Joe Au-Franz, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 36 of 37

My fellow ring finder Don Bryant called and said a lady named Soraya had lost her ring at Kuhio Beach Park and that he was still unpacking from his trip so he referred her to me. As soon as I hung up the call came in. Soraya explained to me that she had lost the ring the evening before as she was playing with her children in waist deep water. Don & I both told her that Sergei the Russian detectorist that cruises the beaches every morning could very well of found it and our probability of finding her ring was very low. I told Soraya that I would give it a shot and could be there in 30 minutes. We met at the pier and she walked me to the area she was playing in the water. We marked an extreme East & West point and I started my search. It only took about 30 minutes and all I found was a Memorial cent and half a pull tab in the wet sand. I told Soraya the water was sterile of any metal and to look at her markers and asked if I had to go out one of the markers should I go more East or West. She looked towards shore and said I think a little more towards the Church which is to the West. I continued on and then on the third leg outside the original marker I got the “Growl of Gold and Stones”. A gentle scoop and there was the gorgeous White Gold ring with rubies and diamonds. I looked up and Soraya was no where to be seen. I’m thinking did she give up on me? I happened to spot her son playing in the water and asked him where his Mom was…she had gone up on the beach where I couldn’t see her. I told him to tell her I think I found her ring. Her daughter came running down and said let me see…let me see. Oh yes that’s my Mom’s ring! Soraya arrived and I held the ring out in the palm of my hand. That’s it how amazing…where actually was it? Actually it was in a lot closer to the beach then she imagined it would be. We figured she was playing during high tide and didn’t realize how close to shore she had been. I’m so glad we extended the search in the correct direction and Sergei missed this one. Chalk one up for “The Ring Finders” Aloha to Soraya.

I got a call from Ken while at work and he wanted to know if I could look for his ring at Hilton Hawaiian Village. He lost the ring two days prior and that area is one of the most detected areas in Waikiki. My fear was someone already found it and he would never get it back. The surf has been pounding the South shore so there was a chance the regular Waikiki detectorists might have been taking a break. I told Ken I would meet him after work and give it my best shot. We met at 4PM on the beach and I was elated to find out Ken had lost his ring in the rocky area of the beach. That area is very difficult to detect in as there are many large coral rocks and most of the detectorists avoid it. Ken explained that he was in no deeper than 4 feet of water and between two coral outcroppings on the shoreline. So I went to work. Unfortunately I only found coins, pull tabs and a bottle cap. I asked Ken lets think this over where did you spend the most time? He said probably in the sandy area near the wave break where he was getting thrown around. I said OK I’m going to concentrate there and not go into the rocky area. An hour had already passed and I could see the anxiety on their faces. I needed to find this ring. I started a wave curl search as the surf was pounding the shore. On the return leg a little farther into the sand at the half point between Ken’s marks I got that beautiful “GOLD” tone. After two scoops I saw a ring. I motioned Ken over and asked him to describe the ring again please. White gold with two rose colored bands going through it he said. Sure enough that is what was in my scoop. I pulled the ring out and handed it to Ken. You know that look we treasure so much well Ken was beaming with joy that I finally found his ring. I found out from talking to Ken and his lovely wife Malette that they had just gotten married and only had the ring for a day when it was lost. What a happy ending to a wonderful vacation in Hawaii. Aloha to Ken and Malette.