Tom Caldie, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 2 of 4

Precious Wedding Band Recovered from the bay of Green Bay

  • from Green Bay (Wisconsin, United States)
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Last June, I received a frantic request from Rob, a visitor from Los Angeles, California, who had just lost his wedding band.    He was renting a vacation home near Red Banks, was tossing one of his nephews off the dock into about 4 feet of water, and his wedding band splashed into the drink!   Unfortunately, Rob’s wife had passed away only three months previously, and the ring was inscribed with a message of love from her.   It was important to recover it!   Rob asked me how long it would take, and I replied « About two minutes. »   I knew this because I knew the bay sediments very well from years of experience, my Garrett AT Pro could easily discriminate out iron.  Besides, Rob was a professional roofer and had pulled a nail finder over the area many times, pretty much cleaning it out ahead of time for me!   I hopped off the dock in my wet suit, and had the ring back on his finger in less than two minutes!   Whew!  I’m not always that bold in my predictions.      Rob thanked me profusely, and insisted I share a beer and watch the sunset with his family, though the real glow was coming from his smile.   

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14k Gold Wedding Band recovered in Waupaca County

  • from Green Bay (Wisconsin, United States)
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Kevin was making memories, tossing his kids off the swimming raft into the lake when a unwelcome memory intervened – his wedding band also decided to take a plunge.   The bottom was 12 – 15 down with limited visibility.   Luckily, Jeff Wettstein was available with his hookah technology.     Tom Caldie was the aquanaut, and he recovered the ring perched on top of some invasive milfoil plants after almost two hours of gently sweeping over the top.  Lucky for that, as deep silt was under the plants, and the ring could have been dislodged and sunk down too deep for recovery.  It took a light touch to detect a signal without losing the ring forever, but it was well worth the effort.     This is why they call this the « Book of Smiles! »

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Lost wedding band recovered in Door County lake

  • from Green Bay (Wisconsin, United States)
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June 27th,  I was called up to a Door County cottage to find a ring that was lost the previous weekend. It was next to the dock on the « fishing » end of the lake, which means muck and weeds! It took me 90 minutes of probing with a small coil on the Minelab Equinox 800 and a Vibraprobe, but after being misled by a few really old beer cans that were opened with a can opener and a few bottle caps and pop tabs, I finally teased it out of 18″ of muck. I also looked at the far end of the dock for a gold watch that was lost years ago, but the silt was shoulder deep, so all I got was a beauty treatment, if that is what muck in your hair does. The water felt good, though. It was nice to get Chris’s 14k gold wedding band back on his finger where it belongs.

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Engagement Ring Recovered using Hookah Gear near Wautoma, WI

  • from Green Bay (Wisconsin, United States)
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Wrinkled fingers, but nice ring!

On August 15th, 2019, Jeff Wettstein received a call regarding a lost engagement ring off the end of a dock in central Wisconsin.    Having just purchased and tested a new hookah arrangement with three 60-foot hoses, we were soon on our way to try recovering the valuable ring.    It was a cold week, but we had multiple layers of neoprene ready to wear.     It’s not wise to dive alone, so we used the buddy system.    My turn was first with Jeff serving as top tender.   I was having so much fun playing with the blue gills, I didn’t realize I was under water for two hours!     After sorting through a lot of junk and weeds, I found the ring and popped to the surface.     We didn’t get a photo of the bride because she was in contact with us by phone, but you can see it was a valuable recovery.   She was quite happy.

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Art-carved 14k wedding band recovered from Two Rivers beach

  • from Green Bay (Wisconsin, United States)
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Art-carved beauty!

On Sunday, September 28, 2019, I received a call from a young couple who had lost a valuable ring at the bottom of a stairway leading to the beach in Two Rivers, Wisconsin.    Normally, the stairway ended in sand, but Lake Michigan levels had recently risen to historic highs, so the bottom steps were algae-covered and slippery.    The bride slipped and her hand flew up, sending both a diamond engagement ring and her wedding band into the lake.   Luckily, the waves were low and her husband saw the engagement ring and quickly retrieved it.   But, this was the day before, and they finished their trip to Milwaukee and then doubled back the next day and contacted me.   Meanwhile, the waves had started up and were from 12-18 inches high.      Using my Minelab 800, then my AT Pro, I found a few signals, but rocks forced me to feel around with my fingers while waves periodically splashed into my waders.   I persevered, wet and shivering, and felt the ring just as it turned pitch dark.     It was beautiful!   Spontaneous hugs all around!     They didn’t want their picture taken, but did allow one of the ring.   I can see why they were so happy to get it back.  Truly a piece of art!

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Key West Wedding Band Recovery

  • from Green Bay (Wisconsin, United States)
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Found!

While on a metal detecting vacation to Key West, FL on  December 14th,  Jeff Wettstein, another ringfinder, and I were detecting Smather’s Beach, which is quite long.    I had found one 14k gold wedding band, but only a few coins after that, and it was getting late.   Suddenly a man rushed up to me and asked if we could find his tungsten wedding band that had just slipped off of his finger in about 4 feet of ocean water.   It was almost dark, but I started searching near where he and his friend had been swimming.     After about 30 minutes of intense grid searching, Jeff came along and helped.  He found it in about 5 minutes, and soon it was back on the groom’s finger where it belonged.   Drinks at Sloppy Joe’s followed, of course!

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Wedding ring recovered at Washington Island, Door County

  • from Green Bay (Wisconsin, United States)
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On June 18th I was contacted by a group of vacationing friends who were very concerned about a lost wedding ring.   They saw it fly off Jen’s finger into the lake while they were paddle boarding.  Needless to say, they were on pins and needles worrying about it.   It was 90-mile drive, plus a ferry ride to the island, but I finally arrived the next morning.  They rigged me up with a paddle board, which I had never ridden before, but I managed to maneuver it a few hundred yards out to the location and hopped in.   Luckily, it was a tiny bay sheltered from the wind, so the water wasn’t too cold, and it was only about chest-deep.     I located the ring’s signal within two minutes, but my first scoop didn’t cut through the roots on the bottom, where it had wedged.    Luckily, bearing down hard did the trick and I had the ring back on Jen’s finger in no time.  She was one happy camper!    It’s easy to see why – the ring is beautiful and irreplaceable.

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Last water find in bay of Green Bay before winter

  • from Green Bay (Wisconsin, United States)
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On Friday October 5th, I put on my wetsuit and drove a short distance out of Green Bay for a ring search.   It had been lost the previous weekend when Tim, the ring’s owner, had been pulling his dock out of the water for the winter.   He saw the ring plop into the water, and knew approximately where it was.  I have been to the site the previous Tuesday, but high waves drove me off before I could make any progress.  Since then, a storm had come, bringing in sand and waves that came to an all-time high-water mark of several decades.  I was worried that the ring might have shifted, though it was a man’s heavy gold wedding band, and they tend to go straight down until they reach equilibrium.   My diving buddy, Brian P., went with me because we knew the ring could have traveled.   We measure the distance to the probable drop site 100 feet off shore, marked it with a float, and started our search patterns.  The water was cold, but we persevered for three hours.   Finally, I decided to dig the deep signals because we had been looking fairly shallow, and found it 18 inches down with my new Minelab Equinox, near the float marker.   I couldn’t believe it had descended that deep, especially because it was nestled in stones, with only the top six inches being sand.  Tim was overjoyed to see the ring back on his finger, especially because his silver wedding anniversary was coming up soon!

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Gold Ring recovered in Green Bay field

  • from Green Bay (Wisconsin, United States)
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One of my students was walking his dog in a field and noticed his ring was missing.   He called me, and I covered the area he thought he had lost his ring in for an hour with no luck.   So, I widened the search and found it 10 feet from where it was accidentally flicked off!   Gold rings are heavy, and they do fly!    From frowns to smiles in no time!

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Green Bay team effort leads to missionary’s ring recovery!

  • from Green Bay (Wisconsin, United States)
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On June 29th, I received a call from a young man who was working in town with a mission group.  They were helping a person with some home improvements.  It was an entire team of young people who had traveled from Indiana to Wisconsin to do good works.  The temperature was in the mid-90’s.   I drove to the property and searched the yard for a few an hour and 1/2, but the heat was killing me.  I’m no spring chicken!  My car temp was 101F!   So, I told the young man that I would alert my local metal detecting club and someone would help.  I have a lot of faith in them, but his face fell because his team had to leave in the morning.  He didn’t believe anyone would come out in the sweltering heat.  I left and went home to drink a lot of water!

Paul Ehrfurth responded, and also took about 90 minutes to search.  But, he had the chance to search the lawn curb area more once the van had left.  There it was!  Soon it was back where it belonged, and the day was saved!  Smiles all around.   Paul nearly melted, but he didn’t give up!   It’s good to have backups.  The guys in the club believe strongly in returning wedding rings!

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