Joe Au-Franz, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 34 of 36

While sitting in my truck Sunday morning I turned on my phone and realized there was a ring finders call Saturday AM that didn’t hit my phone until now. I listened to Megan from Kauai say she wanted me to meet them at Waikiki Beach to look for her White Gold with Diamonds Wedding Ring. Being just two minutes away I called and left a message saying I was on another ring hunt but should be done by 9AM. When I returned to my truck there was a voicemail from Megan saying we could meet whenever I was ready. I called and we arranged to meet at their hotel and walk to the beach. We met Megan’s husband Mike who was waiting on the beach to show me where the ring was lost. Mike & I walked out into the water and the South swell was just enough where I was going to need scuba as it was over chest deep. Fortunately, I had my scuba gear with me so we went back and got my truck to unload the scuba gear as close to the beach as we could. Mike and Megan had two different locations where they thought the ring came off. We are talking 30 yards or more. My experience I explained to them was the wife always seems to have better bearings in the water. And I’m here to find her ring so I better go where she thinks it is. Megan found a 3 foot by 15 foot cut in the reef she remembered seeing while they were hunting the previous days. So I started there. The small surf was throwing us around but between sets I was able to detect pretty well. In the reef cut the first target was a quarter, second target was deep so I gave up on it, then another quarter. Nothing else in the reef cut so I started working the sides. Another deep target couldn’t find then in a small dished out area in the reef I ran the Excalibur over and it gave a familiar sound and with one wave of my hand the sand washed away and exposed a glistening white gold ring and the diamonds on both sides were sparkling in the sun. I wasn’t sure if this was their ring because I was thinking from the description something different. But as I surfaced to show Megan & Mike the look of joy told me it certainly was. Thank you Jesus! Elapsed dive time 4 minutes. Megan had put me on the exact spot and the Excal did its job. Another vacation ends with smiles and Megan commented she was glad not to have to leave a part of her behind. Aloha to Megan & Mike!

I got a call from my fellow ring-finder Don saying that Zak & Heidi from Minnesota staying at the Sheraton Waikiki lost her White Gold & Diamonds Engagement ring in the water while floating on a cushion. They were leaving the next day and Don had to work. I had some free time so I looked at the Tide & Surf Chart and gave Heidi a call. We arranged for a low tide Thursday AM around 9:30. This hunt didn’t start off on good footing so to speak. As I was putting on my felt bottom dive booties that I like to walk in the water with I felt something unusual. Thinking some stones & sand remained in my bootie from the previous hunt I started to take it off when something bit the tip of my big toe. Ouch! A damn 5 inch centipede fell to the floor. I grabbed a razor knife from my desk and cut it in half. Both halves remained alive in my office until I returned 3 hours later. I phoned my wife and let her know in case I went into some type of allergic shock she could tell the paramedics what happened. Nothing ever came of it other then it felt like I had a piece of sharp glass stuck in the tip of my big toe.
At the Sheraton I met Zak & Heidi and they got me parked and we proceeded down to the beach. We marked off the extreme East & West points of the grid and I started my search. Zak and Heidi took turns being my seaward marker. The area was really clean except one bottle cap and three tungsten carbide rings two were Koa Wood inlaid. This wasn’t fun I was finding rings but not Heidi’s. I could see the look of despair coming over Heidi’s face. After no luck doing the entire grid ever so carefully I talked to Heidi and decided the only way to go would be a little more to the East. BINGO! On about the third leg I got the Gold ring growl tone and one scoop down was Heidi’s ring. What a beauty! I told Zak and he shouted to Heidi on the beach, “Joe found it!” Heidi was bee-lining for us crying from being emotionally drained. She gave me the biggest hug and thank you. This vacation was going to end on a high note. Aloha to Zak & Heidi!

This hunt started on July 14th 2015 when I offered ring finder services to a craigslist ad for a lost ring at Hale Koa Beach in Waikiki. David agreed and met me on the beach the next day. Not being positively sure David assumed his ring was lost while he was body surfing in large waves at Hale Koa Beach. The waves were strong enough to throw him up onto the sand so the best guess is when he used his hands to break his fall somehow and at some point it came off. I started my search in the wave bench and then moved out to chest deep water. A few insignificant targets but no ring. After covering the area thoroughly with no success David and I searched the area where they were on the beach and a few transit points back to the hotel but nothing. I told David there was a possibility the ring was at a depth I couldn’t detect but that the sand moves a lot here and the ring would eventually settle out in the wave bench if it in fact was lost while crashing on the beach sand. I’ve gone through the area 3-4 times and finally Tuesday night 6 October I got a solid but faint target in the wave bench. Six scoops later and low and behold there was David’s Rose Gold Wedding band. Wow! My theory was actually correct and thankfully we had some strong surf the night before that probably removed just enough sand for the Excalibur to detect the ring. It was at least 10-12 inches down in the wave bench sand. That’s a record depth for me. I emailed then called David that evening with a picture of the ring. Obviously he was pleasantly surprised. The ring is in the mail back to David in Las Vegas, Nevada. He still owes me a picture with a smile which I’m sure to get soon. Never give up! How no other detectorist in Waikiki didn’t find this ring leads me to believe it may have been divine intervention. Aloha to David.

Early evening and as I was searching for a long lost Diamond Engagement ring in the water I was approached by Jared from Denver, Colorado. Jared explained that when he was throwing a football with friends in the water earlier in the day his wedding band came off. He wasn’t exactly sure where but knew the general area. From waist to chest deep water and in the far southern end of the lagoon. My only fear was it might have been tossed into the deeper area and there I would require scuba. Never know how far they can fly!!! Jared said it was a square shaped palladium ring. I’ve never found a palladium ring so I was interested in hearing that metal’s tone. I told Jared to reach me on my Facebook page “Metal Detecting Oahu” and we could correspond there. Darkness was quickly upon us so I decided to continue the search the next day after work. I arrived back on the spot the next day and as I worked my grid South I found a small coin spill and two pull tabs. After about an hour I had a solid tone I’ve never heard before and after one scoop there was Jared’s ring. No doubt square and inscribed Pd 950. When I arrived home Jared had left an inquiry on my Facebook page as to whether or not I found his ring. I responded that I did and we made arrangement for its return. Another smile and vacation in Hawaii ends on an up note! Aloha to Jared.

I got a call from Andrew at Punaluu Beach Park at around 5PM. Great rush hour traffic! Andrew explained to me that he and his wife Meghan were laying in about 2 feet of water and when he stood up his wedding band slipped off into the water. He felt it drop off and immediately reached into the water and sand to retrieve his ring but as usual the sand consumed it. Meghan and Andrew looked for a while but never saw a hint of the ring. So 34 miles and about an hour away. I had my daughter check the traffic APP and the roads were clear. I loaded up and called Andrew and told him I’d get there as soon as I could. He said they would wait at the beach in their rental car. The scenic ride up along the East coast of Oahu is spectacular. Several bays, the Koolau mountains and China-man’s Hat Island make the drive breathtaking. I was there in no time. Andrew took me down to the beach to show me where in the water he was when the ring fell off. He was very sure of the location so I started a circular search with him as the pivot point. There was a lot of deep trash and under the sand was very chunky coral rocks. After about five trash targets and seeing how the waves were crashing on the beach with a fairly solid bottom I decided to move shore-ward to the wave curl. I thought with the hard bottom the ring probably tumbled up to that point. As I went along the wave curl I saw a Portuguese Man-O-War floating between Andrew and myself. I warned him to watch out and let me know if any more come into our area. The bubble and deep purple streamer isn’t hard to miss. My first target had that familiar sound and one scoop there was Andrew’s ring. Elapsed time 7 minutes. Andrew and Meghan were both surprised and grateful. From Austin, Texas and Married just 4 days with the lost ring back on his finger there were “Smiles” all around. Aloha to Andrew & Meghan.