Detector makes final save before dying!

I was really happy to have been able to help Liz recover a beautiful diamond ring set in white gold.

Her young daughter had earlier asked her why she was so sad – it was only the first day of their vacation on the Big Island – but they’d come to Hawaii for vacation and quickly lost one of her most valued items in the ocean.

The Fairmont Hotel in Mauna Lani gave Liz our number and we were quickly on the way from Kona with detectors in the car.

Meeting Liz, she explained she and her husband had swam around the area with mask and snorkel for hours but no luck.

I turned on my Minelab Equinox 800 – it had been a faithful detector in the past and I was sure I’d find the ring so long as it hadn’t been spotted by a swimmer or another detectorist. Sure enough, within 15 minutes of carefully combing the chest-deep water, I hit a big target and within seconds, the ring was back on Liz’s finger!

We took a few photos with Liz holding her recovered ring and my metal detector and said our goodbyes – it’s always a great feeling to be a successful part of someone’s Hawaii adventure.

I headed back for the water and hit the ‘on’ button on my Equinox. The familiar starting sound, then a strange low gurgle… I tried again. Same sound, then error codes on the screen. This detector is supposed to be waterproof to 10 feet and had only been in the water down two or three… I looked again and water started filling the screen and the detector let out a few chirping sounds, then went quiet.

This machine had recovered so many rings – but this would be the last. It made one final ring recovery before dying on the field.