This adventure started about 10:41 p.m. Friday night when I got a text message asking if I was the right guy to find lost items. I confirmed I was and received the following text from Gene, “My wife lost her wedding ring and band today on the beach near Kingston Plantation. Are your services available? Are you in the area?” I called his number and discussed what happened, what time and if it was in the water. Gene told me Jessica; his wife lost her rings about noon in ankle deep water. Taking a quick look at the tide tables, the loss happened about 2 hours before low tide. Shouldn’t be too hard, but there’s not too many searches that are easy. This one was no different. I told him I’d meet him about 12:30 the next afternoon, which was today, Saturday May 25th. The next afternoon low tide was about 3:15, so getting there early I could work the outgoing tide.
I showed up as scheduled and met Gene, his father-in-law Greg and his sister-in-law Samantha. Gene walked me out in the water and lined himself up with the resort and said she lost it right about here. I asked Gene how she lost them, and he stated trying to catch a football. The football hit her rings just right to push both rings off her finger. He told me both rings were yellow gold. So, on my Nox 800, lady’s yellow gold rings show a VDI (visual display Indicator) of 13-15. Unfortunately pull tabs, which there are 100s that end up on the beach, show 14. This could mean a lot of digging. I started an east/west grid from about the mid tide line working perpendicular to the tide line. I had a heck of a time keeping my grid lines straight. I changed course and did a north/south grid to eliminate the upper slope of the beach. When I got about as far as I could and still see my grid lines, I took a break. By now the tide had rescinded to the point I was sure the rings were at the bottom of the sloop and right in the trough, which is where the ocean breaks onto the beach. At that point I decided to start over on the far-left border of the search zone. About halfway across the zone I got a solid, banging 14 VDI. I was sure I had a ring. I took a big scoop and checked the hole. I had the target. Problem was, after I washed out the sand, I had a scoop full of broken shells. I shook the scoop moving the shells; I took a couple of handfuls of shells out and shook the scoop again. Still wasn’t seeing anything. I did that 3 times and finally saw the small engagement ring with the diamond. Boom! Put the ring in my pocket for safe keeping and ran the coil over and around the hole. About a foot away I got another solid 14. Dug the target, made sure the hole was clear and walked up the sloop and dumped the scoop. Ran the coil over the pile, located the target, spread it out with my foot and saw the gold wedding band. I had both rings. I was going up to grab my phone and take a picture to send to Gene and surprise him, but as I’m trying to get that done, I saw Gene and Greg walking towards me. I showed them the rings, and both were excited. I told Gene he could surprise Jessica but that didn’t work either. We turned around and the rest of the gang was standing on the 5th floor balcony. It wasn’t long before Jessica, her mom and sister was on the beach. Think there were a few happy tears, and all was good!!!!
Greg and Gene – thank you for your generosity.
Gene and Jessica – Thank you so much for trusting me to help find your lost treasures. Enjoy the rest of your vacation and have a safe trip home. Wish you two all the best.
Jim
Thank you so much! We prayed for a way to find the rings and my husband found you online. You were a Godsend! We’re approaching our 6 month anniversary and I was devastated when I thought I’d lost the ring he designed for me. I won’t ever be able to repay you. Thank you again for your help and kindness. We are very grateful.