salt water Tag | The Ring Finders

SEE THE FIND-Movie!!! Finding Vans Ring

Van and Ellie called us with bad news and good news.

The bad news was that Van had been swimming in the Hilton hotel’s lagoon in Waikoloa and lost his new wedding ring! He’d put sunscreen on and within minutes of getting in, felt it fly off as he moved his hand through the water. The good news was that since he had felt it slip off – he’d marked the precise location, time and depth before calling us.

There were no waves in the lagoon, the deepest part of the lagoon was shoulder depth and within a controlled space (as opposed to a public one – so someone who may have seen them searching couldn’t return and keep Van’s ring if found).

We met them at the entrance to the main lobby where the hotel had also arranged security to log us in and bring us to the lagoon. We were relieved for the buggy ride as the hotel grounds are huge and we’d brought two underwater detectors as well as light scuba gear in case…

Van climbed over the rocks and went into the water with me while Sylvie gave me (and Van’s wife Ellie) moral support from the nearby shore. Sylvie didn’t get in as I thought it would be a quick find – since everything was going in our favor – it was almost an « ideal » location.

One and a half hours later, I was starting to worry… We’d gone over-and-over the square he’d marked the moment his ring was lost. I continued to expand the search at every pass. Sylvie called over, « Should I gear up and bring in the Sea Hunter? » We use the pulse induction Garrett Sea Hunter MkII with a big coil in clean sandy-bottomed areas.

« I think so… » I replied not sure how I – or my Minelab Excalibur could have missed the ring. I was getting cold  and frustrated that something seemingly so right had gone so wrong.

Just as Sylvie started walking over to get the other detector I suddenly heard the loud clear tone that tungsten makes in my headphones. « Cancel that! » I yelled over to Sylvie. Van looked up. He was holding the Go Pro and started filming. I stuck my head in the water, scooped and looked into the basket. « Does it look something like this?! » I asked, picking the ring out of the mud and stones.

Van and Ellie were so relieved to have their precious ring found!

And so were we – Phew!