Lost in dark water - newly wed's wedding ring found! Kailua Kona, Hawaii.

« Just Beyond Sylvie’s Tippy Toes »

Paul and his wife had only been married three days when he lost his ring in the water while here on honeymoon! Adding insult to injury, he’d been playing with his new wedding ring on his finger and literally watched it fall to the ocean bottom when he’d loosened it too much. He felt sick and his wife was devastated.

Having had close-encounters with Kona’s local tiger shark population, we typically don’t search at night in the water – BUT – Paul was adamant that it may be the end of his new marriage so due to the shallow bay he’d lost it in, we made the exception to do a water hunt at night…

I was on another ring search so Sylvie searched the area until dark. When I arrived she’d scanned thoroughly in the water up to her chin. Paul felt hope was lost.

Sylvie is so good with her detector that I knew I wouldn’t have to re-check the area she’d scanned. Thankfully, the tide had been slowly dropping so I started scanning in chest deep water – which would have been just to Sylvie’s chin an hour before.

It was beautiful in the cool, dark water. Small schools of fish darted around – but I kept my long metal scoop handle between me and the deeper water of the bay’s entrance « just in case » something bigger was driving the baitfish my way!

I was jolted out of my calmed state as the detector suddenly whined. I was now just on my toes, in water as deep as I could stand in. I called my friend who was with us and he came out with a flashlight. I scooped and the flashlight glinted through the holes of the stainless steel scoop. Little krill and fish darted around the beams of light. Got it!

Paul called his wife and she came sprinting over just as I got out of the water with his platinum ring in hand.

We were all elated and discussed the long, dark hunt. While I’d actually located the ring, by rights the « find » should have been Sylvie’s really – she had done the lion’s share of the work by eliminating all of the places the ring wasn’t! I’d had the height advantage of a few inches – and a lower tide – when I’d looked which in the end was all that was needed to reveal the ring! She’d been a few inches short of finding it.

Paul and his wife went to have a well-deserved drink and we headed back in the dark to find some dry towels. Team work did it again – Another marriage saved!