# A cold day at the beach



## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

Went down to the beach today - could've stayed home, nice and warm, but the urge to find stuff overuled common sense and off I went - mid 20's with a stiff breeze, lovely...


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

Brrr....


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

looks like a milk.. no top , though


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

forgot the pic


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

Ohhh, an Atlas Mason! Didn't see any need to disturb this one...


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

A little medicine that filled with water and froze to death, oh well... I'll have to finish this post later, gotta leave


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## RICKJJ59W (Jan 15, 2012)

Yeah Rat me and the badger were out in that cold crap to ,18 du gree


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## RedGinger (Jan 15, 2012)

Please finish the post when you can.  Digging on the beach is how I got my start, and I love seeing the pictures.  What else did you find??


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## cacarpetbagger (Jan 15, 2012)

Mid 20's, I would have gone with ya if I coulda.  A little cool here today, barely made it to 60.


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## THE BADGER (Jan 15, 2012)

NICE PICS RATZILLA,THAT BEACH SHOT LOOKS COOL.HOPE YOU FOUND SOMETHING DUDE. BADGER


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## Bones (Jan 15, 2012)

It might have been freezing, but the hunt is always calling. Nice pic's. Hope you get a chance to fill us in some more...


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

Okay, I'm back.  Looks like a med of some sort...


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

The cheesy ones always survive.


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

...And so do the bricks.


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

Cool thing about this beach, when the tide goes out far enough the frames of old sunken boats start to appear.


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

and resting against whats left of the boat, looks like a teens milk.


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

Yup, a Perkins from Merchantville. Finally found something worth more than 50 cents!


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

Inside the frame of the ship is this barrel peeking out...gonna have to dig that thing out someday. Not today, though, I just don't feel like getting that wet.


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

Bromo!


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

And a strap flask! Now we're cookin'!


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## JOETHECROW (Jan 15, 2012)

This is cool,...please show us more...


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

Hmmm...could this be whole?


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

How 'bout that. Just an amber Rieger & Gretz crown, but at least it's hand finished.


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

One of his dead relatives lies close by...wonder how many more are lurking underfoot?


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

Med in the mud, but this one was missing the other side.


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

Looks like a milk at the water's edge...


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

Woohoo! Another one for the 'at least it's worth more than a dollar' box!


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

Something peeking out...looks hand finished...


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

@#!!&* ketchup bottle, had to bury that one again..


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

There's quite a few of these solid glass cylinders scattered on the beach, no idea what they were for...


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

I see a boat, and it's dead...


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

Could tell this was a P J Ritter without even having to waste the time to pull it out, thank goodness.  I sucessfully ignored several others as the day went on...


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

Rare indian brick??


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

Tide went out further than usual today, got to see some more beach than normally.  This looks promising...


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

Delavue's Whooping Cough Syrup. I stay out here much longer, I might need that. Windchill is about 10 or 15.


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

Tide's really dropping, the old boats are all lined up...


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

Milk in a boat!


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

Quaker City with the little quaker dude on it.


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

Holy smokes, another one!


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

Garden State this time, the most commonly found milk on this stretch.


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

All the sudden, it's like milk heaven!  This one was a Lawnton Dairy.


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

Corner of an old wooden crate sticking up in one of the boats - could it full of neat, valuable stuff?  I pried the end off(in case you hadn't notices, wood holds up remarkably well here), but alas, it was just full of soupy sawdust.


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## Ratzilla (Jan 15, 2012)

Another Perkins, just laying there for the taking!


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## Ratzilla (Jan 16, 2012)

Cute little O. & B. McGuire flask, but had a big lip chip so I put it back...


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## Brains (Jan 16, 2012)

cool place, whenever i go look down by the rivers they're always too high, and there's always signs that say stuff about how i shouldn't go in the river because it's full of sewage.


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## Ratzilla (Jan 16, 2012)

OK, by now you're probably wondering why I don't actually dig a hole in this muck, there's obviously a lot more underground.  Well, sometimes I do, but the holes tend to fill up with water right away, and spashing around in a slightly toxic mudpuddle is an activity best saved for warmer weather.  Couldn't resist a few small holes, however.  This one yielded a little pile of crud, but it mostly really was crud - only kept two from this pile. (can you guess which two?)


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## RedGinger (Jan 16, 2012)

Great pictures and post.  Nice find of the cough med!


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## Ratzilla (Jan 16, 2012)

A couple dead blobs in situ...


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## Ratzilla (Jan 16, 2012)

Hey! Another milk!


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## Ratzilla (Jan 16, 2012)

Ooops, never mind.


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## Ratzilla (Jan 16, 2012)

A sided soda in the surf


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## Ratzilla (Jan 16, 2012)

Tide's really out there now.  Gotta dig a few little holes down by the water...


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## Ratzilla (Jan 16, 2012)

Got a blob out of my little tideline hole!


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## Ratzilla (Jan 16, 2012)

A Mignogna from Camden, with the stopper. That muck is so preservative the bail barely rusted and the gasket is soft - it still works!


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## Ratzilla (Jan 16, 2012)

Harpoon?!


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## Ratzilla (Jan 16, 2012)

I dug a few more little holes, found a few more bottles, then the tide finally started back in & chased me off the beach, plus my gloves were wet and my bucket was full(although one should never complain about a full bucket).  A cold day, but a fun day. Nothing really great but enjoyable nonetheless.  I'll be back once it warms up a bit!


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## tigue710 (Jan 16, 2012)

awesome dig!  I love it... the boats are the best part...


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## MichaelFla (Jan 16, 2012)

Great finds and a great story! That little jar next to the bromo and the (possibly) pompeian cream looks like it has asian writing on it. Or is that just my eyes?


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## cacarpetbagger (Jan 16, 2012)

I think they are called boat hooks, for grabbing ,pushing, pulling things on the water. 





> ORIGINAL:  Ratzilla
> 
> Harpoon?!


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## carobran (Jan 16, 2012)

> ORIGINAL: Ratzilla
> 
> I dug a few more little holes, found a few more bottles, then the tide finally started back in & chased me off the beach, plus my gloves were wet and my bucket was full(although one should never complain about a full bucket). A cold day, but a fun day. Nothing really great but enjoyable nonetheless. I'll be back once it warms up a bit!


 If you call that a "nothing great "dig id love to see a great one.Id be ECSTATIC to fnd half that.


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## rockbot (Jan 16, 2012)

> ORIGINAL:  Ratzilla
> 
> I dug a few more little holes, found a few more bottles, then the tide finally started back in & chased me off the beach, plus my gloves were wet and my bucket was full(although one should never complain about a full bucket).  A cold day, but a fun day. Nothing really great but enjoyable nonetheless.  I'll be back once it warms up a bit!


 
 That was a fun tour. Thanks for sharing it. That early milk and sided soda got my fancy.


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## myersdiggers1998 (Jan 16, 2012)

Was the chest empty??? your gonna show us clean bottle pictures right? Do you use a metal detector in that area ,looks promising for smalls.[]


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## Wheelah23 (Jan 16, 2012)

Seems like an ideal dig when the weather warms up! I got excited when I saw the blob. Probably as excited as if I had found it myself! Very well made, fun post. Great pictures, please do more!


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## Ratzilla (Jan 16, 2012)

Back in the late 80's, not long after I first discovered this beach, I found two DP cobalt coffin poisons a few weeks apart. Those were great days! And yes, there have been other great days since then...It's always a great day if you can add something to the collection, but I didn't get anything new this time.


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## Oldihtractor (Jan 16, 2012)

Tom  your my hero..   you never let anything hold you back..   great load of dollar box stuff..  bottles bottles n more bottles ..


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## Ratzilla (Jan 16, 2012)

Well, Myers, the chest wasn't exactly empty -had a slurry that looked like a sawdust milkshake inside, but that was it, darn.  A metal detector would probably be pointless down there, 5 million screws, nails, drawer knobs, washers, bits of wire...well, you get the idea.  The beach would just be one giant BEEEP! on the detector, especially since a lot of it is brass.  Yes, there are coins there, I've picked up quite a few indian head pennies and trade tokens and stuff over the years there. I got rid of most of the pennies a while back, mostly in bad condition, but still have this box of other intersting little things I've found there over the years.


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## RedGinger (Jan 16, 2012)

You're an official mudlarker now, Ratz!


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## cyberdigger (Jan 16, 2012)

> ORIGINAL:  Ratzilla
> 
> There's quite a few of these solid glass cylinders scattered on the beach, no idea what they were for...


 
 Hey Tom, I wonder if those were "mold warmers" ..you know when they started using a mold at the beginning of a shift, they'd fill it with glass to heat it up & prevent cold mold ripple..


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## Ratzilla (Jan 16, 2012)

No, not mold warmers, they're evenly finished & ground at both ends, at least the undamaged ones are...


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## cyberdigger (Jan 16, 2012)

I see.. then maybe they were cabin lights from ships?


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## Ratzilla (Jan 16, 2012)

Never heard of such a thing, but there's certainly plenty of former ships there.  I would think they were probably barges or other cargo vessels, though.


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## Ratzilla (Jan 16, 2012)

Hey MichealFla, both the little jars are Pompeian massage creams - just don't see the larger size that much.


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## Plumbata (Jan 16, 2012)

Awesome post ratzilla! Certainly one of the most interesting I've seen here in a while. The pics are quite stunning, and I agree with Redginger about the mudlarking bit. I'd be there every day digging and sifting the muck for coins and other smalls. I can imagine taking a modified gold dredge and sluice there to do most of the dirty work.

 So what is the deal with that spot? Was it once a shipping dock area? A dump? Neglected industrial land? All the above?

 Those sunken vessels are so cool, and the buried barrels and crates would have me dreaming about lost loads of fine unopened pre-pro whiskey bottles and other treasures.

 Again, this was a wonderful read, thanks so much for taking the time to snap pics and post your journey.


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## RED Matthews (Jan 16, 2012)

Hi Ratzilla and cyberdigger;  I now have two ships cabin light inserts for the captains cabin or who ever was important to qualify for the advantage.  One of mine is a repro that I bought from the Mistic Seaport Museum.  The other is one that I bought on eBay.  I even was able to get a copy of the patent for that one.   

 Thanks cyberdigger for your correct use of the description of Cold Mold Ripple regarding mold warmers.  I am still trying to get some help from the Ohio people with some pictures of their Canning Jar mold warmers.  Last year they had a great coverage of them at their bottle show.  They amounted to a heck of a lot of gathered glass, and the finish tops zone was not part of the pour - I assume because it wasn't part of the mold - having been made in the neckring of the early machine development.  The real early finishes were applied wax rings - but even there they didn't fill the mold all the way up.  I am still working on the blog of information.  covering the Solid Glass Bottles, Jars, and Insulators.  There sure hasn't been much written up on them in all the early glass-making books in my library.

 I am a lot better after going through two months + of  hellish health problems.  I obviously had a lot of church and bottle people praying for my health - obviously they helped.  All I can do is to say *thanks* and *keep on praying for all the others struggling with health problems*.     RED Matthews


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## surfaceone (Jan 16, 2012)

Hello Tom,

 Thanks for taking us along for a delightful day of sunbathing and bottle repatriation at the beach.

 I'm looking forward to your return, and more bathing beauties...


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## BellwoodBoys (Jan 16, 2012)

WOW! is that a river beach or a bay beach? I know that in belmar i only find whole bottles washed up after big storms.


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## Ratzilla (Jan 16, 2012)

It's a river beach, but close enough to the ocean that it's obviously very tidal.  The beach area was 'teens era fill for an industrial area plus whatever floated down the river, now all slowly eroding back into the river.
                    Anybody remember where we parked?


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## JOETHECROW (Jan 16, 2012)

Real cool post.


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## adshepard (Jan 16, 2012)

Gotta say this was a very cool post indeed.

 We have some tidal mud flats up our way in Maine that turn up a bottle or two but nothing like you have there.

 Alan


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## madman (Jan 16, 2012)

wow great pix!  thanks for sharing!


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## Blackglass (Jan 16, 2012)

> ORIGINAL:  Ratzilla
> 
> Brrr....


 

 Nice finds, that is an amazing photo!


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## MINNESOTA DIGGER (Jan 16, 2012)

i would pick up the scrap metal that lays around prices are very high .  also the bottles as well . looks like fun


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## sandchip (Jan 16, 2012)

GREAT pictures!  No telling what's hiding out there.


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## KBbottles (Jan 16, 2012)

Think the glass cylinders are some sort of industrial product waste?


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## sandchip (Jan 17, 2012)

Reckon they could be what they set in sidewalks years ago to let daylight into the basement of buildings downtown?  I've seen 'em down here; in fact, some have started turning purple over the many years in the sun.  Look to be the right size.


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## towhead (Jan 17, 2012)

Wow!  Yes, I'd be there every day too!  What fun!  -Julie


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## ConsDigginVids (Jan 17, 2012)

well done !!


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## Ratzilla (Jan 17, 2012)

For those who wanted to see some of the stuff cleaned up...


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## Ratzilla (Jan 17, 2012)

A bit more....


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## Ratzilla (Jan 17, 2012)

and the blob, which loks like it came out of an attic.  Cool!


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## JOETHECROW (Jan 17, 2012)

Love the blob! really cool.


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## dogtx (Jan 17, 2012)

That place is awesome!!!
  I would not leave that place.
  Thanks for taking us along on the adventure.


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## GACDIG (Jan 18, 2012)

Thanks for the walk down by the COLD river front....[] Look like a neat way to scam some bottles.
 gac


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## Ace10Tex (Jan 18, 2012)

Hey Tom, 

 Don't forget to check the trunk!! Probably some bottles in there! Seriously though awesome pics and story and thanks for sharing!! Wish my last trip to the beach had been even half that productive!! What a cool place and treasure trove you got there! Can't wait to see what your next trips there turn up!! HH Ace


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## David Fertig (Jan 21, 2012)

Great story/pics.  Thanks.

 What's this?


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## riverdiver (Jan 22, 2012)

Awesome post!

  I too would take a detector there because a good detectorist could discriminate out the iron and focus on the goodies. I scuba dive river spots like this for my glass and I bring it all home, bottles, pipes, coins, jewelery you name it!

 David, your item in question looks like a battery core, I find them to be plentiful in New England river bottoms.

 I also agree with Redginger on the Mudlarking term, you remind me of the English group of diggers of the same name that belong to a club called Thames and Field, their website is awesome and full of the same stuff except much, much older and from the river Thames in England.


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## RedGinger (Jan 22, 2012)

Those guys have a great site, with tons of pics.  As riverdiver said, the stuff they find is ancient.  If you go there, it looks like they will be having a show on the History Channel on Feb.28.  I haven't seen anything else about it, but it will be exciting if they do.


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## WAHIAWA DIGGER (Jan 26, 2012)

Great Surface Finds... You can just imagine whats under the mud!  Just like when me and the late "808 50th State" (Earl) use to walk along the banks or in the water of Pearl Harbor during the minus -4 tide.  Nothing like what you've found.  Awesome!  Keep posting! mahalo!


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## hannahevan (Feb 11, 2012)

This looks like the area around Commodore Barry Bridge?


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## creeper71 (Feb 12, 2012)

> ORIGINAL:  Ratzilla
> 
> It's a river beach, but close enough to the ocean that it's obviously very tidal.  The beach area was 'teens era fill for an industrial area plus whatever floated down the river, now all slowly eroding back into the river.
> Anybody remember where we parked?


 Rat, Is this what your driving to Baltimore Bottle show in 3 weeks?


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## Poison_Us (Feb 12, 2012)

Very cool.  Might be cold, but the rewards are there.


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