Lost Ring On Bellingham Bridge Over Troubled Waters
Got a call from a gal who lost her ring while walking on an elevated path over the water at Boulevard Park in Bellingham Washington. It was a simple gold band but it was a family heirloom that had been passed down to her. She was messing with it as they were walking and off it went, ping onto the concrete path, then a second sound as it went down the side and into the water. We scheduled a meet at low tide, which aren’t very low this time of year. Brought all my water gear prepared to get wet. When I arrived she was on the beach in her rubber boots. After introductions we talked about what had happened and how it went down. The water below the bridge was approximately 6′ feet deep still so I was looking at a very difficult situation as the bottom was rocky with medium size stones. The conditions were not great and there was some chop and small swells. I was debating whether to even attempt it.
But first I wanted to go up on the pathway and get a view from there. The water was crystal clear and I thought coming at night with calm water with a flashlight might spot a glint and get an exact location to make the dive a bit easier. She had marked where it went off and I wanted to recreate the scene. So you were walking in this direction about here, it fell off and you heard it, and saw it hit the concrete, then go through the railing and heard a second sound that came from the side of the bridge. It went through right next to one of the railing posts. The posts were about six feet apart so based on where she had marked it we narrowed it down to two posts. Again the water was very clear, so I began looking for any type of reflection, then BAM I spotted it. Caught on the side of the bridge on a small ledge behind the post in a small space. It was standing on edge leaning against an I-beam ready to fall off. A gust of wind could have easily knocked it off into he water. The space was so small I could not fit my hand into it and you could only see it by looking over the railing but to reach it you had to reach through the bottom of the railing. Well I became the eyes and she the grabber, as she reached her small hand down, I guided her vocally, to where she could insert her finger into the ring to keep it from dropping. She pulled it up and held it in her fist in a sort of state of shock.
It was an amazing find! I was looking at one of the most difficult hunts that quickly turned into the easiest. Never even got a detector out 🙁 Always, ALWAYS, recreate the moment and rule out all possibilities before taking a plunge into troubled waters!
Can you imagine it’s your wedding day and everything is ready?! The chairs are all set up, the guests have arrived and the ceremony begins. It’s the perfect day to be outdoors, in the gazebo, on the lake. And partway through the ceremony the bride’s sister-in-law is holding the rings in a small box and just to make sure they are ready, she opens the box and somehow the brides ring drops to the deck and bounces off into the 9 foot deep water! Stunned and in shock, she cannot believe what just happened. After the ceremony the sister-in-law actually jumped into the cold water hoping to be able to retrieve the ring, but with all the weeds and soft muddy bottom, plus being 9 feet deep—it was hopeless!
David was playing a lively game of « keep away » on his driveway with his two children and never even realized his wedding ring had come off! During the action of throwing the ball and jumping around, his gold wedding ring came off of his finger and landed on the concrete. At that exact instant his son, Jonathan, actually inadvertently kicked it and what they heard was the « clink » of his ring hitting the driveway and then the clink, clink as it bounced off into the grass. No one realized what it actually was–thinking maybe Jonathan had kicked a nail or screw or some other metal object. They finished up their game and went inside for the evening.
Jason called Thursday morning to see if I could help him find his wife’s lost engagement ring in some bushes at their apartment complex in Orlando! I asked a few pertinent questions to help determine where the rings might be hiding and if there was a good chance they could be found. Jason briefly explained what happened and mentioned that Amber, his wife, had actually lost both her wedding and engagement rings. And after a frantic search they were able to find the wedding ring but not the lost engagement ring! He went on to say that they contemplated renting a metal detector but then found theringfinders.com web site and decided to give me a call.
Last November 3rd I wrote a short story about Shawn loosing a ring at New Smyrna Beach and how I was able to find it for him. Come to find out that his good friend Zack, lost his wedding ring that very same day, at the very same beach! Shawn, Zack and another close friend had taken a day off to relax and as they finished their lunch at the Breakers Restaurant they decided to throw the football around in the shallow part of the surf. (Does this story sound familiar?) The third friend decided to remove his wedding ring and leave it in the car, despite the lighthearted objections of Shawn and Zack. And guess who ends up loosing their rings?
Trev was playing a lively game of volleyball with a couple of friends when he lost his ring. As he swung at the ball—barely hitting it—he felt his ring slip off his finger. He immediately stopped and yelled « I lost my ring! » He and his friends spent the next two hours running their fingers through the sand hoping to find his lost Tungsten wedding ring.
