metal detector for rent in Bay Area Tag | The Ring Finders

Family friend looses silver skull ring and we recover it!

  • from Walnut Creek (California, United States)
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The Bay Area Ring Finders Brendon Chapman… Metal Detecting Service/Call ASAP     925-580-2590

It was St. Patrick’s Day and I had just finished smoking a corned beef for several hours and was finishing up cooking sides for our dinner.  The phone rang; a family friend we met through our community scouting pack.  Sarah explains that her son wore his fathers silver skull ring to baseball practice at the downtown Waterfront Park and at the end of practice it was missing.

I let her know that I would make the five minute drive to the park as soon as our dinner was finished. When I arrived, I was overwelled by the size of the grassy area of the outfield.  Sarah informed me that Odin had pitched and played first base, all areas that did not include grass.  He did however, walk to the warm up mound at the rear of the outfield and so we began our search there.  As the field lights when out our task got just that much harder, but it wouldn’t take long searching the grass between the dugout and the right field fence that we would « Make the Recovery! »

This would mark the very first recovery I performed in my home town of Martinez, CA and I was happy that I got to perform this service for a family that we know and enjoy.  Thank you Sarah, Odin, Amon, and Freya for your friendship.

The Bay Area Ring Finders Brendon Chapman… Metal Detecting Service/Call ASAP     925-580-2590

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White Gold Wedding Set lost at the beach…Recovered in Alameda!!!

  • from Walnut Creek (California, United States)
Contact:

The Bay Area Ring Finders Brendon Chapman… Metal Detecting Service/Call ASAP     925-580-2590

I was on a short holiday on the island of Kauai when I received a text message from Kimberly.  She had lost her white gold wedding set on the beach and contacted my good friend Jes Muse (also of The Ring Finders and creator of The Bay Area Bleepers YouTube channel).  Jes had provided my contact information to her since I am usually ready and available for all rings in the East Bay.

I sent a text back to Kimberly explaining that I was in Hawaii and would be flying back that day. I informed her that I wouldn’t be available until the following day but would be glad to assist. Additionally, I let her know that I would reach out to schedule a time to meet up for the search.

The following day was frustratingly filled with meetings, emails, and project issues, not the day one should have after a relaxing trip.  I ended up working late to get caught up and I had to let Kimberly know that the search would need to wait an extra day (not something I am accustom to doing).

Excited to get out and search, I took my kit with me to work so that I could travel direct to the beach in Alameda for the search.  I knew that the tides would be at their lowest just after quitting time and that’s when I would have the best search area.

I met Kimberly and her adorable children on the beach and she explained the situation.  I gave her and each child a cone to place where they thought the ring could be (a little fun and healthy competition). At this time, I had little doubts that I would find these two rings quickly.

I was humbled a bit, when after about 45 minutes of grid search in two directions I still had not uncovered the mystery.  With a little adjustment closer towards the water, I was on my fourth or fifth line, when I hit a sweet signal.  A perfect 7 in all directions, I was able to recover the diamond engagement ring without alerting Kimberly or the kids.  I swung over the hole again and a second perfect 7.

I called Kimberly over and informed her « I think there might be a ring underneath the sand here and it might be the match to this one… » as I held out the diamond ring for her inspection.  She was floored and had the absolute best look of disbelief, joy, and relief on her face.  Then with one last scoop…We Made The Recovery!!!

Both rings were safely extracted from the sand and as for the competition…turns out the little boy was closest.

Thank you Kimberly for taking me on this adventure with you and the children.  The look on your face when you realized I had found your engagement ring will forever be burned into my memory.

 

 

 

 

 

The Bay Area Ring Finders Brendon Chapman… Metal Detecting Service/Call ASAP     925-580-2590

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Lost 2 day old gold/diamond ring….Found in Manteca!!!

  • from Walnut Creek (California, United States)
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The Bay Area Ring Finders Brendon Chapman… Metal Detecting Service/Call ASAP     925-580-2590

Chet was performing work on his quarter acre property in Manteca, CA.  He was moving around old tractors and a trailer full of steel beams.  At the end of the day, he made the discovery that the ring he had just received two days earlier for Valentine’s Day was now missing somewhere on the property.  He did a fair amount of searching for himself and even borrowed a metal detector from a friend with no luck.

When he contacted me through theringfinders.com he admitted to have not been able to sleep and even called himself a « desperate man ».  He felt awful when he had to come clean about the lost ring, but after talking to me, he was looking forward to a brighter day.

Well, that day came.  I performed a hasty search of the target area.  It was loud and there was trash everywhere. After 45 minutes, I decided to set up my grids and put on the tiny coil for purpose of better target separation.  I was in my second « swim lane » when I got a booming double beeper.  A perfect 13 in every direction.  We had made the recovery!!!

Just barely under the surface and very near our first search area I moved some tree clippings to reveal this gold and diamond beauty.  It was then that I turned it over to a very thankful Chet before taking some celebratory photos and cleaning up my grid.

It was a joyous afternoon for us both and I thank Chet for his good conversation and fantastic fruit he provided.

The Bay Area Ring Finders Brendon Chapman… Metal Detecting Service/Call ASAP     925-580-2590

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Three Gold Coin Charms lost in Emeryville Park…Found!

  • from Walnut Creek (California, United States)
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The Bay Area Ring Finders Brendon Chapman… Metal Detecting Service/Call ASAP     925-580-2590

I was contacted by Anna to assist with the location and recovery of three gold coin charms from a park in Emeryville, CA.  Each charm was engraved with the initials of one of the handsome men in her life, the larger one for her husband, and the two smaller for each of her young boys.  These charms were cherished Mother’s Day gifts, so when they fell to the ground and disappeared into the long grass, it was heartbreaking.  When these charms were not located after extensive searching, a quick google search brought Anna to me.

I arranged to meet the family at the park the next evening and requested permission to bring along my three boys.  It was a new and interesting park that I thought they might enjoy and the weather would be much cooler than that further inland.  I met the family and they gave me a quick run down of the who, what, when, and how as well as the exact location.  It didn’t take long to locate the first of three charms, a small one.  A few moments later, the second was recovered, the larger one.  Then for a while…nothing! After a few anxious minutes…beep, beep…We made the Recovery!

Afterward, we talked about the significance of the 3 gold coin charms while the children played in the park.  We took a handful of photos to memorialize the event, and after a while a fun soccer game broke out.  It was a great evening for everyone.

The Bay Area Ring Finders Brendon Chapman… Metal Detecting Service/Call ASAP     925-580-2590

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Unique ring lost in backyard garden…Recovered!

  • from Walnut Creek (California, United States)
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The Bay Area Ring Finders Brendon Chapman… Metal Detecting Service/Call ASAP     925-580-2590

I received an email from the Mount Diablo Metal Detecting Club requesting volunteers for a ring recovery in Pleasant Hill, CA.  The ring had been lost several weeks earlier while the gentleman performed backyard gardening work.  I responded that I could be available to assist.

The following day members of the MDMDC and the local chapter of the UPI met at the residence to perform a search.  After a short description of the work being performed when the unique and beautiful ring went missing, we got to work and it did not take long for this All Star Team to Make The Recovery!!!

The Bay Area Ring Finders Brendon Chapman… Metal Detecting Service/Call ASAP     925-580-2590

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Discovery Bay Dock Dropped Platinum Ring Recovery!!!

  • from Walnut Creek (California, United States)
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The Bay Area Ring Finders Brendon Chapman… Metal Detecting Service/Call ASAP     925-580-2590

I have been waiting for this collaboration for some time.  A close friend of mine, Evan is an experienced scuba diver with experience working on dive boats and performing lost item recoveries in deep water.  When I got the call for assistance from Sarah to recover a platinum men’s wedding band from 10′ of water, I originally turned down the opportunity.  After thinking about options for providing direction to Sarah, I made contact with Evan for his thoughts.  To my surprise he agreed to provide his services, along with my help, to give it a shot.  I think Sarah was also surprised when I contacted her saying that I had a diver.

Everyone was excited and motivated to perform the search as soon as possible.  We could not have asked for a better weather window with beautiful bluebird skies, a light delta breeze, and water conditions were not too awful either.  It took some time to get set up at the private backyard dock in Discovery Bay.  Our first search of the dark silty waters was not very productive in that we struggled to keep the diver over the target area, but a small stainless screw gave us all hope that it was possible to recover the platinum ring with the metal detector.

A second search was much more productive in the target area, but at a point Evan returned to the surface…the detector (a underwater rated machine) was water logged and quit working. Admittedly, Sarah and I were thinking that recovery was less likely now than ever.  Evan however was not quitting the cause and returned to the 17 foot depth to perform a hand search.  After several minutes he surfaced once more…We had made the recovery!!!

Evan had earlier noted a canvas boat cover in the general area under the dock.  As a last ditch effort he searched the folds of this and low and behold, by nothing but feel, recovered the missing item.  Sarah and I both shouted in celebration and the smile on Evans face bore nothing but pride.

Only moments earlier, a neighbor on a stand-up paddle board had cruised past and stated that she was praying for us!  Was this coincidence or a little divine intervention…I’ll let you decide, but we were glad for the kind gesture.

Congratulations to Sarah and her family for getting the ring back and to our exquisite diver Evan who took on the murky dark waters of the delta and won!  And, as an added bonus, no metal detectors were harmed in the making of this recovery (after drying out, it appears to be operational).

The Bay Area Ring Finders Brendon Chapman… Metal Detecting Service/Call ASAP     925-580-2590

 

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Check out this beautiful earring recovered from the beach!

  • from Walnut Creek (California, United States)
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The Bay Area Ring Finders Brendon Chapman… Metal Detecting Service/Call ASAP     925-580-2590

When Betty walk onto Upton Beach, near Stinson Beach, CA a large gust of wind tried to blow her sun hat right off of her head. In the process, the adjustable chin strap caught on her earring and popped it right off.  She did what most people do and sought out to procure a metal detector to locate her prized earring in the dry sand.  She made several attempts at locating it to no avail.

By luck her daughter plays soccer in Marin…remember my earlier post from March, Lost Platinum and Diamond Wedding Band…Recovered from the Soccer Pitch?  As it turns out she plays soccer with the family from this story!  The family gave her my contact information and Betty reached out for assistance.

I scheduled to travel the one and a half hour drive to Upton Beach at my very next availability.  In tow, I brought my beautiful wife and toddler to take advantage of leaving the triple digit weather for the cooler coastal air. We arrived slightly before Betty and made our way to the scene of the mishap.  After a brief chat with her I got under way searching the dry sand near the entrance to the beach.  In less than 3 minutes time and even before she could finish the search contract, the first target, a perfect 6 VDI for the Equinox…We made the recovery!!!

Betty was stunned that it had happened so quickly.  She admitted to having her doubts after searching so many times, but was ecstatic to have the zephyr blown earring back in her possession. I could definitely see why, as it was a stunner!!!

I love this work!! Anyone who performs it knows just how gratifying it really is.  Thank you to Betty for trusting me with the recovery and to Eric for making the referral.  It was a beautiful morning at the beach and a beautiful story for the books.

The Bay Area Ring Finders Brendon Chapman… Metal Detecting Service/Call ASAP     925-580-2590

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Platinum Wedding Band Lost on Open Water Swim…Recovered In Alameda!!!

  • from Walnut Creek (California, United States)
Contact:

The Bay Area Ring Finders Brendon Chapman… Metal Detecting Service/Call ASAP     925-580-2590

Mark was having a rough start to his paternity leave.  First a sick little one at home on day 1, but then the unimaginable happened to him.  While getting some exercise on Day 2 by way of an open water swim in the San Francisco Bay, he had at some point lost his Platinum wedding band.  He sent this message to me at a bit past 10pm on Sunday…

« Hi Brendon, I saw TheRingFinders website.  I think I lost my wedding band swimming this morning in Alameda, CA.  If you are available tomorrow, (I) would be willing to meet you out there. »

Unfortunately, I did not see the message until I had arrived at work the next morning. I was quick to respond to Marks request.  After a short call to discuss the ins and outs of the location, time of day, tides, and the likes we determined that the next mornings low time was our first best shot at a search.  He sent me some really cool GPS tracks of his two swims that morning and if we could get them to jive, it would make for a smaller zone to search. We might only searching the paths of travel rather than run a larger scaled grid search.  Mark also mentioned that if I had extra equipment, he would be glad to join in on the action.

I arrived and met Mark just prior to low tide, around 8am.  He was stunned at how little water there was and I was happy to know I wouldn’t necessarily need to get wet to perform this search.  I pulled out my back-up metal detector with an extra scoop and after a 5 minute tutorial on how it worked, Mark was off.  He and I decided to each take one of the paths of travel and divide our efforts into two searches.  I was completing my search efforts of the first track after about an hour.  It resulted in the removal of a minimal amount of trash but no ring.  As I made my way towards joining Marks efforts, I noticed that he was working a hole.  Moments later he shouted, « I found it!!! ».  I could see that he was fully excited as I ran down to congratulate him.  I pulled out my camera and snapped a few quick shots as he triumphantly held up his platinum wedding band. We had made the recovery!!!

Thanks Mark for allowing me to help out with the search and recovery of this ring.  I can only imagine the gratification of locating and recovering your own lost item once you had the right equipment.  You can join me on another recovery anytime!  Best wishes for you and your families future!

The Bay Area Ring Finders Brendon Chapman… Metal Detecting Service/Call ASAP     925-580-2590

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Lost Engagement Ring in Solano County…Found!

  • from Walnut Creek (California, United States)
Contact:

The Bay Area Ring Finders Brendon Chapman… Metal Detecting Service/Call ASAP     925-580-2590

The thing that I enjoy most about doing this work are the stories, and this was a really good one!

Mary and Frank are an elderly couple living in Solano County!  Mary had first contacted me to discuss a very important engagement ring, a yellow gold solitaire ring given to her 23 years earlier.  She had been doing a bit of gardening in the backyard when she thought to herself that it was probably a bad idea to have her wedding and engagement ring on while performing this work.  Like so many others have done, she removed the rings and put them into a pant pocket and went about her work. Later, when she tried to retrieve her rings only the wedding band was found.  She admitted to being so disappointed that she had used a bit of profanity and had been loosing sleep over the entire ordeal.

Mary had been previously married and enjoyed scuba diving. Her outings found her in contact with Frank, a boat Captain.  Frank is a Veteran Naval Aviation Navigator serving 3 tours in Vietnam and a sailing enthusiast who at the time co-owned a 40′ Valiant sailing vessel used to travel as far North as the San Juan Islands and South to Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas.  The group enjoyed many trips together and a 30 year friendship. 23 years ago things had changed in their lives and Frank proposed to Mary and they have been married ever since.  To Mary, the ring represented 53 combined years of friendship and love.  I had to find this ring!

Mary led me to a beautifully manicured backyard and told me the story of how and when the ring was lost.  We decided to start with three target areas which included a small lawn area that was searched with no luck.  The second area didn’t reveal much either.  In our third target area between two small shrubs, a 12/13 on the Equinox 800…we made the recovery!!!

As I held up the ring, Mary was overcome with emotion and gave me a long and strong embrace, her nightmare was over. We took some pictures to commemorate the occasion and spent the next 20 minutes talking about travel, life, and family…the important things.  When we went into the couples beautiful home to give Frank the good news he too was excited, gave me a good handshake and made a really funny joke about kissing me!  Thank you kindly for your service to our country Frank!

To Mary and Frank I wish you all the health and happiness in the world.  Your story made me extremely happy and was an inspiration.

The Bay Area Ring Finders Brendon Chapman… Metal Detecting Service/Call ASAP     925-580-2590

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Lost Platinum and Diamond Wedding Band…Recovered from the Soccer Pitch!

  • from Walnut Creek (California, United States)
Contact:

The Bay Area Ring Finders Brendon Chapman… Metal Detecting Service/Call ASAP     925-580-2590

I was cooking Saturday morning breakfast for the family when Eric called.  His wife was assisting with setting up soccer goals for an early game and lost her Platinum and Diamond wedding band somewhere amongst the grass.  They looked for quite some time and even enlisted the help of others at the field.  At one point there was a cheap child’s metal detector deployed, but with low batteries and an abundance of « beeps » it produced more frustration than results.

I was keen to the task, but schedules meant the ring would overnight there until the following Morning when I could get an early jump on it.  When I arrived, it was just before sunrise and it was shaping up to be a gorgeous day. The nicely groomed fields were wet from overnight fog which played a nice roll in my grid searches.  I noticed that as I swung from side to side, if I brushed the top of the grass it would change the color and I knew exactly what I had covered and where I had not.

The field was large, but Eric had met me there and showed me the target areas for our search.  It was still a large enough area to take some time and after I cleared one of the target areas we moved off to the next.  The field was trashy with a lot of deeper targets but I did locate a few odds and ends.  Then after 20 minutes or so in the new location…We made the recovery!  Tucked out of sight in the green grass the small wedding band came into view and Eric confirmed it to be our target.  We took a few photos and a video and the mission was happily accomplished.

Thank you Eric for your feedback and in trusting me with your wife’s ring.  I wish you all both the very best and hope you tell the story of the once missing ring far and wide.

 

The Bay Area Ring Finders Brendon Chapman… Metal Detecting Service/Call ASAP     925-580-2590

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