I received a text right at noon saying, “I don’t know if this is the right number, but I found it online for a ring finder at Myrtle Beach. I lost my tungsten wedding ring in the waves out at the beach near 19th Ave south and Southern Breeze Oceanfront. Is there any possible chance it could even be found, or would the undertow and waves at about 3 feet deep have carried it out?” I called the attached number and talked to Logan and asked him what time he lost it. He said about an hour before his text. I looked up the tide table for Myrtle Beach and high tide was at 11:27 am. Perfect, the tide had changed, so I told him there was a great chance of finding it and I’d be there at 3 pm. That would put me there right at mid-tide.
Right around 2 pm, I was getting antsy, so I text him saying I was on my way. With this being Sunday, I was concerned the beach would be packed with tourist and there wouldn’t be any parking. I got lucky with both and met Logan on the beach. He showed me the area and explained that he was about knee deep. He also made a comment about getting hit in the back with a wave. This confused me a little, in that I thought he may have been deeper than he thought with an outgoing tide. He gave me the north and south boundaries, and I started an east/west perpendicular to the beach grid line. After almost an hour and a half of searching and extending my search area on all four sides, I was coming up with nothing. Towards the end I was going in the ocean knee deep at mid tide. I went so far as asking a lady, who’d been on the beach longer than I was, if she saw anybody else with a detector. I also asked the lifeguard if anybody had turned in a ring. I was whooped, both mentally and physically. I called Logan and told him I couldn’t find it. I could tell in his voice he was hurt that I couldn’t find his ring.
I drove a couple of blocks towards home and remembered I had brought a second detector, which I usually do as a back-up. I called Logan back and told him I was going back to try again with a different detector. Logan had already called his wife, who’ll be here later this week, and told her he lost it, I was going to search, and then that I couldn’t find it. So, they were both on a little bit of a roller coaster ride.
I walked back out on the beach with a second wind and started a north/south grid line. About 30 minutes later I hit a target with a VDI (visual display indicator) of 18, exactly what a man’s Tungsten wedding band would show up as. No doubt in my mind that I had Logan’s ring. Took a scoop of sand, dumped in out on the beach, and moved the sand with my foot. There it was! I took a picture and sent to Logan saying, “Found it!! I’ll drop it off.” He responded instantly, “Oh my GOD. Thank you so much!! I don’t know if I just missed it on my first search or my southern boundary wasn’t far enough, regardless of how or why, the ring was found and returned.
Logan – So happy I got your treasure back where it belongs. Enjoy the rest of your vacation.
Jim
