Two desperate callers rang within 10 minutes of each other requesting searches for their lost jewelry.
What started out as two recoveries ended with the discovery of a third ring!
Since all searches are time-sensitive, Sylvie searched one beach looking for the lost wedding ring – while Brent searched another beach with his friend for a lost earing.
During his search, Brent found a very large ring under the water with the inscription “Dario Loves Fallon” written on the outside.
As the ring did not belong to either client, we went to work to track down the owner, a feat we thought would be nearly impossible, especially without a last name to search the World Wide Web!
A Google search turned up only one page that promised a little hope of identifying the owner. A Go Fund Me webpage had the matching names, “…Dario, Fallon’s husband..” The Go Fund Me page was set up to request contributions because Fallon had a life-threatening medical emergency and required immediate surgery. Following the page links and using the new details, it was then possible to then find their Facebook pages – which indeed had photos of them on the Big Island of Hawaii a month earlier!
We were excited and emotional at the prospect of having found the owner – and if this was indeed them, then we knew that such fantastic news would be welcome news due to their current, grave situation. Rings can be so incredibly sentimental and in our experience, it can make such a huge difference to have a ring returned that was thought to be gone forever. We sent a message to them on Facebook and excitedly checked the next morning for a response.
Dario Palavra replied, “I’m so shocked that you guys found my ring. We were just in Hawaii in August!.It is my wedding ring – my wife has a matching ring. I figured it was long gone. I thought I lost it in the deep water since I love to swim. I’m so happy that you guys found it – since we got back from Hawaii we been dealing with a lot of health problems with my wife – I almost lost her – she had less than 10% chance of living and now when you tell me you found our wedding ring, that is amazing. Once I get it back it is going to be glued to my finger!!!”
We express mailed the ring to Dario, and soon afterwards got a photo of him wearing the ring he thought he would never see again!
If you’re interested further in this story – or would like to read about Fallon’s Go-Fund-Me page, go to :
Sylvie and I are just thru all the “fun” of moving houses to a new home down the street – but on moving-day – we got a call from Jared visiting with his family from Seattle.
Sylvie kept packing and since I’d already moved all but our giant mattress I raced to the beach, counting every second before I was supposed to be back, and out of our old house.
Jared had actually seen his platinum ring come off his finger in the chest-deep water and panic-dived to try and grab it. It was instantly covered and lost by the sand.
We looked at the area Jared thought he’d been in. The details of exactly where became hazy as he’d swam desperately to find it.
I checked the location for 45 minutes in the water, then decided to expand my search. Sure enough, about 10 minutes into my new search pattern I heard a familiar sound in my Minelab Excalibur headphones.
I scooped in the sand with my long-handled basket and then dove down to see the contents as the sand strained away.
Inside, Jared’s big platinum wedding band looked back at me – gotcha!
Jared was overjoyed and I had to say a hasty thank you for his trust and gracious reward.
Racing back to Kona, I got back in time just to move the last big piece of furniture and checked out with minutes to spare!
Mahalo Jared for trusting us to find your treasure! Mahalo Sylvie for packing and making it possible for me to go!
Gregory – reunited with his gold men’s wedding ring. His ring was lost during his honeymoon while snorkeling in the tropical waters off of Hapuna Beach – and found by Big Island Metal Detecting – while thousands of miles from Hawaii! We were happy to reunite him with his lost treasure! Hapuna Beach, Big Island, Hawaii.
“A ROLLING RING GATHERS SOME MOSS…”
Turns out that even gold rings gather moss.
We got an email from Gregory asking us to hunt for his lost ring at one of the Big Island’s most hunted spots by metal detectorists – Hapuna Beach.
Gregory had been on his honeymoon and snorkeling in shallow water. At dinner, his wife noticed his ring was missing – and they were gutted to think they’d never see it again! (We hear many stories of newly-weds having their lost rings discovered at dinner…!)
It took Gregory a week to find us and there were some major hurdles working against finding his ring : The first was the fact that it had been over a week since he’d lost it! The second strike was that he’d lost off of one of the the most-treasure-hunted beaches in Hawaii. The third was he wasn’t here to retrace his steps or point out the most probable places it was lost! As we discussed the area, he was on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, thousands of miles away, in Oregon…!
As I searched for the ring, I checked every crag and rock – including the little urchin holes – trying to imagine I was him on my honeymoon; an adventurous man, yet “not a strong swimmer,” as he’d described his own foray into the water. I worked from the sand – through the water, rocks and eddies made by the shifting tides. Nothing but a few pieces of junk.
As I got to the deepest point I could search, I turned around and retraced my steps back to the shallows, following the Google Maps points Greg had noted, as well as I could remember. The water was a slurry mix of fresh and salt water which causes one’s vision to blur.
Blurry but free of moss, I put the gold hammered ring back in place to take this image where I found it in the rocks surrounded by sharp sea urchins. Hapuna Beach, Hawaii
The lovely, tropical bay where Gregory’s ring was lost. We found it – and returned it – a beautiful hammered gold men’s wedding ring!
A mossy circle grabbed my attention between two sea urchins jammed in the rocks. A piece of pipe most likely. The blurry water and the swaying moss growing on the object felt almost dream-like as I pulled it out of its home between the sharp spines of the urchins.
I often put men’s found or recovered rings on my thumb to keep them from being lost again!
Almost as a magician had waved a wand, the object shed all of its camouflage as I pulled it close to my mask to inspect it – from green moss to brilliant white and yellow gold – the ring glimmered into reality in front of my eyes!
I took a moment underwater to thank God, appreciate this beautiful, ornate and heavy ring, and contemplate what it would mean to Gregory and his new wife that I’d found it.
A Hawaiian “shaka” with Gregory’s found gold men’s wedding ring. Big Island, Hawaii.
The ring had been hidden but it had almost jumped out at me as I passed even though it had “grown” moss over the week it had been lost. We’re so glad to have been part of this story in their new marriage. Mahalo for trusting us to find your treasure!
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A beautiful men’s gold wedding ring – lost – and found – at Hapuna Beach by Big Island Metal Detecting. Big Island, Hawaii.
Big Island Metal Detecting is Hawaii’s TRUSTED ring-recovery service and a proud member of Hawaii’s Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce. See more of our details at www.BigIslandMetalDetecting.com
It didn’t take us long to meet up with newlyweds Paul and Barbara on the beach after we’d gotten their call.
Paul was an Irishman with a new American lass for a wife – but Barbara had done all of the talking on the phone as Paul’s Irish accent was so thick. “Are you Ring Finders?” she asked.
As soon as we heard that Paul hadn’t seen his ring all day we knew we’d have a challenge. And they didn’t know where it could have been lost…!
Paul and Barbara had been married just five days earlier and were enjoying the restaurants and shops near their hotel here on the Big Island of Hawaii. As Paul tried on some Maui Jim sunglasses, he looked as his hand to admire this wedding ring – which was missing!
They’d seen a detectorist in the early morning combing the beach and didn’t want to loose their ring forever – so looked us up online to find and return their ring. We got to their hotel as soon as possible and decided that the small bay they’d spent the morning swimming in was a good place to start. Again, they weren’t sure if it was lost in the water, the sand, the hotel or the shops…!
Brent Madison of Big Island Metal Detecting explains the basics of the Excalibur II metal detector and how small, lost gold rings can turn into big, found signals for recovery. Big Island, Hawaii.
Paul wasn’t a strong swimmer so we were confident that scuba wouldn’t be necessary though we’d packed our dive gear in the car.
I looked where Paul had rented a stand-up paddleboard while Sylvie searched the sandy bottom where Paul had remembered swimming in the warm, tropical waters of the bay.
Sylvie and I started our grid pattern searches with our metal detectors.
Beaches on the Big Island of Hawaii are so heavily searched by treasure hunters that neither of us hit any of the trash often found on other beaches around the world. We were well into our search pattern – at least 45 minutes – when I heard my name called and saw Paul and Sylvie “high-five’ing” nearby.
Sylvie had been carefully following her search pattern and talking to Paul as he snorkeled and bobbed around her. Suddenly she’d hit a “huge target” in her underwater headphones – then as suddenly, lost the signal. She was so deep in the water that she couldn’t hold the target under her detector and dig the target at the same time.
Sylvie Madison of Big Island Metal Detecting gears up with her Garrett Sea Hunter metal detector to look in the water for a lost, men’s wedding ring. Big Island, Hawaii.
“Hold the detector here!” she told Paul, handing him her Garrett SeaHunter II, after she’d reacquired the signal. Sylvie dug and nothing. Then dug in the sandy bottom again.
In her scoop was Paul’s lost ring straining out of the sand. Barbara had been watching from beachside and rushed into the water when Sylvie pulled it from her scoop.
We all stood in the water admiring their newly found wedding ring, delighted together in Sylvie’s find. We laughed that Paul could start relaxing again on his honeymoon!
A platinum wedding ring which was lost and found on the beaches of the Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii.
Not knowing where they’d lost it, it seemed it had been the luck of the Irish to reunite them – a small ring in such a large world! Barbara was quick to qualify the reason – she’d been praying to St. Anthony, her patron saint, since they’d discovered the ring had been missing.
God knows the reasons some rings are found or not – and in the end, Paul, Barbara and us at Big Island Metal Detecting are all thankful that we could be part of the discovery of their lost treasure. Especially so early on in their new marriage!
Sylvie, Paul, Barbara and Brent give the Hawaiian “shaka” after their successful recovery of Paul’s lost wedding band. Big Island, Hawaii.
Ricky holding his wife’s lost – and now found – sentimental gold ring with large aquamarine stone. Mauna Lani, Big Island, Hawaii
“It won’t be there!”
Ricky called us a little sheepishly. His wife had specific instructions to put her ring in the hotel safe so it wouldn’t be lost…! The ring had been his wife’s mother’s ring and greatly sentimental. On the way to the room, he’d done just that – lost it – on the way from the pool to the vacation condo’s front door….
(This was the second call this week we’d had from spouses losing their partner’s rings!)
I met him, his wife and young granddaughters at the pool where his wife had handed Ricky her large gold and aquamarine ring. We retraced his steps from around the pool, across the private road and into the grassy walkway leading to the house. He’d realized halfway there that the ring was missing.
There were only a few movements where Ricky had used both hands on his trip to the condo. As we retraced his steps I took careful note. He’d stopped at his car and only a few steps into the grass, realized the ring was missing.
A small assortment of lost items from the grass – including the lost gold ring with aquamarine – at Mauna Lani, Big Island, Hawaii
After about 30 minutes of carefully looking along his route, I was ready to try somewhere else. On a hunch, I walked up near the front door and looked back at the yard towards his car. “I didn’t go anywhere near there,” Ricky said as he walked back towards the car. “I didn’t get that far as I realized I’d lost it over here.” I looked down and scanned the grass to the side of a palm tree. Peeking out from the green grass was a small glint of gold. Sure enough, the ring was there, much to the joy and amazement of Ricky.
The large gold, diamond and aquamarine ring which was lost – and recovered – Mauna Lani, Big Island, Hawaii
His wife gave me a big hug and was so pleased to be reunited with her sentimental ring.
If you lose your ring, jewelry or treasure – call us immediately to help you find it!
We’re Hawaii Island’s TRUSTED ring recovery business!
I picked up a voice message on my phone from a fisherman named Kenton at Honokohau Marina saying he’d lost his wedding ring in the water while cleaning fish.
Little did we know then – that an hour and a half later – we’d have one of our most exciting ring-recoveries to date. Kenton had already posted on our Facebook page before we’d even rinsed off our gear. He’d written:
Very thankful for the timely and professional recovery of my wedding ring from approximately 20 feet of shark infested water. The story associated with it is so ridiculous, you’d think it was a fish story so I’ll spare you the details. These guys showed and got the job done. Money very well spent!
That was the short version – here’s the long one…
We grabbed our equipment and raced to the marina trying to beat the quickly setting sun.
Kenton was there with a several fellow fishermen standing on the end of the narrow concrete pier where boats weigh and clean their fish. The head of a 700 lb. marlin sat in a pool of blood on the pier next to them. We met Kenton briefly and walked over to the pier side. He pointed into the water below which quickly dissolved from clear, tropical water to a hazy blue. Below there were rocks, boulders and … a massive tiger shark, at least 12 feet long, circling the spot hungry and fast.
I skipped a breath and Kenton exclaimed, “Oh, that’s not good.”
Tiger sharks are the second-most aggressive and dangerous of the shark world, after the Great White. We dive with them occasionally outside the marina but close encounters like this can end up badly. Had I jumped in now, the shark was so shallow I would have landed on it as he cruised just under us in broad circles.
“There was a feeding frenzy when I was gutting the marlin,” Kenton said as we watched the shark disappear, then reappear without warning. “I’d grab a handful and throw it off the pier, then suddenly my ring flew off with a handful of guts!” Turtles, moray eels, barracuda and a variety of sharks had all joined the feast. I looked into the water and wondered if the ring had survived to the bottom or was swimming around somewhere nearby in a turtle’s stomach…
Maybe we should just come back tomorrow I suggested… That wouldn’t work as there were nearby divers Kenton felt would go look for the ring to keep once the sharks had swam away. It was a family heirloom that couldn’t be replaced.
The sun was setting and the water was going dark so we had to make a plan. One of Kenton’s co-workers handed me a BBQ fork as a weapon and suggested tying the marlin’s bloody head to a line and towing it behind a dingy. Maybe the sharks would follow it to give us time to search? That sounded better than just fighting them off with a kitchen utensil, so they got the small boat and dragged the head off of the pier’s ledge into the water. Another of Kenton’s shipmates yelled out to the boat as it pulled away, “If the shark grabs it, just let it go!” The tiger shark was as big as the dingy and they didn’t want him getting pulled in.
I jumped down to a large catamaran’s pontoon and put my head underwater, upside down, with a mask on. The water was murky – but “all clear”… Kenton passed my scuba gear and Minelab Excalibur detector down to me while I stood on the pier’s rocky ledge, constantly glancing underwater to see if the sharks would return. Kenton’s co-worker yelled from around the corner that the large tiger was under his dingy.
Instead of climbing down, Sylvie jumped the five-foot drop into the water from pier-side with a splash. Unfortunately, she’d sat in a large pool of blood while doing so… Kenton passed her gear down and instead of a metal detector, gave her our long stainless steel metal detecting scoop to act as security.
My heart was beating quickly as we both scanned the now deep-teal colored and murky water. Sylvie turned her torch on. The marina was deep and I started detecting quickly as we deflated, hoping the ring had not fallen amongst the large boulders lining the decent into the marina’s center. Metal was everywhere, discarded from boats and the pier’s construction. I looked down the slope and my eye suddenly caught the small, circular shape I’ve trained to see, laying in the muck. It was dark and gray in the fading light, and I pulled myself quickly down the slope and grabbed it. I opened my gloved hand hoping – it was the ring! Sylvie stood on the bottom peering out into the marina and unaware of my find. I waved and yelled in my regulator and looked back at me. “Sharks!” I signaled, “I have the ring and let’s get out of here!!!” I pulled off my glove and jammed the ring onto a finger, afraid I’d drop it if the shark came out of the murk.
Kenton, with Brent and Sylvie Madison at Honokohau Marina with his found – and returned – men’s wedding ring.
I got back up to the top of pier’s base and held my hand up for an elated Kenton to take the ring off my finger. We were pumped up and climbed out of the water once our gear had been lifted out. A hose was turned on to rinse our gear while we took photos together and excitedly told the group how we’d found the ring. The rinse water washed the remaining blood on the pier down and instantly there were two large sharks where we’d just come out from – an 8 foot gray reef shark and a 5 foot white tip. We laughed – now that we were dry – and I was so happy the large tiger shark had decided to go for the fish head while we’d been under!
It had been one of the quickest ring-finds we’d ever done – but certainly to date it had been the scariest. We told Kenton to wear an outer ring next time he cleans a mammoth fish as I’d be happy to avoid the guts and glory of another ring search here!
PS – Sylvie left the GoPro on by accident as she was getting out of the water. It’s murky and quick, but did something come out of the water in the background…?! My heart jumped when I saw it… Here’s the VIDEO…
PPS – it was shot “by accident” as this up-side-down video was shot when the GoPro was hanging by Sylvie’s belt and “rolling” as she got out of the water. IS THAT THE 12+ foot TIGER SHARK?! Your call…!
Meredith called me and was not happy. Her husband had lost his wedding ring while in the water at Beach 69 just up the road from the famed Hapuna Beach.
They’d waited three days before calling – having spent their time snorkeling to look for it. Should they call me to look for it professionally, or just assume it was lost to the water and waves of Hawaii’s Big Island? They didn’t know what to do. “Was there a chance I’d find it before returning home to Vancouver tomorrow?” she asked.
I’ve found lost rings up to a month after being lost and asked her about the ocean conditions. Beach 69, like Hapuna, can have a vicious west swell so I’m cautious with my predictions due to waves and current. Conditions were calm and the water clear she assured me. I got to the beach and conditions were excellent – the water was clear and there was barely a ripple.
A happy client with his lost gold ring – now a found gold ring by Big Island Metal Detecting’s Brent Madison! Beach 69, Puako, Big Island Hawaii.
Meredith’s husband met me on the beach and showed me how he’d been throwing a football (he’s left handed) in the water and getting tackled by his brother-in-law. It could be anywhere along a semi-rocky area 100 feet long just off the sandy beach. I started my search at the deepest point in the water that I could reach to beat the rising tide, hoping all along that the ring hadn’t gone flying off his hand into yet deeper water.
I combed the sand-and-stone bottom carefully and as I got shallower, with more breathing room, could get creative. I asked where the guys had gone charging into the water, where the tackles happened and where they’d snorkeled. In the end, I decided to start my search in the general area where he’d first gotten into the water. Back and forth I went, hearing nothing through the headphones – and then a big signal.
I dropped to the stony bottom underwater on my knees and fanned the sand with my hand to expose the target below. Nothing. I did it again, going deeper through small stones and sand. Suddenly a massive gold ring with a central platinum band emerged out of the hole. In only three days in the water, the ring had been buried – deeper and deeper – by its shear weight and the gentle motion of the waves.
I held the ring in my hand underwater and admired it, thanked God for letting it still be there, then surfaced. Meredith rushed out and her sister-in-law started clapping as did others on the beach who’d been watching the search.
A beautiful, large men’s wedding ring made of gold and platinum found in the water by Big Island Metal Detecting Hawaii for their client from Canada on Beach 69, Kohala Coast, Hawaii.
“I didn’t think you’d find it!,” she said before taking it and swimming back to shore with it tightly in her hand. Her husband swam over from deeper water and congratulated me. He told me they’d thought it would be on the ocean floor forever – that they had called me as a last desperate move, a final Hail-Mary as it were before heading back to Canada.
To find lost rings, we can never know what the final outcome will be – though, my wife Sylvie often says, “Never go, never know.”
Call us at Big Island Metal Detecting to find your lost ring on the Big Island of Hawaii. We’re Hawaii’s TRUSTED metal detecting and ring recovery service. (808) 430 – 5660.
Lost Ring?! Call us immediately to help you find it! We’re Hawaii’s TRUSTED metal detecting and ring recovery service.
We got the call to go to Hilo to find a lost diamond engagement ring on a recent, rainy afternoon. It’s an two hour drive away and the ring was lost at Onekahakaha Beach Park in the public swimming area.
Raelyn met us in the parking lot with her young son and we quickly got the full story. She had tried snorkeling for the first time ever in the large but protected, rock-and-sandy bay. After only a few minutes of putting on her mask and snorkel, she stood up in chest deep water and realized that her precious diamond engagement ring was missing from her finger. It had definitely been on as she’d gotten in the water as, ironically, she’d removed her gold wedding band so as not to lose it!
A happy moment after finding Raelyn’s lost engagement ring at Onekahakaha Beach Park, Hilo, Big Island, Hawaii.
We retraced her steps into the water along a small sea wall which jutted into the shallow bay with little steps down either side. She showed us how she’d walked into the deeper water, put on her mask and paddled around into deeper water. As the tide was at its lowest, we decided to start at the deepest point she’d been, which was now just over waist deep. As we searched, Raelyn and her son swam and watched us carefully metal detect the sandy bottom. Every once in a while we’d ask her to try and remember exactly where she’d been, or if we were still in the same area she remembered being in.
Several times when retracing her movements she mentioned swimming away from shallow, brown stones. I thought it was an interesting thing to remember and asked her to show me where the brown stones were. Just near the entrance of the swimming area, where she’d first put on her mask, was a small field of algae-covered, cannonball-sized stones. I decided to try my luck and started searching the area using a newly purchased Minelab Excalibur. Sylvie faithfully continued hunting the deeper water with her Garrett SeaHunter. Looking over at Raelyn, she was now sitting on the nearby sand talking to her husband on the phone while her son played in the shallows. A glint of white gold peaked out from under the sand in about knee-deep water as I turned back. I’d found it!
A beautiful, recovered diamond engagement ring from the shallow waters of Onekahakaha Beach Park, Hilo, Hawaii, found by Brent and Sylvie Madison of Big Island Metal Detecting.
I signaled Sylvie and Raelyn then turned on the GoPro to film it coming out of the sand, “live”! Both ladies rushed over and I pulled the ring out out of the sand and handed it to a jubilant Raelyn! She held her hands over her mouth for a moment in disbelief. “I’d just told my husband on the phone I didn’t think we’d find it!”
There IS always a ray of hope when looking for lost rings – and we’re so happy when it shines down on our clients.
Contact us immediately if you’ve lost your ring or other valuable! We’re Hawaii’s TRUSTED metal detecting and recovery service.
Happy vacationers on the Big Island of Hawaii celebrate their found wedding rings at the Fairmont Orchid Hotel with Brent and Sylvie Madison.
HAPPY WIFE – HAPPY LIFE: Wedding Band Recoveries in the Water at the Fairmont Orchid Hotel, Mauna Lani, Big Island Hawaii
Logan and Samantha had been swimming in the lagoon at midnight after a work conference at The Fairmont Orchid Hawaii on the Big Island, Hawaii. They, along with friends and colleagues, had been having fun in the water after a work wrap-up party.
Sam realized her wedding band had slipped off her finger into the dark water. But she quickly realized she’d lost not just one but two rings! Her engagement ring must have come off first – but she had no idea where that had been lost – in the water, on the shore – where?!? Her wedding band now also seemed lost in the dark forever.
We got “the call” the next morning and arrived at the small bay an hour before noon to search for the lost rings. Sam looked distraught and Logan looked really unhappy at the situation of his unhappy wife!
We started looking right away, with Sylvie searching the shallows with her Garrett Sea Hunter and me going a little deeper in the water with my Minelab Excalibur II.
The Fairmont Hotel has little water movement so our biggest concern to recovering the ring was that fact that it was so late in the afternoon already – maybe the beach had been searched earlier that morning and the rings had been found by treasure hunters!
After an hour of carefully detecting back-and-forth I suddenly hit a strong signal. There had been no other solid signals until then, deepening our fears that the area had already been detected. I scooped the signal in the water – nothing – then scooped again. A diamond-encrusted wedding band was in the scoop! Logan ran over and while happy for the find, was now concerned to find the second, more valuable engagement ring. We continued to search – going over and over the area we thought it was in.
Sylvie expanded the search area and signaled that she’d found something under the sand. Her detector does not discriminate between metal objects like mine does, so she dug in the sand (under about 2 feet of water with her long-handled scoop), not sure if she’d be pulling out a bottle cap or a ring.
Sylvie looked into the basket of her scoop and grabbed something and held it high for Logan and Sam to see who were down the beach. The entire beach – even the beach bar – all started clapping! Sylvie held a large, gleaming two-carat engagement ring in her fingers. The beachgoers must have been watching the long hunt and the applause was great, but seeing Sam reunited with her treasures – and Logan’s praise and relief were worth a million!
Sylvie always says that we’re in the Business of Saving Marriages This time it really was our own ‘married teamwork’ that saved the day with one ring-recovery each!
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These gold and platinum rings were found and returned in the water by Big Island Metal Detecting. A whopping $30,000 was the combined cost of these beautiful treasures!
Laura called us this morning and left a message saying she had lost her ring at Kua Bay on the Big Island of Hawaii. We were concerned as we know at this time Kua Bay has some very large waves. Brent called her back and she informed us she was playing with her kid in 1 foot of water and saw the ring fly off her finger go up the shore with the water. She assured us that she knew exactly where the ring was lost. Her husband spent the rest of the afternoon looking for the ring. As we know, rings sink in matter of a few seconds. Brent told her the possibilities of a small ring in a large ocean – but also mentioned what we know of many-a-ring lost in sandy areas – that there is a great possibility that it would have be trapped by the immediate sand and was still near where she lost it!
We checked the waves and weather report and it said that high waves were developing into dangerous conditions by the evening. This was not a good forecast for ring recovery.
We felt that because it was so shallow – and in a sandy area – and because she knew exactly where she lost it (as she had seen the ring come off) that there was a good possibility we could find it, despite the waves.
We were also approaching low tide so needed to act quickly. We agreed to meet Laura at Kua Bay, who had a 90 minute drive ahead of her as she was coming from another side of the island.
We had a general idea of where it was so both Brent and I (Sylvie) began searching before she arrived. Brent with his Excalibur (Minelab) and me with my trusty (Garett) Sea Hunter (which actually does just fine around the lava even though it is a pulse induction detector). We could see the tide was getting higher and higher and also rougher and angrier. Laura arrived and narrowed down our search area.
Brent found it 15 minutes later!!! People on the beach who had been watching all clapped when he presented it to her! Laura had posted signs the night before at the beach – and some people asked us if we were looking for the ring the in the “lost” posted signs.
It was one of the most unique and beautiful rings we have seen. Laura confessed that she did not think we would find it but had been praying. It was so great to hand her back her rainbow wedding ring. This was a ring design she had seen when she was 15 and she’d told herself that when she got married this would be the ring her husband would give her. She has been married 9 years.
Mahalo! Laura for trusting us to find your ring!! We’re so glad its still part of your life!
Laura told us she had her husband’s prayer group praying for the recovery. Brent had also started praying as soon as he heard we’d be going out to look for the ring! It seems to have worked. Brent continued metal detecting for fun for another 30 minutes and said had we arrived to look for Laura’s ring any later it would not have been possible as the waves had started pounding hard.
NOTE: If you lose your ring please don’t post signs and be careful whom you tell – we know there are people who will take advantage of the information that you lost a valuable item. We have been told that some metal detectorists prefer to collect their finds and not make an effort to return them to their owners. Please only tell trusted sources. http://www.bigislandmetaldetecting.cominfo@bigislandmetaldetecting.com Tel: 808 430 5660
As the ring did not belong to either client, we went to work to track down the owner, a feat we thought would be nearly impossible, especially without a last name to search the World Wide Web!
Tiger sharks are the second-most aggressive and dangerous of the shark world, after the Great White. We dive with them occasionally outside the marina but close encounters like this can end up badly. Had I jumped in now, the shark was so shallow I would have landed on it as he cruised just under us in broad circles.
