Dennis, MA Lost Ring in Sand Found and Returned by Richard Browne

July 29, 2025 Debbie and her husband were out house hunting. My home was on the market and the Open House sign attracted them. While touring the home they noticed my metal detector and struck up a conversation with my realtor about my water detecting prowess. Little did they know the knowledge of my hobby would be beneficial to them within a few days when Debbie saw her wedding band slip from her finger into the beach sand as she was applying sunscreen lotion.

The smart idea of marking the area with shells and a few small rocks after hand searching the sand would be of help in locating the area the next day. A better marker media would have been anything metal i.e. coins or soda cans. Debbie had paced of the distance from a wooden structure to the point of loss. At home they called Tom, my realtor, for my contact information. Jack had to leave a voice message which Tom later played back to me over the phone. I took the information and called Jack. I had to leave a message on Jack’s phone as he did not answer. A bit later Debbie called me and we set up a 6:30AM meeting on the beach.

I arrived a bit early just as the beach sweeper went by, grooming the beach for the holiday weekend crowd. With my new VX9 detector, on its first search, in one hand and my scoop in the other, I looked for the land marks but they had been swept away. I took what information I had, started to pace off 35 feet but that would have put me in the water, somethings never go well. I had been on the beach for less than five minutes when Debbie and her girlfriend showed up. After a bit of an introduction and pointing to the area, Debbie started to pace off the 35 feet. I watched as she paced the 35 feet by putting the heal of one foot to toes of the other, repeating it 35 times. I followed, detecting the sand as I went. About five feet (60”) from where Debbie’s 35 “feet” ended and even closer to my last drag mark in the sand I had my second signal of the morning. A quick scoop and my searching was finished.

“Lets go back to the car so I can get more information.” Looking puzzled, I had to tell Debbie to look into my scoop. Yes the ring was the second target and the ring was in my scoop. All in less than a minute! Debbie and her friend Lynn were told I was good at finding a lost ring, but this morning I was great. But Debbie had one more up on me when she said she had a cup of coffee for me in the car. I often mentioned my thirst for coffee but no one had ever had a cup ready for me.

At the car we talked and the recent happenings just continued to amaze us. Jack and I are both retired sailors and worked with submarines during our tours of duty. This year is Debbie and Jacks 30th anniversary. She had lived on Cape Cod and I live here now. I could not convince her that she and Jack should buy my house, it was meant to be – not. If the house was smaller – maybe. At least all is well and Debbie has her ring back for the upcoming anniversary. What a wonderful way to have at the start of another day on Vacation Land.