Lost Ring in the Waves! – Found!!!
Yesterday afternoon I was wrapping up a nice weekend when I got a call from Marcus. He was out at Pensacola Beach and had dropped his large, solid gold class ring out in the Gulf while throwing football with his friend. This is a problem anytime but it was made bigger because Marcus said that he was between 4.5-5.5 feet deep. This is about my limit without scuba diving because it is so hard to set the scoop in deep water when you keep floating off in the current and waves. Marcus had a really good mark where he was though and seemed like a very nice guy so I decided to give it a try. My wife decided to tag along and she is always good luck. When we got there and walked out to the west side of the pier where the surfers go, we met Marcus and recapped where he thought he had dropped it. He had counted seven pilings of the pier out and had marked about 200ft west with his chairs. I had a good starting point as I waded out. I noticed that the water was just gorgeous and it was so clear I could easily see the shells on the bottom. As I made my way to the 7th piling I started to worry a bit because I was taking quite a few large swells that were well over my head. I got set and started my grid trying my best to stay online. I tweaked my machine a bit for the conditions and as soon as I put it back to the sand I heard a screaming gold tone. I knew that had to be his big gold ring and tried to set my feet to scoop it. I started to panic as I kept getting pushed off the spot and I worried I would lose the mark. As soon as I heard it again I put my scoop down and tried to push down. That didn’t work as the next wave rolled me inshore. I made my way back out and heard it again and told myself to relax. Marcus had given me great directions and this ring was so large that I knew I would find it again so I took my time. I waited for a lull in the waves and then set the tip of the scoop where I knew I wouldn’t scratch the ring. I looked up to double check that I had time between the next incoming wave. I blew all the air out of my lungs to make myself as heavy as possible and jumped up to forcefully land on the scoop driving it into the sand. I fell backwards to lift up the scoop under where I hoped Marcus’ ring would be just as the next wave put me under water again. I held on for dear life and as I came up I didn’t even need to look down into the scoop. I could see that big gold ring shining through the holes in the side. 😃👍 I left the ring in the scoop and concentrated on keeping it out of the waves as I half body surfed and half tumbled my way to shore. It had been less than 10 minutes but I was worn out. My wife gave me the “did you find it shrug” but I was scared to let go of anything until I got to about knee deep water. I finally gave them all a thumbs up and a huge smile and Marcus came running in disbelief. He pulled his ring out of the scoop and said “that’s amazing, you are the man!” That made it all worth it. Congratulations on getting your ring back Marcus. I’m so glad I could help!
Steve called me asking if I could find a ring. Steve’s wife lost her new anniversary ring while doing some yard work at their home in Navarre. Their backyard has a lush landscape with a thick carpet of grass where a ring could easily fall in and be hard to locate. In addition there property bordered a forested area with fairly thick understory vegetation. They didn’t know where the ring was lost, so Steve and I recreated their activity as best he could remember. First I carefully searched the grass areas with no luck. Next was going into the shrub plantings, also no luck. Then I expanded the search area assuming the backyard was the most likely place to look since that’s where she was working, no luck strike 3. In desperation I decided to look in the forested area bordering their backyard. I started a north/south grid about 5’ wide. There were no targets in the understory, clean ground with no metal in it. So when I got a signal it screamed, the sound was unmistakable, the sound of gold! Somehow the ring had left her finger and traveled about 15’ into the woods. I never met Steve’s wife because she was working that day but Steve called her and she was overjoyed. Ring recovered, everyone smiling, no more worries, made my day!
Hal called me about 4 in the afternoon to see if I could find his wife’s lost wedding ring. He and his family were staying near the Alabama beaches and decided to take their boat out to a secluded beach in Florida called Johnson Beach. Johnson Beach is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore and the ring was lost on the intercostal side of the beach. Hal sent me a location and there wasn’t a way for me get to them by car without a 3 or 4 mile walk through the National Seashore which doesn’t allow metal detecting for archeology reasons. I tried calling the Park service for a permit but I think everyone was off work and I got a recording. I discussed this with Hal and he said he would come get me from a marina several miles away. By the time I got to where the ring was lost the sun was getting pretty low in the sky! his wife was afraid she would never see her ring again. the area to search wasn’t that big but the water was dark from recent rain. I ask lots of questions about what they were doing to try and pinpoint the location to start the search. His wife and daughter described at one point they were in the water doing cheers routines and animated with their arms the activity. It was the clue I was hoping for and asked about where they were. They identified and areas about 10 foot wide and I started the search. Within 10 minutes I got the unmistakable tone of a gold ring. Ring recovered, everyone happy and I didn’t get arrested by the Park police, a good day all around!