The Ring Finders Blog | Page 849 of 1087

I got a call from my RingFinder partner, Dave Boyer, to help find a wedding band that Ryan S. lost in Lake Michigan. I jumped at the challenge until I got to North Point Park, Michigan. We walked a 1/4 mile to the dunes, up another 200 feet of beach sand and then down the other side of the dune about 400 feet to the water (cardio). After catching our breath from the climb up and down to the water, with our equipment, we got to work. The lake was very calm that day but very rocky bottom. Ryan explained that he was about waist deep and dove forward into deeper water and swam under water. When he dove under his ring came off, so the logical thing to do was grid search about 3 feet to 5 feet. We were in the water well over an hour and I just wore my swim suit and a shirt. I was getting very cold so decided to call it a day. We got several signals and found to dig any of them our steel scoops barely made a dent in the rocky bottom. Coming up with a few nails we decided to pack up and climb back up the hill. Instead of climbing back up the dune we saw 100 steps up to a cottage so up we went (cardio again). We discovered, that once we got up to the top we had to walk 1/2 mile to our car. Day 2 I contacted anther RingFinder partner Ryan Cole to help search the water again but this time I wore my wet suit and asked Ryan to bring his snorkel and mask. The water although rocky was crystal clear and calm. We repeated our steps from the day before (cardio again) and got to the water and started our search. I forgot to mention that the lake bottom was littered with hot rocks so there were false signals all over.  I started deep again and Ryan went shallow using his mask from time to time. We were in the water about 45 minutes when the ring was found among different signals in knee deep water. Ryan S. became a very happy man  once again and after rejoicing awhile we looked up at the sand dune and began to climb up (cardio again) and back to the car. I forgot to mention that this was the second time this year Ryan S. lost his ring it was found up North in another lake by another RingFinder, C. Raison.

Dillon lost his Damascus wedding band while playing in the back yard with his dog. The next day, I showed him how to use my Garrett GTA 350 detector and I used my Teknetics T2. He actually found the ring himself in a few minutes. I have had this happen before. Searching as a team can save time because the ring owner knows were to look. Dillon was not only pleased with having his ring back. He also enjoyed the pleasure of metal detecting.

Another Ringfinders successful recovery
Paul J Miederhoff
theringfinders.com

Jumping off boat docks runs a very high risk of removing rings from one’s fingers. I mean one moment the ring is there snug and happy on your finger and the next thing you know, slurp, the lake monster sucks it off and swallows it whole. It’s not fair!

There ought to be warning signs posted on piers to warn would-be-jumpers about this potential hazard. Maybe such signage would have prevented Milwaukee resident, Juan Garcia, from jumping and losing his beautifully crafted 14K white-gold wedding band to the ring-slurping, ring-swallowing monster of Lake Beulah, near Mukwonago, WI.

Juan contacted me the other day to inquire if I might search for his ring. The nature of the search required that no discrimination be used on my Minelab Excalibur detector and so I was prepared for the usual accumulation of ferrous metal that tends to accumulate around boat docks like flies on a carcass. We are talking steel washers, screws, nails, bolts, wire, tools, etc. And I was not disappointed. Eventually, however, Juan’s ring appeared in my scoop! One very relieved owner couldn’t get it back on his finger fast enough! A good sign, I thought to myself, that all’s good at home.

Thanks, Juan, for the privilege of searching for and finding your ring. So glad we were able to get Lake Beulah to cough it up for you. Thanks too for your generous reward.

And so the moral of this story if there is one, is this. Be sure to read the warning signs that are absent from boat docks before you jump off them. Just imagine they exist. They read, “Jumping off this dock with rings on your fingers may be hazardous to your marriage;” or something along that line. But if you or someone you know just didn’t see the sign, contact me. We might be able to coax the ring-swallowing lake monster to burp it up.

TESTIMONY

Thank you Paul again for your service. I have been married for 14yrs now. I was devastated when I lost my wedding ring and it was hard to think about living life without my original wedding ring. Now I can pass my original wedding ring onto my boys. Thanks again. God bless. — Juan Garcia

It is too bad Golden Retrievers don’t retrieve gold, gold rings that is. If they did, then Chicago resident, Adam Katz, wouldn’t have called me.

Adam jumped off the family’s boat pier into Lake Geneva the other day to join his Golden Retriever in a short swim back to shore. When the pair emerged, Mr. Katz’s rose-gold and platinum wedding ring was missing.

I arrived on location and first assessed the depth. While the water was over my head in some places, the search was do-able with snorkel and mask and with the help of a weighted dive belt. It also helped that the water was unusually clear that day.

In the next four hours I extracted an assortment of fishing lures from the lake bottom and twice untangled myself, and my detector, from yards of abandoned fishing-line. A pair of trophy-sized Large-mouthed Bass visited me on several occasions; they seemed to be smirking whilst I dealt with the evidence of fishermen whose valiant attempts to catch them had clearly been foiled. But finally it was my turn to smirk.

Adam’s ring came to light from its hiding place among one of the many clusters of aquatic plants. “Aha! Caught you!” If you had been on shore you would have heard those words trumpeted from my snorkel.

Thanks, Adam, for the privilege of searching for and finding your gorgeous ring. Thanks too for your generous reward. I also enjoyed meeting your beautiful canine swimming partner.

I’ve been thinking; maybe there’s a way to train Golden Retrievers to fetch gold rings; now wouldn’t that be something! In the meantime, if someone you know has lost a ring give me a call. For them at least, I might become their golden retriever!