Brent & Sylvie Madison, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 4 of 4

Newlyweds Lost Ring Found at the Fairmont Orchid in Mauna Lani, Big Island Hawaii

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Female detectorist recovers honeymooners ring in Hawaii

Found ring! After a two-hour in-water search, Sylvie Madison recovered the lost wedding ring!

I received an email on Thursday night from Keila saying her husband of five days had lost is his wedding band in Mauna Lani at the Fairmont Orchid on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Normally my husband Brent and I work as a team metal detecting on the Big Island, Hawaii with Brent doing all the in water searching and me covering the sand. As he uses a more sophisticated Minelab he can also detect better around all the mineralized lava. My detector is my trusty pulse induction Garret Sea Hunter. I have successfully recovered a ring before with it and found gold but not while in waist deep water. (It’s great for SCUBA).

Unfortunately Brent was away on a job so I needed to make a judgment call as to weather I would be capable to search with a good chance of recovery. I looked at some pictures and the bay which was very protected and looked very sandy.

Keila and her new husband Matt assured me that it was very shllow and there was little water movement. I told them I would have to wait until Saturday and could go out then and please let me know if there had been any other detectorists.

I hired a friend to help me dig and we met Matt on Saturday morning. Unfortunately what I did not realize was that it is probably a man made lagoon and that there is a lot of lava rock underneath the sand which Is not very deep, maybe 3 inches before hitting lava. have heard not all detectorists in the area try to return the rings.

I set out on a search pattern in the small area and getting a lot of small and false signals. Also the water was more like 2-4 feet deep and I did not bring any scuba with me.
I looked for about 1.5 hours and then Matt and Keila had to go catch their plane. I assured them I would keep looking.

Found Gold Ring Fairmont Mauna LaniI got some strange signals near the rocks but mostly half a signal, only beeping on one swing of the detector and not two. I was getting distraught thinking Brent would need to come out with is Minelab if no one else found it first.

I decided to do one last sweep of the area and then I heard it, a proper signal, actually a double beep and on each swing of the Garrett! I asked my assistant to dig and there it was! A very nice 14k brushed white gold ring!!! Yay my first in water recovery! I immediately sent
a message to Matt and Keila who were already at the airport. What a great feeling knowing there honeymoon ends with happiness and I will soon be sending them the ring!!!

Matt and Keila on their wedding day in Kauai.

Matt and Keila on their wedding day in Kauai.

For lost rings on the Big Island of Hawaii contact us at (808) 430-5660 , email info@bigislandmetaldetecting.com or visit www.bigislandmetaldetecting.com

Hawaii Ring Recovery big island

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Newlyweds’ Lost Wedding Ring FOUND at the Hilton Hotel, Big Island, Hawaii

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brent and van - ring finding

SEE THE FIND-Movie!!! Finding Vans Ring

Van and Ellie called us with bad news and good news.

The bad news was that Van had been swimming in the Hilton hotel’s lagoon in Waikoloa and lost his new wedding ring! He’d put sunscreen on and within minutes of getting in, felt it fly off as he moved his hand through the water. The good news was that since he had felt it slip off – he’d marked the precise location, time and depth before calling us.

There were no waves in the lagoon, the deepest part of the lagoon was shoulder depth and within a controlled space (as opposed to a public one – so someone who may have seen them searching couldn’t return and keep Van’s ring if found).

We met them at the entrance to the main lobby where the hotel had also arranged security to log us in and bring us to the lagoon. We were relieved for the buggy ride as the hotel grounds are huge and we’d brought two underwater detectors as well as light scuba gear in case…

Van climbed over the rocks and went into the water with me while Sylvie gave me (and Van’s wife Ellie) moral support from the nearby shore. Sylvie didn’t get in as I thought it would be a quick find – since everything was going in our favor – it was almost an « ideal » location.

One and a half hours later, I was starting to worry… We’d gone over-and-over the square he’d marked the moment his ring was lost. I continued to expand the search at every pass. Sylvie called over, « Should I gear up and bring in the Sea Hunter? » We use the pulse induction Garrett Sea Hunter MkII with a big coil in clean sandy-bottomed areas.

« I think so… » I replied not sure how I – or my Minelab Excalibur could have missed the ring. I was getting cold  and frustrated that something seemingly so right had gone so wrong.

Just as Sylvie started walking over to get the other detector I suddenly heard the loud clear tone that tungsten makes in my headphones. « Cancel that! » I yelled over to Sylvie. Van looked up. He was holding the Go Pro and started filming. I stuck my head in the water, scooped and looked into the basket. « Does it look something like this?! » I asked, picking the ring out of the mud and stones.

Van and Ellie were so relieved to have their precious ring found!

And so were we – Phew!

van ring closeup

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Lost Men’s Wedding Ring Found at Makalawena Beach, Big Island, Hawaii!

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I got a phone call in the late afternoon from a woman asking if I were « that Ring Finding guy ».

« That’s me! » I replied and another lost-ring story unfolded…

Marina and Sergey had been down on the remote Makalawena Beach taking photos while on their honeymoon. The couple, visiting from Oregon, had only been on the Big Island of Hawaii for a few days.

After applying sunscreen, the two posed for fun photos, playing in the wet sand near the water. One photo Sergey had his ring on – then the next –  he didn’t! They literally showed us photos in the series on-and-off!

« My ring!, » he’d exclaimed. A heavy, tungsten ring, it had vanished without a trace in the deep sand. The group spent the rest of the afternoon digging for it to no avail.

The next morning Sylvie and I picked up Marina and Sergey and their cousin in our truck and started the long, bumpy 4×4 trail that headed down to the remote beach.

Once we’d hiked to the spot along the beach, my heart fell. Though we’d checked the tide charts, high tide was on its way in force – washing higher and higher over the spot Sergey had noticed the ring had gone missing.

Switching the detector on right away I got a target signal but digging the spot only hit lava rock below a thin layer of sand. Sylvie scanned the beach above the tide line in case the ring had been washed up there during the night’s high tide. I came back and back to that same place where I’d gotten the signal, fighting the water and waves as they got higher.

Sergey had tried digging with his hands while I showed him the place. Our long-handled scoop was useless as it was blocked by the lava rock buried beneath the sand – the water came in waves too strong and too rapid to have a chance to get to it. Sergey was on his hands and knees. « Try to feel under the rock and in crevasses for anything that moves, » I told him as both his arms were buried in sand.  Almost two hours had passed at this point and we’d all lost hope that we’d find it.

Suddenly, Sergey stood up and yelled, « I got it! » – He’d felt under the rock and took hold of what moved in his fingers. If it had slipped, the ring would have been sucked out into the now-heavy surf.

All of us jumped around and celebrated. « This ring couldn’t be replaced, » explained Marina. « It was blessed by the church and we believe that we can only get one of these in our lives! »

Better get it resized!

 

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bimd-sm-biz-card--with-bleed-legAlso check out www.BigIslandMetalDetecting.com for more photos!

Click here for a Google link to pics of the beach.

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Large Diamond Ring Found in Kailua Kona, Hawaii

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The latest ring found in Kailua Kona!

WendyRobinson-founddiamondring FoundDiamondRing-2
We got the call to find a lost diamond ring – a 2+ carat stone set in heavy gold – at a private residence.
The ring had bounced out the bedroom door at night – and couldn’t be found on the balcony or yard below. Due to the massive rains we’d been having, and the fact that the grass would be mowed the next day, we got the urgent call and luckily could come over the same day.
I looked under the balcony, around the bushes to the side of the balcony, and finally in the yard. About 20 yards away it sat tucked in the thick grass below – the ring must have rolled down the length of the balcony before tumbling off. Another happy ring recovery!

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Two Lost Diamond Rings Recovered in Hawi on the Big Island of Hawaii

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Avesta and Hamid with Brent and Sylvie Madison after finding their lost diamond rings in Hawi on Hawaii's Big Island.

Avesta and Hamid with Brent and Sylvie Madison after finding their lost diamond rings in Hawi on Hawaii’s Big Island.

The beautiful lost and recovered rings of Avesta from the State Park in Hawi, Hawaii (Big Island).

The beautiful lost and recovered rings of Avesta from the State Park in Hawi, Hawaii (Big Island).

 

We got an urgent call from a family on vacation who had lost two diamond rings in the water near Hawi, Hawaii (Big Island), while swimming with their children in the ocean.

We drove about 1 hour and 45 minutes to the small State Park of Keokea to recover the rings and met them in the parking lot.

It turns out that Avesta had lost both of her precious rings – one a diamond ring with a whooping 2.75 carats in platinum. The disappointment of both Avesta and her husband, Hamid, was visible at loosing their valuable rings but they were both optimistic at our chances of finding them.

I put my mask on and hit the shallow water with my Excalibur II metal detector. After a 30 minute search we had found a pocket full of coins but no rings. Swinging back into a sandy area, suddenly I heard the low growl of platinum in my metal detector’s headphones. « I don’t want to give you false hope but think I’ve found a ring, » I said.

Sure enough, the basket held a gleaming ring with nine diamonds in a row. Hamid picked it out of the basket, happy, and eager to see if the second ring was also nearby. As I put the detector back in the water, a second signal was instantly in the headphones!  And right there, we recovered both rings, one after the other, where they had been lost and sunken into the sand. The second ring we recovered was a whooping 2.75 carat diamond ring – you can see the joy and surprise on their faces on the video – when getting back their lost – and now found – treasure!

« Lucky me that I found you guys. Thank GOD!!!!! » Avesta wrote in an email the next day.  « Phewwww so lucky I am!! FYI it was our 8 year anniversary the day you found the ring, makes it even more special. »

 

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Lost Ring Found Waikoloa Beach Area, Hawaii – Speedy Recovery

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This was a great recovery for several reasons!

First, it marked the first ring recovery we’ve done since moving to the Big Island of Hawaii and joining Ring Finders three months ago.

We were so happy to help Pedro and Martyna from Poland find her lost engagement ring!

Second, this recovery set a new personal speed benchmark for finding lost rings!

Martyna had put the ring on a hat to shoot at sunset in memory of their one-year engagement at the same spot. Unfortunately the ring fell off the hat the moment a wave swept up and it was gone…!

They spent the evening looking for the ring with their fingers in the sand, and by the time they’d called us and we could make the hour’s drive to their location out at Anaeho’omalu Beach, Waikoloa, it was noon. Martyna told us she’d spent the night in tears.

Arriving on the beach, I was a little worried to see Pedro and Martyna’s friends – about six of them – all on their hands and knees raking fingers thru the sand and digging piles of sand here and there. Fortunately, they showed me the exact spot she’d lost the ring. I asked everyone to stand back and switched on our Excalibur II metal detector. Two, then three sweeps of the coil and, « HELLO! » I hear the growling lowish tone of platinum. 5 seconds… I asked Sylvie to switch on the GoPro but by the time she’d turned the power on, the ring was in the scoop and Martyna was hugging, Pedro, me, Sylvie and all her friends! Total search and recovery time was about 10 seconds! I wish all recoveries were that straight-forward – for everyone’s sake!

Brent and Sylvie’s Ring Recovery Feedback:

Pedro and Martyna did a few important ring-recovery steps right at the beginning which helped the speed of our recovery. We were fortunate that the waves were small with no rip along the beach. They were lucky enough to know exactly where they’d dropped the ring, so made a note of that exact location. They also marked the time – which gave us a chance to check tide levels and approximate wave height when they’d lost their ring.  On the challenges-side, having their friends dig around seems natural, especially if one knows the locale, but…it can dislodge a ring’s precarious place in the sand and allow it to be swept out with the waves. Fingers-in-the-sand-technique has about a 2% chance of finding anything… Also the chances of recovery get smaller and smaller quickly with passing time. By the time we got out to the site, 18 hours had passed. Call as soon as possible and we’ll be there as soon as available! Again, so happy for small waves and good « X-marks the Spot » info!

So happy Pedro and Martyna are still rejoicing!

 

 

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