Joe Au-Franz, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 12 of 36

This Ring Find began Tuesday afternoon when I got a call from Alena who was on vacation from Oregon and staying at the Ko Olina Resort with her husband Yevgeniy. While on the beach her husband noticed his Rose Gold and Tantalum Ring was missing from his finger. He wasn’t sure when it came of but was sure it was either when he was playing volleyball or when he jumped in and swam in the lagoon to cool off. Since it might require scuba I told Alena the best day would be Thursday afternoon low tide as the surf was at the moment crashing on the North and West facing shorelines. I assured her no one else would get the ring as I was the only metal detectorist allowed on Ko Olina Resort. When I arrived Thursday Alena & Yevgeniy were waiting for me on the beach. I had Yevgeniy draw a box in the dry sand where he had been playing volleyball and then in the wet sand on the left and right grid marks from where he was in the water of the lagoon. I told them they could go relax while I did the hunt as it could take quite awhile especially if I had to go in the water. I fired up the Nox and first searched the Volleyball area with no luck. Since Yevgeniy said he ran to the water I figured I better search the sand going towards the water. On the second leg of that grid I got a loud number “8” on the Nox and in one scoop there was his unique rose gold and tantalum ring in the scoop. This is where experience grid hunting paid off because it was about six feet outside the volleyball grid area towards the lagoon. I held up the ring and Alena was still on the beach and she came running down in disbelief. Yevgeniy had told her he was pretty sure it was gone forever and didn’t think it would be found. He had to provide someone a ride and had left the resort so, Alena texted him the good news. Vacation saved! Aloha to Alena & Yevgeniy!

This Ring Find began when I got a text from Emily from Ewa Beach last evening who earlier that day lost her Wedding & Engagement Rings at Ulua Lagoon Beach. Her Father In Law shook out a beach chair of the sand and unbeknownst to him the rings were in a cup holder on the chair. They found the Wedding Ring but not the Engagement Ring that was somewhere in the dry sand they hoped. Since it was late and I was going to Ko Olina the next morning we agreed to meet at 7AM. When I arrived Emily and her husband Dan were already on the beach. They showed me the approximate area to search and I fired up the Nox. I started on the high side of the beach and worked towards the water. There were a few coins and a pull tab. I was on the last leg of the grid and looked towards Dan & Emily thinking its not here when I got a strong #9 tone on the Nox. In one scoop I saw Emily’s beautiful ring in the scoop. I looked toward Emily and shook my head Yes and she burst into tears. Dan comforted her of course as she reached into the scoop for her ring. “Dramatic Return!” They both were so very grateful and I said, “Did you have to put me on the final leg of the search to find the ring.” We assumed when the beach chair was shaken to remove the sand the ring must have gotten flung out. No matter the recovery was successful. Aloha to Emily & Dan!

This ring find began when I got a text from Talaya who lives in my neighborhood Kaimuki. While hanging out at Kaimana Beach Sunday with her husband and daughter, Talaya took off her ring to apply sunscreen and set it on a beach chair. She got distracted at the beach and didn’t discover her ring missing until later that day while teaching a work out class. While doing a push up and looking at her hand she gasped, “Where’s my ring?” They retraced her steps back to Kaimana Beach and her husband even sifted sand in hopes of finding the ring. Talaya’s friend told her about ring finders and that’s how she found me. My heart sunk when she told me the ring was lost two days ago. Kaimana Beach is a favorite among local detectorists and I feared the ring would have been found already. I told her I’d take a look after my Dentist appointment. When I arrived around 1PM I was able to find parking and thankfully the area Talaya marked out for me on Google maps was more or less void of sunbathers. I told the lifeguard what I was doing and fired up the Nox. The first target was a loud #10 on the Nox and in one scoop their was the glistening diamond ring in the scoop. Talaya told me the ring was Platinum in her text but this ring said 14K but had the Jewel on the inside she mentioned. I texted her a pic of the ring with the word, “Blessed”, and the response was, “Thank you so much. I am crying.” Suddenly my dental pains went away. Aloha to Talaya!

This ring find began Monday, 13 December 2021 when I got a text from Nacer who was on vacation from Land O Lakes Florida. Nacer explained his ring was loose and he went to put it on a tighter finger when it slipped from his hand and fell to the bottom of the lagoon. He was in 6-7 feet of water and couldn’t see the bottom to retrieve his ring. Anything over neck deep and I use scuba gear. Nacer sent me a pic from the hotel balcony and circled the area he was in. I agreed to scuba hunt his ring the next morning. It was a two hour hunt and I expanded the search out in all directions but the ring wasn’t there. I called Nacer as they were now in Waikiki. We determined after further discussion that the angle the picture was taken it appeared to be much farther North then where Nacer wanted the circle. I told him when he returned to the resort to take another pic from the shoreline and center the area accordingly. This area turned out to be straight in from the public parking lot. With the surf up the lagoon was getting murky so I told Nacer the earliest would be a Friday morning hunt after it cleared up a bit. On Friday I did the exact same routine as Monday’s dive hunt and still no ring. I gave up thinking Nacer might have lost his bearing in the moment of panic from losing his ring and it could be anywhere. With about 700 psi left in my tank I peeled off South under water towards Aulani. In about 8 feet of water I got a screaming tone on my Excalibur. One wave of my hand and a white gold ring appeared. I looked inside and sure enough it was a Cartier. Thank you Jesus! I surfaced and determined it was about 30 yards from the search area. No matter, bottom line the ring is found. As you can see in the pic it is safely home in Florida with Nacer. Much “Aloha” to Nacer and his lovely wife Hajar who kept the communication going throughout the search and return.

This ring find began when I got a voicemail from Elyssa who was on vacation from San Francisco. While throwing a ball in the lagoon her Silver Gucci Ring came off in shallow water and disappeared. Since it was dark I told her I’d return in the morning and see if I could recover her ring. Elyssa told me it was slightly right of where they moor the Catamaran. I arrived the next morning and when the sun finally shone on the water I started my search. First target was a pull tab and then a silver turtle pendant. As I was finishing my fourth grid line I got a loud 36-38 on the Nox and I knew instantly that had to be her ring. Sure enough! I called Elyssa about the good news and she met me at the Makiki Joe’s Rental Hut. Vacation back on track. Aloha to Elyssa!

This ring find began when I got a text from Estrella from Fremont California. She said her husband Efren just lost his Gold Ring in Lagoon 2…could you help? It was 4PM and it gets dark by 6PM so I decided to head out quickly since it was a small area to search. Efren said he was in about 2-3 feet of water playing with his Granddaughter when he noticed the Gold Wedding Ring was gone. Traffic was light so I made it to the resort in about 30 minutes. Down on the beach I followed the “No Lifeguard on Duty” sign straight down to the water as Efren said. I moved several feet to the right and started my grid search towards the left. On about the fourth leg I got a nice 12-14 tone on the Nox in the wet sand and in one scoop there was Efren’s ring in the scoop. They were staying at the resort so when I phoned them the good news they said they could meet me in the parking lot in six minutes. Right on cue…vacation saved. Efren had that ring for 40 years without an issue! Aloha to Efren & Estrella!

This ring find began as I returned from work and noticed I had missed a call on the road. I called and Andrew from Santa Barbara California answered. About two hours prior his White Gold Wedding Band went missing at Kalama Beach in Kailua Hawaii. He knew it was between where they were sitting on the beach and some sand snowmen about 50 feet away. Andrew agreed to meet me at a nearby church and we would walk down to the beach for the search. Traffic was very light and I arrived about 30 minutes later. Andrew told me they left a red towel on the beach in the area I needed to search and it was still there when we arrived. I asked Andrew to remove the towel and I’d hunt that area first. I turned on the Nox and after three swings I got a loud number “13” on the Nox. Amazingly it took four scoops to recover the target which was Andrew’s ring. He looked at me in disbelief as he figured the ring would probably be more towards the Snowmen. Vacation saved. Aloha to Andrew and welcome back to the Islands!