Hello Pirate Hunters, David Podmajersky's message regarding the location of Shoal Harbor (Belford-Middletown Twp.) and the possibility of pirates use of the area has brought back memories of my childhood. During the 1930's and 40's, my family spent their summers at a place called Quast's Grove which was in the Highlands,right on the Shrewsbury River. The grove was a group of bungalows that was located toward the old Highlands Marina. As a youngster,I had always heard stories about pirates, especially Captain Kidd, using the area just inside of Sandy Hook as a hideout to escape the British Coast Guards who were always after them. They were supposed to have used Horseshoe Cove and Spermaceti Cove as hiding places. Also,naturally,they supposedly buried their loot in these areas and on the beaches of the Shrewsbury near Quast's Grove. My cousins and I were always treasure hunting, especially over on the Hook. Of course, since Fort Hancock was a US Army post, we were frequently run-off by MP's. They even caught us a couple of times and took us up to their HQ and really scared the heck out of us by putting us in the brig for a little while. We never found any treasure. One year,probably 1946,in the early Spring, someone reported finding some old coins on the Quast area beach. It was written up in the Newark paper. "Experts" identified the coins as being Spanish and said that they were probably "Captain Kidd's Buried Treasure" This really caused a big treasure hunt all along the beaches. Of course,nobody ever found anything. It was later written off as a hoax. Old residents of the Highlands always told stories about the treasure but none was ever found,to my knowledge. I am sure that the local historical societies and other groups have lots of information about Captain Kidd and his escapades up and down the Jersey Shore. Howard Cole in Charlotte,NC __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Personals - Better first dates. More second dates. http://personals.yahoo.com