Kelly was volunteering her time assisting handicapped children on paddle boards at the Fairview Marina on June 27th. It was an absolutely beautiful day in the upper 80s, partly cloudy with a slight breeze blowing across the lake. Normally a little wind is OK but with first time paddle boarders, that breeze can put you in the reeds along the edge of the lake where certain critters like to hang out! Kelly and a couple other volunteers were doing their best to keep the kids together and being a bit preoccupied she somehow lost her phone off of her paddle board. She knew approximately where it fell into the water so she figured they would come back later and try and find it. Her first responsibility though was the kids so she continued working with them trying to show them how to use the paddle and how to stay clear of the reeds. One girl was being blown right into a small patch of reeds so Kelly jumped into the water and tried to steer the girl’s board with her hands and as she went to push the board off to the side she felt her large white gold and diamond ring slide off into the water. She was stunned and could not believe what had just happened. Just an hour earlier she lost her phone and now her ring?!! Out where she dropped her phone there was really no way for her to mark the spot but here where she dropped her ring there were green reeds sticking up out of the water and Kelly had the brilliant idea to tie a knot in one of the reeds to mark the « exact spot »! As they finished up with the paddle boarding event Kelly began to wonder how she would ever retrieve her phone and especially her precious ring! She asked if anyone at the marina had a waterproof metal detector. Someone suggested going on line and that led her to theringfinders.com. She called me right away and we met up later on that afternoon. (For these kinds of water searches I use two wet suits and scuba boots to protect me from the elements and other critters who lurk in the warm Florida waters! And I also take with me two gallons of fresh water to rinse off and a change of clean cloths for my ride home!).
First off Kelly wanted me to find her ring as it is one of her most prized possessions! She showed me the reed with the knot tied in the end so I set up my water proof metal detector and began to search the area. I always try and let people know that I will be digging any and all targets that sound even close to what a gold ring would sound like. Pull tabs, nickels, fishing weights, and pieces of aluminum are just some of the items that will sound just like a gold ring. Kelly was anxious to help so I gave her my pin pointer and let her go through each full scoop of debris I dumped into my floating sifter. It took fifteen minutes to finally get her ring and you should have heard her let out a shout of joy! And what a ring too!!
Next was her lost phone. I had four PVC poles to mark the 60 square foot area and after grid searching the inside I covered a 10 foot swath around the outside and NO phone! Kelly was quite sure of the area but when finding a precise spot on water…well it is not an easy thing to do. So I continued to expand the search area keeping to the chest deep water that Kelly described to me earlier. It took another 20 minutes to get that large signal I was looking for and I could feel it with my scuba boots. I did not want to use my scoop for fear of damaging the phone so I pinched it between my feet and brought it up to the light of day. And it was vibrating and lit up so I could see it was going to be just fine. Kelly was elated to have both her phone and her ring back again! It is not often I get to reunite someone with two lost items in one day but I was so thankful that God allowed me to have a role in Kellys life and to see that awesome smile on her beautiful face!
Maybe you have lost something and need my help?! Call or text me ASAP and let’s talk!
Mike McInroe….super thankful to be a member of theringfinders.com
