September 11, 2025:
On August 18th Joey and his two little “ducklings” were frolicking around the waters edge when what so often happens, a wedding ring slipped off a finger into the shallow water of Nantucket Sound. Joey, the ducklings and other family members searched for the next two days before heir vacation time came to an end and they had to leave, abandoning their search and the ring in the sand. 3 weeks later Tana, Joey’s mother, came to the Cape for a visit. Over the next two weeks she, other family members and friends continued to search the area in hopes of reuniting the ring with its owner. That was not to be.
Joey’s mother, still had a few extra days before having to leave the Cape. During the time she and several of her friends brought up the subject of the missing ring and one friend offered up the information of TheRingFinders.com. As other suggestions had failed, Tana reached out to me for help.
I was a bit stressed out about my situation of buying and selling a house, and would have to fit in time for a recovery search. A look at the tide chart and I could fit a couple of hours in at 7AM the next morning. All was set until my Realtor and I finished up our afternoon commitments and I could make a search just before the evening tide. It was possible for Tana to meet me a the beach and I was on the way.
With my detector and scoop in hand, Tana and I walked to the area that the ring was lost at. The most likely area of the loss was pointed out to me: lifeguard chair, either side about 10 feet and straight down, into the water and out to no more than knee deep. An hour of searching and not one good signal, Then a solid signal from my detector that did not sound like a gold ring should but I had to dig it anyway. As I thought, it was not a ring but a toy truck. By this time I had widen the area I was searching. The sun had set and in the dark it was difficult to keep a tight grid pattern. It was time to call it quits until the morning’s tide.
Just before leaving the water’s edge I took one more look at the pictures Tana had shown me. There was one picture that showed nice flat sandy area with the two “ducklings” playing on it. I looked to the west into an area I had not searched yet and saw the exact same conditions, it was a bit further west than I had been told where the ring was lost. “One more pass” I told Tana, took two steps and got a signal. “Tana, your son’s ring is right there“… with nothing but wet sand for Tana to look at, I took one scoop of sand turned it over on the dryer sand. A after a couple of passing of Tana’s hand through the mound of sand, it came into view, yes, there was her son’s ring.
Pictures, information and a few metal detecting stories passed away a few more minutes before we parted with a promise to exchange the photos we had taken. One was for me to learn how to turn on my camera’s flash function. And another to have Joey leave his ring in a safe place in the
future when he visits the beach. Unfortunately it would still be a few days before the ring will be returned to Joey. I hope to meet Joey on his next trip to the shores of Cape Cod to get a photo of him with a smile and holding his ring.
