Lost Ring On Bellingham Bridge Over Troubled Waters

Got a call from a gal who lost her ring while walking on an elevated path over the water at Boulevard Park in Bellingham Washington. It was a simple gold band but it was a family heirloom that had been passed down to her. She was messing with it as they were walking and off it went, ping onto the concrete path, then a second sound as it went down the side and into the water. We scheduled a meet at low tide, which aren’t very low this time of year. Brought all my water gear prepared to get wet. When I arrived she was on the beach in her rubber boots. After introductions we talked about what had happened and how it went down. The water below the bridge was approximately 6′ feet deep still so I was looking at a very difficult situation as the bottom was rocky with medium size stones. The conditions were not great and there was some chop and small swells. I was debating whether to even attempt it.

But first I wanted to go up on the pathway and get a view from there. The water was crystal clear and I thought coming at night with calm water with a flashlight might spot a glint and get an exact location to make the dive a bit easier. She had marked where it went off and I wanted to recreate the scene. So you were walking in this direction about here, it fell off and you heard it, and saw it hit the concrete, then go through the railing and heard a second sound that came from the side of the bridge. It went through right next to one of the railing posts. The posts were about six feet apart so based on where she had marked it we narrowed it down to two posts. Again the water was very clear, so I began looking for any type of reflection, then BAM I spotted it. Caught on the side of the bridge on a small ledge behind the post in a small space. It was standing on edge leaning against an I-beam ready to fall off. A gust of wind could have easily knocked it off into he water. The space was so small I could not fit my hand into it and you could only see it by looking over the railing but to reach it you had to reach through the bottom of the railing. Well I became the eyes and she the grabber, as she reached her small hand down, I guided her vocally, to where she could insert her finger into the ring to keep it from dropping. She pulled it up and held it in her fist in a sort of state of shock.

It was an amazing find! I was looking at one of the most difficult hunts that quickly turned into the easiest. Never even got a detector out 🙁  Always, ALWAYS, recreate the moment and rule out all possibilities before taking a plunge into troubled waters!