It’s not often that I’m unsuccessful on a ring search but last Friday at Cables Water Park at Penrith in Sydney, Australia brought a long run of successful searches to an end.

About a week earlier James had been at Cables with some friends and had noticed his white gold wedding ring missing at some point during the afternoon session. Staff at Cables suggested calling me after a successful search for a wedding ring in the park a few weeks prior.

Due to the fact that James did not actually recall the moment that his ring came off his finger, it was always going to be a difficult search.

I made four hour drive from my home on the Mid North Coast arriving to coincide with the arrival of Cables maintenance staff about three hours before the park opened to the public.

James had figured out several locations where his ring was likely to have fallen off his finger and we started at the most likely one; the Dog Bone, where I marked a datum line on the lake bed with a string line. A detailed search of the area did not produce James’ wedding ring and over the next two hours several likely places were searched in similar fashion.

The visibility underwater at Cables would probably best be described as zero and the bed of the lake consists a mixture of mud, coarse sand, seaweed and lost sunglasses. The whole area is crisscrossed by anchor cables that secure the multitude of floating, really fun-looking gadgetry that makes up the park. It’s not the place for an inexperienced diver that’s for sure.

The park opened to the public at 1000 and James and I retreated to the coffee shop to formulate Plan B. We returned at 1700 when the park closes to the public and hit the water again. Sadly, after searching approximately ten more likely locations and uncovering two rings, a watch, a bracelet and three million pairs of lost sunglasses, I was unable to find James’ wedding ring.

Staff at Cables shared the best of the sunglasses and the other items found are on their way back to the park’s Manager, Kylie in the hope that they can be reunited with their owners.

James, I’m truly sorry that I was unsuccessful in finding your wedding ring. Don’t lose hope though. If Cables will have me back, it may well turn up on a future search and I promise that you will be the second person to know if it does.

Thank you once again to Kylie, Garry, Nick and the other Cables people for allowing me access to the park and your patience and support for what I do.

Nick Read the rest of this entry »

Following a successful in the surf last Thursday I was called to Dudley Beach in Newcastle on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia where Ruchika and Yannick had been searching for hours for Ruchika’s white gold and diamond engagement ring in the sand.

On arrival I saw a clearly marked square in the sand and after a short chat to get the detail of the loss I began a grid search with my Minelab Excalibur II. After only a few minutes I heard an excellent tone and marked the object with a plastic tent peg and continued to grid the marked square.

After hearing nothing more from the Excalibur I returned to the peg and drew a cross in the sand and suggested that Ruchika might like to dig there. Ruchika’s reaction in feeling her ring burried in about two inches of sand is what this gig is all about.

Ruchika and Yannick thank you for calling me and waiting so patiently for me to get to you and for having the presence of mind to mark the search area. It was a pleasure to assist you and I thank you for the generous reward you gave me.

Nick

I teceived a call from Amy last Thursday hoping that I could assist her to locate her 18 carat gold and solitaire diamond engagement ring that she had lost in the surf on Samurai Beach on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia the day before. No worries I told her and jumped in the car for the two hour drive.

The surf was small and it was low tide. After a pooling of memory resources from several people who were present at the time of the loss and helped Amy in the initial search, a search area was set up marked by PVC poles.

What concerned me was the very soft sand at one end of the rectangular search area. If the ring fell off there it was going to be burried deeply. Maximum sensitivity on the Minelab Excalibur II was required. After about twenty minutes of searching and one random target recovered, I heard a feint yellow gold tone and the dig was on. Because of the large diamond in the ring I dug by hand for fear of dislodging the precious stone from the ring with my scoop and after about ten minutes of digging I felt that unmistakeable ring shape with a large lump on it about 18 inches down. Out came Amy’s engagement ring to a huge round of applause from all those watching.

Amy, it was a pleasure to meet you and the people who assisted you. Thank you for trusting me to recover your ring and for the generous reward.

Nick

Josh contacted me on 8 December after losing his wedding ring while enjoying a day with the kids at Cables Wake Park in Sydney, Australia.

I met Josh after a three hour drive early yesterday and after almost two hours of searching in zero visibility water crisscrossed by anchor cables and ropes, two watches, surprisingly only one pair of sunglasses and about $10 in change, I felt Josh’s wedding ring  in a handful of fine mud.

 

Thank you to Kylie and Garry from Cable Wake Park for allowing us access before the school kids arrived to do the search and to Josh for providing the search target and for surface support and technical advice.

 

Kim and Mark were taking the dog for a swim in Smiths Lake on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia when Mark noticed that his wedding ring wasn’t where it should have been.

An hour and a half of searching and the ring was still hiding. A helpful local suggested giving me a call and luckily I was only an hour away.

A twenty minute search in two feet of clear water with a sandy sea bed (how rare are those ones) and the Excalibur II yelled at me.

A short time sifting through the sand and I felt the unmistakable shape of a ring, which I re-burried in the sand marking the spot with a plastic tent peg. I suggested to Mark that he  might like to feel around near the tent peg and a short time later he jumped up holding his wedding ring. Lots of smiles and some photos and another happy client.

Thank you to the random stranger who recommended The Ringfinders. 

I received an email from Greg with some very clear details on the location of his lost wedding ring in the surf at Port Macquarie on the east coast of New South Wales, Australia.

The time and location of the loss including compass directions, concise distances in metres and a description of the circumstances stood out as « unusual » but was later explained by Greg’s background.

Greg had been married for about a week and was having his first surfing lesson while still on his honeymoon when his wedding ring slipped off his finger in the surf.

The drive to Port Macquarie is about 1.5 hours but low tide was three hours away so no hurry.

In preparation, Greg had « dug » a deep trench in the sand to act as a transit for the search and we hit the beach with the Minelab Excalibur II about two hours before low tide. The first target we dug was an old brass buckle about an hour into the search but otherwise the headphones were keeping fairly quiet.

Greg left on family duties leaving me to hunt in darkness and as the headphones remained quiet, I expanded the search further in to the surf and further to the south.

On the second pass in about four feet of water the Excalibur II woke from its sleep and screamed at me and after three scoops Greg’s white gold wedding band was gleaming in the bottom of my trusty scoop I call Alice (Alice Scooper in case you were wondering why).

A photograph sent to Greg elicited the expected response.

Things have been reasonably quiet over the Australian winter and I’ve been envious of all you Ring Finder guys having too much fun in the USA/Canada so I’m hoping that Greg’s ring is the start of a busy season in Australia. I promise to do more blogging this season than I did last summer. 

Nick

The detecting has been a bit quiet in Australia over winter so a call from some university students who lost a set of car keys while doing back flips off the sand dunes was welcome.

A half hour drive and a short walk saw us at the most likely search site but a 20 minute grid search with the Excalibur uncovered nothing.

Back tracking through the events of the previous day and another hour of searching and still no result.

The back flip zone was by far the most likely area and deserved more attention and less than five minutes later keys were in my hand.

One very happy electronics/robotics student who was quoted $1000 for a replacement key!

Bring on summer.

Three rings found in Ballina NSW

These three rings were lost in a muddy bay in Ballina during a water polo match in February.

A search conducted by a member of a local metal detectors club a few weeks later was unsuccessful.

Veronica saw a full-page article that appeared in two major Sudney newspapers  on 20 March featuring me and the Ringfinders and contacted me.

A thousand questions, followed by a six hour drive, an hour of setting-up the search area using photographs and survey /transit markers and it was on with the SCUBA gear and into the water.

Veronica was the last thing I saw for the next three hours as the visibility underwater was zero and it was time for a cylinder change.

Back into the water and another three hours of systematic grid searching the water polo court and investigating any likely sound through the headphones by picking up handfuls of feral mud and squeezing it through my fingers until something solid, that didn’t want to bite me was left. Low on air again and it was time to pack up for the day and wash the equipment.

Early the next day saw me in Byron Bay where the guys at Sundive Byron Bay kindly filled two cylinders for me in the middle of a busy morning at the shop.

Back into the water at Ballina gridding again and just after an hour I heard the noise I had been wanting to hear. Two distinctly sepetate yellow gold noises about two feet apart. About a minute of  grabbing and squeezing mud and the first ring was cable tied to my BCD. The engagement ring was the next out of the mud followed closely by the 94 year old and most sentimental of the rings, Veronica’s and formally her Great Grandmother’s, wedding ring and these were both safety cable tied to my BCD seven hours and ten minutes of diving after the search began.

A photograph taken and sent to Veronica resulted in a call during which I didn’t really understand much of what she was saying but I pretty sure that she was happy.

The story made the front page of the Northern Star two days later. A great result for all and another pair of amazed but totally satisfied Ringfinders customers and an equally happy Ringfinder.

Valentine’s Day ring return

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On February 13, I received a text message from Lauren who had lost her three rings (now fused into a single piece) either « in the water, on the beach, on the path up from the beach or on the grass in the picnic area. Can you help? »

My initial reaction was, well at least she’s honest; no idea where really but I like a challenge.

A look at the tide chart for the next day revealed that the best time to search the water was about 1300 the next day which was Valentines Day. This necessitated an early start for work at 0400 so I could get to Salwater Lagoon at low tide.

I met Paul, Lauren’s husband, at the creek that connects the lagoon to the sea and discussed the situation. We decided that the ring was most likely in the creek and a search area was marked out.

I did a comprehensive search of the area and came up with nothing so I started on the « dry » sand where the couple had been based the day before and again nothing.

Up the path to the beach and the picnic area and still nothing and the look on Paul’s face said it all.

Paul had to leave but I told him that failure was not an option and that I was far more confident that the ring was in the creek.

On returning to the creek I re-covered the initial search area and then extended the area upstream where, about four meters from where I had searched earlier, the Minelab Excalibur II screamed at me and a few minutes later I felt the unmistakeable round, solid object buried about eight inches in very soft sand.

I did what I do a lot when I find my targets and the owners are not with me and sent a photograph to both Paul and Lauren. I’m told that Lauren, who was visiting her Mother in hospital at the time, screamed when she saw the photograph.

Lauren and Paul mad a donation to their favorite charity that funds research into cancer in kids. A great result for everyone and another pair of satisfied Ring Finder customers.

Lauren and Paul arranged for he Manning River Times to do a story on the find which ran the next day and again in the Great Lakes Advocate a week later.

 

 

 

Gold wedding ring thought lost forever

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I uncovered this wedding ring while searching for another one in the local ocean pool in Forster on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia. It was in sand approximately two meters underwater.

On returning home I was able to read the inscription « Love Karen 18-4-2015 inside the ring. The guy didn’t even manage to keep it a year!

A description of the ring and its location were placed on Facebook and approximately two days later a call from a local beautician who knew a couple from Dubbo (approximately 500km away) who had lost a ring while holidaying in Forster in January. The girl’s name was Karen.

A short time later I received a call from a slightly confused Karen who gave me the exact inscription inside the ring and the parts of the story that were missing. The ring went back to the happy couple the next day in the post with instructions on who to call next time. Yet another happy customer and a demonstration of the power of social media.