Joe Au-Franz, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 29 of 33

It was 7:00 in the evening when I went to get my cellphone off the charger, I turned on the cell and had missed a call 40 minutes prior from Jonathan a local Wedding photographer. While setting up the final scene where he puts the couples two Wedding bands on a starfish in the sand a rogue wave washed way up on the shoreline and erased the scene. In utter shock Jonathan and his lovely assistant Imi immediately started searching for the scattered rings. Of course they were no where to be found. Jonathan then googled “lost ring” on his cellphone and that’s when he left a voicemail. I returned the call immediately but no one answered. After about 15 minutes Jonathan called back and said he was returning the unfortunate couple back to their hotel in Waikiki. I told him we had to look tonight as the next high tide could displace the ring forever. Waimanalo has a very steep shoreline and is difficult to detect in the water this time of year. We met at a local high school and drove back to Waimanalo Beach Park. It was pitch dark now and thankfully I remembered to bring my dive torch. Jonathan and Imi took me to the beach and the tide was out which made the search area dry and easier to hunt. There was a basket on the beach and we speculated others at the beach that knew the rings were lost tried sifting the sand for the rings. I marked the extreme ends of my grid and started the search. My first screaming target was a Great Basin Nevada State Park quarter. I continued on. The area was sterile clean white sand so the search was quiet. After about 5 minutes on the fourth leg I got another low and high tone signal. One scoop down there was the rose gold band. Another scoop down and there was the white gold band. Jonathan & Imi were ecstatic with joy. Can you imagine how they must have felt when they lost the couple’s rings. Imi immediately took some pics with her cellphone and texted them to the couple in Waikiki. This honeymoon was going to be very memorable. Aloha to Jonathan & Imi.

After spending the morning metal detecting I was waiting for relatives to arrive for a Father’s Day Party. As relatives were arriving I received a call from Ken who lives on Oahu. Ken said that while he was playing volleyball in the water with his family as he went to strike the ball his ring popped off into the water. His daughter saw where it landed but like usual the soft lagoon sand consumed the ring. Ken immediately marked the spot in 3 feet of water with coral and stones they found laying around. He contacted his friend at Four Seasons Resort which put him in contact with Duke from Aloha Security and that’s how he found me. It was 5:30 and the sun was setting fast. Ko Olina is 30+ miles away and I wasn’t sure what traffic was going to be like so I told Ken I’d be on my way but not sure how long it would take. Thankfully traffic was very light and I made it there in 40 minutes. Ken was standing in the water next to the pile of coral & stones. He introduced me to his lovely wife Jackie (whose name you can see inside the ring) and his daughters who were waiting on the beach. I quickly started a circular search pattern working out from the pile. On the third leg about 20 feet from the pile I got my first target. It sounded good and one scoop later I pulled Ken’s ring from the scoop and handed it to him. Hugs, handshakes, thank yous and pictures all make this hobby so rewarding. Aloha to Ken & Jackie!

This ring find starts 7 May while I was looking for a lost ring in Ulua Lagoon. I was approached by a gentlemen named Terry who said his recently married Niece’s husband Reymhar from San Jose, California lost his ring in the next lagoon over while paddle boarding a few days before. I told Terry if he could show me the supposed area I would give it a hunt. Terry knew it was in the Northern third of the lagoon but not exactly where. After a brief ankle to neck deep search without a ring find I asked Terry to put me in contact with Reymhar so I could get some more details to the lost ring and it’s probable location. After contacting Reymhar he wasn’t sure exactly when the ring came off only in the Google map picture he sent me he drew a wedge of where he was paddle boarding. I went the next weekend and did a scuba dive for the ring. The deep area was very silty and it was hard to keep track of where I’d detected so it was sort of a willy nilly hunt. The next weekend I tried again and this time I was careful not to stir up too much silt. Yeah right! There were sand clouds everywhere I dug. I found a nice Palladium band with a neat inscription that hopefully remains true today. When I was about down to 600 psi I figured I’d have about three more lines to grid from 4 feet to the deep end of 15 feet. I started an out bound leg and near a plate size rock in 7 feet of water I got a nice solid tone. With one scoop of my hand Reymhar’s ring exposed itself with a triple sparkle of diamonds in the sunlight. That was a wonderful sight to see. I looked heavenward and thanked Jesus. That was one of my hardest searches too date. As soon as I got to my truck I texted Reymhar that I found his ring. Uncle Terry is going to be back in Honolulu 11 June and I will be turning the ring over to him so he can hand deliver it back to Reymhar in San Jose. Aloha to Reymhar and his wife Karen!

Wednesday evening while I was in San Diego California for a work conference I got a call from Steve from Seattle. While enjoying the cool waters of the Aulani lagoon his Platinum Wedding Band came off. He didn’t notice it missing until he was in the elevator going to his room so there was the possibility it came off at his beach chair. I told Steve I would be back on Friday and as soon as I landed I would retrieve my gear and head out to the resort. Steve and his lovely wife Christine met me at the front entrance and we proceeded to the lagoon. Their seating area was occupied so I decided to search the water first. Steve showed me the approximate route he took in the water and on about my 4th leg of the grid search I got a screaming Platinum tone. One scoop and there was Steve’s ring. I yelled to Steve and Christine on the beach that I found the ring and they met me at the waters edge. A very pleasant look of relief could be seen on both their faces. A hug and a handshake and smiles all around. Vacation continues on a high note. Aloha to Steve & Christine.

While on a ring hunt in Waikiki the Umbrella Boys approached me and said a Korean couple had lost and had been looking all day for the wife’s wedding band in the dry sand. They only knew it was Gold and had a name and hotel if it was found. This happened to be the exact spot I was searching for a Swiss couples Gold Wedding Band. I started a North South grid search and found a handful of change. On the East West grid I had a faint low tone so I took a scoop. Nothing! Then on he second scoop I saw the cutest rose and white gold wedding band with Diamonds glistening still in the setting sunlight. I let the Umbrella Boys know and they gave me the Korean couples name & hotel. I called my wife to get the Hotels number and called the front desk. I was looking for Kim Yeon Nam and her husband was put on the phone. I could hear Kim crying with relief in the back ground as her husband told her the ring was found and would be in the lobby in five minutes. We met in the lobby and I handed over the ring after confirming it was the one. Kim’s husband gave me a hug and a handshake and he told me that they were married only yesterday and Kim was so distraught after losing her ring she thought it would never come back. Nice way to end my day. Aloha to Kim.