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.
Great effort, story and publicity in the papers! This was really a time consuming search with great results.
Thanks Larry. It was definitely the highlight of the Summer as far as searches went. There was no way that I was going to head home without being 100% satisfied that I had covered every square inch of the search area. The feeling when the first ring came out of the mud after all that time was indescribably good.