Joe Au-Franz, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 33 of 36

Wednesday evening and I got a call from Shawna from Wahiawa, Hawaii. Shawna explained that when her husband Justin was playing in the lagoon in knee deep water with their adorable daughter Summer she accidentally pulled her Father’s Wedding Band off. Sunset was fast approaching and several tourists on the beach tried helping to locate the ring. The sand in the lagoon is very clean and fine and rings disappear quickly as no one had any luck finding it. One of Aulani’s Beach Attendants told Shawna about « The Ring Finders » and that’s when I got the call. I told Shawna I lived about 30 miles away on the opposite side of the island but if rush hour traffic was through I could be there in 40-50 minutes. By the time I’d get there it would be dark. Thankfully this hobby is Audio and there is enough ambient light from the resort to see in my scoop. We met at the Valet parking area where Shawna & Summer were waiting. We walked together through the resort down to the lagoon where Justin was standing in the water where the ring fell off. I asked Justin to be my waterborne marker and I started my grid search. On the third leg in knee deep water I got my first target and an awesome tone. One scoop and there was Justin’s awesome Wedding Band. I asked Justin to describe his ring again after which I handed him what I found. He said, « That’s it no way. » I explained the detecting equipment is very good and him putting me on the correct location made all the difference. After a firm « Thank You » handshake we went up to the beach to show Shawna and Summer. Shawna couldn’t believe we found the ring which is the case with most lost ring situations. Smiles all around. Aloha to Justin, Shawna & Summer!

On February 10th I got an email from Megan from Melbourne, Australia stating she lost her engagement ring the night before in the surf in knee deep water 2 meters from the Waikiki Wall. This is a favorite Boogie Board spot and the sand is tremendously deep on the side Megan lost her ring. To add to the problem we had a South swell the night before and much sand movement occurred with the waves going way up onto the shore. I met Megan and her fiancee Daniel later that morning and started a grid search. I started in a North South pattern but no luck. I repeated the search in an East West pattern and still no luck. I carefully went through the wave curl but only found a few coins and two pieces of trash metal. I had to tell Megan her ring must be beyond my detectors depth or worst case another detectorist found it the night before. That was a slim chance because of the high tide & surf. I told Megan I’d come back with a friend Mike who is really experienced on the White’s Dual Field Surf PI and it had better depth then what my Excalibur did. Mike tried twice over the next week without any luck. The surf had subsided so I was beginning to think another detectorist got lucky. 29 days later on March 6th I met my buddy Mark at the Natatorium for an AM water hunt. We worked our way towards the Waikiki Wall and I told Mark I was going to run ahead and see if Megan’s ring ended up in the wave curl. When I got to the spot I had to dodge the Boogie Boarders as the surf was up again and they were busting some moves at the wall. After about 3 minutes I got a familiar growl. I dug down into the wave curl…Nothing! Second dig into the wave curl and there in my scoop was Megan’s ring. The sun was high over head and the Diamonds on her ring were glistening in the sunlight. That was a pretty sight! I walked down the beach to where I left Mark and held out my pinkie finger. Look at that! Pretty Ice Ring! Whoa! he said you got it. Amazing no other detectorist found it. I emailed Megan the good news as soon as I got home. To our good fortune her cousin Simone was visiting and staying in Waikiki. I was able to drop off the ring with her so she could hand deliver it back to Megan in Melbourne. That was a relief. I really didn’t want to have to trust the Postal Service. In the pic above Megan had her precious ring sized properly and she knows who to call. Aloha to Megan & Daniel.

Wednesday evening while attending the Honolulu Coin Club meeting I got a call from Jay stating his friend Robert from Las Vegas lost his wedding band in the water behind the famous Duke’s at Waikiki Beach. They had been celebrating Roberts 50th Birthday in the 50th State. I told him to email some specifics and I would look at the surf & tide report to determine when the best time to hunt would be. I decided low tide 11:30 AM would be best and the surf was coming down slowly. We met at Robert’s hotel and walked down to the beach. Robert thought the ring came off in waist deep water and he showed me the limits to search, so I started in the wave bench and then in and out from the shoreline to at least chest deep water. I found a dime, then a GoPro HERO 3 camera that took about 20 scoops to dig up. It was toast. Then half a penny and a first ever thimble. What the heck is a thimble doing in the water at Waikiki? This took about an hour without finding the ring. Then Robert’s lovely wife Carla told me she had a video of Robert losing his ring. Great! Lets take a look at it and see if we missed something. The video was dark so we went into Duke’s to get out of the bright sun to see it. Fortunately we both noticed the beach sand was flat in the video so it must have been high tide. Also where we think the ring came off was actually dry sand at low tide. So I went out to the beach and started a grid search in the sand. Where the wet sand met dry sand a little girl had built a sand castle. I initially went around her during the first hunt. This time as I passed over the remnants of the castle I got a nice tone. Two scoops down and there was Robert’s ring. Amazing the little girl didn’t find it while building her castle. Carla came running down and gave me a big hug as I handed her the ring. The tourists on the beach erupted into a round of applause! These are the best moments in this hobby and I cherish each one immensely. Carla then cutely got down on one knee and presented the ring to Robert. Another round of applause went up and there were smiles all around. Aloha to Carla & Robert.

I just finished detecting a favorite swim hole when I got a call from my wife Wendy. She told me that Sydney from Mililani, Hawaii was at Laniakea Beach with her boyfriend Darren when her ring fell off into the sand. The ring had been passed down to her from her Mom and she was very distraught when it was lost. I was about 30 minutes away so I called Sydney to see if she could meet right away. The North Shore surf is blasting at 25 feet so my fear was we weren’t going to have an opportunity with high tide approaching. Sydney assured me that they were well up on the beach in the dry sand. So we met at McDonald’s in Haleiwa Town then proceeded to Turtle Beach. Thankfully we were able to park right across the street from where the ring was lost. Sydney, Darren, Charlie (Sydney’s dog) & I walked over to the sandy area under a tree where the ring had fallen off. No bigger then two parking stalls I was able to locate the ring on the second leg. Nice gold tone and since there were gem stones I carefully moved the sand and there was the beautiful blue sapphire shining in the sunlight. I asked Sydney, « What did your ring look like again? » « This must be it! » With a sigh of relief she gave me a big hug and a very sincere « Thank you » That’s what really makes it all worthwhile. Aloha to Sydney & Darren.

While relaxing at home Saturday afternoon Matt from Sydney Australia called. He told me that he lost his Platinum wedding band in waist deep water at the Royal Hawaiian Beach two days prior. They had been looking with goggles for many hours. Then they found « The Ring Finders » on a Google search. Its Pro Bowl weekend in Hawaii and Waikiki is packed. I told Matt if he could secure parking I’d be there in 20 minutes. He did and we met at the hotel parking garage entrance. After parking we grabbed the gear and headed down to the beach. Matt’s lovely wife Talitha met us there. We marked the extreme edges of the grid and I went to work. Matt was my beach-side marker and after about three legs of the search Matt noticed another detectorist in the water slowly coming our way. It was Sergey! UGH! He doesn’t return rings. So I had to get rude and put myself on the other extreme end of the grid hopefully between him and the ring. I started walking backwards and wham a screaming platinum target. This had to be Matt’s ring. After two scoops I looked in and there it was a big fat platty. I yelled to Matt got it! Talitha came running over and after seeing the ring gave us both a big hug. Elapsed search time less then 10 minutes. After searching for two days and no other detectorists stumbling across their ring a look of relief and big smiles said it all. Aloha to Matt & Talitha

First off Happy New Year ring finders. It was 1039 PM New Years Eve and I was on Facebook when an email from Jemma came in. Jemma and her husband Lachlan from Sydney, Australia were on their honeymoon and staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. While swimming in the ocean Lachlan’s Platinum wedding band came off. They were in chest deep water near to where the beach drops off to 15 feet deep. They spent until sundown trying to find it without any luck. The tone of Jemma’s email was desperation. Knowing this area is detected heavily day and night I immediately called Jemma to see when they could meet. We agreed first light 0530 AM. When I arrived at the beach in the morning it was apparent they had stayed up all night. I had them mark off the extreme ends of the grid and I went hunting. The tide was high so the surf was pushing me around a bit. I was able to go in to my neck but only found a pendant and two pennies. There was a target that got too deep and I had to abandon that target for later. I explained to Jemma & Lachlan that it would require scuba at this point and I brought my gear just in case. They went and got me a hot coffee as we had to wait for the sun to come up. It was going to be another hour so I told them to go eat breakfast and I would give them a call when I found the ring. Three other detectorists showed up hunting the sand and my friend Mike was entering the water with his Dual Field. I needed to hurry. Just as the sun crested Diamond Head crater I entered at the extreme east side of the grid. I started at chest deep and went out to about 8 feet deep. First target a Lincoln cent. A few moments later a beaver tail. Hope Mike ain’t getting too close! Then on about my 6th leg I got an awesome tone and there was Lachlan’s ring. I was going to detect some more but decided I didn’t want them to wait. I hiked back to my truck and called Jemma’s cellphone. I told her I found the ring and asked if they could meet me at my truck as I was cleaning off my scuba gear. She said they would be there in 10 minutes. As I saw them approaching I held out the ring to Lachlan and with a look of amazement he said « thank you so much. » Jemma gave me a big hug and gracious thank you too. Of course we all were smiling and thought what a great way to start the New Year. Aloha to Jemma & Lachlan.

While I was wrapping up my work day I received a call from Tyler from Alaska. He was playing catch in the water with his Dad at Hilton Hawaiian Village. During one of his catches the football popped his wedding band right off his finger. He went ashore and got some goggles but the search was fruitless. The sand there swallows rings constantly. That’s when their Google search found The Ring Finders. I dropped off at my house and picked up my Excal and a few other necessities. Tyler met me in the parking lot. He told me he watched a Canadian guy’s website videos, I said you mean Chris Turner? Yes! That’s the guy. That’s the gentlemen who started the Ring Finders I said and actually let me join in for Oahu. We then walked down to the beach where his family was enjoying a day in the sun. Tyler and his father took me out to where they were in the water, it was chest deep. I told Tyler to stay put and I would start a grid search around him. I started about 30 feet to the West and seriously 15 seconds later I had a screaming target. One quick scoop and there was Tyler’s wedding band. The look on Tyler’s face of amazement was priceless. I have to say that was the easiest ring find ever. Aloha to Tyler and his Family.