road whar that pole is, is whar ECU come out and did a dig. They covered all the post holes of the fort up, and I’ve been planting over everything ever since.” The farmer related. I wish you could have seen N.Y.Rob’s eyes pop open, “Sir, can we do some arrowhead hunt’n if we promise not to trample the crops?” With a little hesitancy the farmer in the pickup truck relented and said “Go ahead” and off we went!

Well, for me a new hobby was tested, and the taste was excellent. I don't think that I'll ever have enought time to pursue it to the fullest, but it was pretty close to relic or fossil hunting and something to plan for when the crops come in.

Sunken Ship Found!

2008-06-27T10:35:00.000-07:00

Hey Gang,
Big news on the island with the anniversary kicking up dust. It seems every few years the Kerama mystery ship makes an appearance in the news. Keep one eye on the below thread for interesting info about the topic. It’s possible that it’s the Hobbs Victory that I wrote about in the manuscript but you never know…

Mr. Cliff Stryker posted on the forum the other day, and he’s an old tunnel rat from the heyday of relic hunting. Check out the thread and chime in!

In reasearch news; I talked to Mr. William Sass the other day on the phone. He’s a veteran of the campaign and was with the Seabees during the battle. He’s helped out in regards to some of the Seabee photographs I’ve recently scanned into the site. Of particular note he mentioned how he was part of a three man cave detail assigned to coax die-hards and civilians out of the caves after the battle. He said that some things are just too difficult to describe and painful to remember. That being said; respect the ground you trend upon out in the field be it Okinawa or Gettysburg.
http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6757

Okinawarelics

2008-06-23T05:56:00.000-07:00

Konnichi wa Okiphiles!
I figured I’d put some effort into being able to put out some disjointed ramblings about our favorite topic; Okinawa. Or relics, or maybe the war or some sort of mix of those and others. Anyway, I believe this website has been successful in regards of bringing such a very small niche of us together in one spot. I want to thank a few people who without their material, ideas and help I wound not have been able to put this site together. Ken Spink, Torii Station museum director who jumpstarted a dead website. My relic hunting pals, Dewayne Barth and Preston Brenchley who provided help and support from day one. David Davenport, for providing his expertise and assistance in this endeavor. Chris Majewski from the Okinawa battle museum for information and updates from the island.
To Dave Davenport aka Grandpa Rat for whom this hobby was a life’s passion. His tireless work of preserving and teaching about the sacrifices made by all combatants and innocents in that dark time in history will always be missed.