Lost Platinum & Diamonds Engagement & Wedding Rings at Paradise Cove…FOUND!!!
This ring find began on 11 July when I got a call from John who was visited Hawaii with his family and they reside in Katy Texas. While attending the Paradise Cove Luau the previous weekend John & Doty went into the lagoon to observe the Native Hawaiian Fish Net Casting event. While standing in waist deep water the waterproof pouch John was wearing broke open and all their precious items fell into the lagoon. John & Doty were able to find the cellphone and John’s Wedding Band but Doty’s Platinum Engagement and Wedding Band disappeared. After returning to Texas John located me through Aloha Security. We went on Google Maps and I asked John to split the lagoon in half and tell me which half to search in. The lagoon is small so I knew I could finish a half in about 45 minutes to an hour. After my search I found a large silver ring and some change but neither of Doty’s rings. I returned to my vehicle and gave John the news. Then John apologized and said he made a mistake and it would have been in the Southern half. He noticed the public entrance path and realized they were straight in from that point. Well after seeing Doty’s Engagement ring on her daughter’s toe I knew I couldn’t give up so I went in and did the Southern half. This half of the lagoon is very shallow and the water from the Northern half surges in and exits out the Southern side. As tiny as the rings were and the surface area exposed I figured the surge could put those rings anywhere in the Southern half. My hunch was right at the farthest out point along the rocky area. Shortly into the hunt I got a nice Platinum Tone and one scoop down there was the Engagement ring in my scoop. A few feet away I got another nice tone and there was the Wedding band. A local couple along the shore could tell I was pleased and asked, « What did you find? » I showed them the two rings and they were in awe. The gentleman offered me an ice cold Heineken which I couldn’t turn down as my throat was parched. We talked story for awhile then I needed to tell John & Doty the great news. After hearing Doty crying in the background that was all I needed. John asked if I would send the rings Express Mail and Insured which as you can see they have arrived safely back in Katy Texas. The entire family gave me a « SHAKA ». Aloha to Doty, John and the Kids!
Joe had just gotten his son, Jack, a new I-phone and had it fit with the new water proof case and all was going good until Jack said that he lost his phone in the water at a near by park! Apparently some of Jack’s friends were jumping into the water from a tree and Jack was trying to take some photos with his phone from the same tree, when two boys decided to jump at the same time. The leaning palm tree sprang back and Jack lost his balance and in the process dropped his new phone into the murky water 10 feet below. Scrambling down the tree Jack frantically searched for his phone and convinced the other boys to help. His phone had somehow disappeared! Just below the tree the water was only about a foot deep but the bottom sloped away quickly and Jack feared his phone had fallen into the deeper water. Then a bigger fear settled over him….he had to tell his parents!! And thankfully his dad, Joe, had some ideas. He first tried wading into the water feeling with his feet for the phone, but could not locate the lost phone. It became apparent that he needed something like a metal detector to help locate the phone. After searching « Underwater metal detector » he discovered that there is a group of metal detector specialists that actually help people find lost items on land and in the water. He quickly gave ma a call and we made arrangements to meet and conduct a search. An hour and a half later I suited up with my wet suit and scuba boots and grabbed my trusty Tiger Shark (water proof) metal detector and off we went. The area was flooded so we sloshed along until we came to the leaning palm tree and Jack showed me exactly where he was standing and the small area where he said the phone hit the water. I figured the phone had to be close, so I wadded in and started swinging my metal detector. Back and forth across the 8 foot area and a few small signals sounded in my headphones but no loud beep like I was expecting. I went out up to my chin and still no phone. I was afraid it had been pushed into deeper water and after 15 minutes or so I said « It’s just not out here » and waded into where Joe was standing in ankle deep water watching my every move. Just to the side of the search area in shallow water was a medium size Cypress tree and it’s roots were sort of jutting out here and there. Earlier I had casually run my coil over the tops of the roots when I first started my search and as I came up out of the water Joe says to me « Did you check real good down in these roots? » So I grabbed my Garrett Pro Pointer AT and started poking it around into each dark crevice and low and behold it started beeping! There tucked under one of those roots in just a foot of water was Jack’s lost phone!