Lost Gold Ruby & Diamond Eyed Skull Ring at Kuhio Beach Waikiki…FOUND!!!
This ring find began when I got a call from Suemi who was on vacation in Waikiki from San Francisco California. While her husband Mauricio was playing volleyball in the water at Kuhio Beach he spiked the ball and his most favorite Gold Skull Ring went flying off into chest deep water. I just finished doing my yard work and told Suemi I would pack up my gear and head down to Waikiki and call her once I was parked. Thankfully, parking and traffic was light. When I arrived we talked by phone and Suemi guided me to her location on the beach. She pointed in the water where Mauricio had been standing for 2 long hours since he lost the ring. I briefly explained to Mauricio that I was going to do a grid search and to just remain where he was. He pointed directly in front of himself saying that was the direction he spiked the ball. The second leg of the grid was directly into that area and I got an immediate hit on the Nox. In one scoop there was the most stunning ring I’d ever seen. 24+ grams of gold and one ruby and one diamond eye. If you look close the skull is puffing on a stogie! The ring must have meant a ton to Mauricio as the entire family started celebrating with him and cheers ran up from the tourists on the beach. What a wonderful family enjoying their last day in paradise. Aloha to Mauricio, Suemi and the family!
Thursday morning early I received a call from Chris. He and the family were playing on Pensacola Beach late Wednesday afternoon when his wife, Katarina, noticed her engagement ring was missing. Chris asked if I could help, that he and the family were due to check out of the condo they were staying in a few hours and had to travel back to Austin that day. They had a photo of Katarina or the beach with the ring on her finger and she hadn’t gone in the water so the assumption was it was lost somewhere in the sand. I told him I would be glad to help and would come immediately. Fortunately my gear was already charged up and in my van. I quickly kissed my wife bye and headed for the beach. I arrived about two hours before condo check out time so I got with Chris and Katarina right away and got details about where they were on the beach and the activities they took part in. They pointed out approximately where they set their beach chairs, but there was significant surf the night before and the beach had significant erosion from the waves. Now beach erosion is very common here, sand is constantly, moving around, but their spot was able to set the longitude axis so we started there. Katarina said they played catch with a ball and she had jumped up several time with her arms raised with finger reaching out, which sounded like the place to start searching. All in all the area was pretty big, between one half and two thirds acre. Because the ring was lost in late afternoon and this was the next morning I assumed it was not deep in the sand, my first mistake. Because they were under time restraints I was working faster than normal, my second mistake. Two hours later we got together to reassess and I started again but this time I set the detector to search deeper and moved much slower. I started from the spot where the beach chairs were located and followed the anticipated route Katarina may have taken to where she played ball. About half way to that spot I got a fairly good signal but it was two to three times deeper that I expected. I set my recovery scoop as deep as I could so I could get under the target causing no scratches or damage to a ring, spread the sand on the surface and checked for a signal, got nothing. I quickly stuck my detector coil in the hole and received a much better signal, carefully digging a second scoop of sand and spreading it out I ran the detector over it and pinpointed the ring. Reached down and held it up for Katarina. She was overjoyed! Now there were probably thirty people on the beach many who had watched me hunting not really knowing why. When Katarina received her ring and held it up most of those thirty or so people understood and started clapping. Her two daughters were excited and when to get their Dad. I apologized to Chris for my two mistakes that delayed their trip home, but he didn’t care he was just glad they were returning home with the ring that had been on her finger for 15 years! I think both had half way come to accept the ring was lost forever. It was a happy ending all around. I do not know how the ring was able to get maybe 8 to 10 inches deep and was glad I found it after about three and a half hours but I would have kept going till it was recovered.
