Just before 9 p.m. on the 4th of July, I got a message from Carol stating “Good evening! I lost my ring today and just found out that you might be able to help me. Please let me know if this is possible.” I immediately replied saying “Call me” with my phone number. I didn’t hear anything from her and got to thinking maybe she was leery of calling some guy she didn’t know. So, I followed up with another message saying “I can help, need details and it’s easier if we talk than text.” I immediately got a call from her husband Steven. Low tide was at 11 p.m. so I figured if I had a good shot at finding it, now would be the time to go. Steven told me Carol lost her white gold wedding set this morning between 11-12 a.m. while playing volleyball around low tide. He also said that they were in the water between ankle and shin deep. Oh-oh, I was hoping she lost it closer to mid afternoon during high tide. Ok, a minor setback but no big deal. I asked Steven if he could meet me to show me the right spot. Then I remembered this was July 4th and the beaches would be packed with tourist watching fireworks and parking would be non-existent. A minor setback #2. With the instructions he gave me, I knew exactly where to go except I didn’t know how far north of the beach access to go. On my way there he sent me a Google earth map with the area circled which was perfect. When I got to the beach, as I expected, there was no where to park. I finally found a spot to park about a block away, grabbed my gear and headed to the beach. As I’m walking out on the beach, in the pitch black, people were 3 to 4 rows deep sitting in the sand or on beach chairs. I made my way to the water’s edge and started a perpendicular grid search. Then the fireworks started!!! I thought I was in a war zone and right in the line of fire, as everything was being shot off towards the ocean.
Ok, I focused on the mission at hand, which was to find Carol’s wedding set. What was ankle to shin deep water this morning for them was now a huge pool of water that was waist deep. The water was deep enough that I kept my headlamp off so I wouldn’t attract the baitfish, which in turn would attract bigger fish. Thankfully, the fireworks gave me enough light to see where I was going. I was probably a little more than an hour and a half into the search and about half way through the area Steven had circled when I got a great signal on the Nox 800. The VDI number was 13 and a little higher than what I thought it might be for a white gold set. I was waist deep and carefully dug the target out of the hole. I checked the hole and made sure it was clear. I then walked back up to the wet sand before I emptied the sand out of the scoop so I wouldn’t accidently shake the target out in the ocean. When I dumped the sand out on the beach, I turned on my headlamp and could see a little glimmer of something shiny. I reached down and picked up a beautiful lady’s wedding set. I didn’t have a complete description of Carol’s rings so I called Steven. He started explaining it and then said “here’s Carol, she can explain it better.” As she’s identifying the ring I’m holding to perfection, I took a picture and text it to her. I told her to check her text messages and I hear, with a lot of enthusiasm “Oh my gosh, you found my ring!” What a feeling finding someone’s treasure that they never thought they’d see again. With no way of knowing what the ocean, tides, and tons of sand will do between tide cycles, I’m not real sure her rings wouldn’t have been buried below a metal detectors capabilities by low tide the next morning.
Carol and Steven – Thank you so much for trusting me to help find your lost treasure. Enjoy the rest of your vacation and have a safe drive back home to Ohio!
Jim
