Ring lost in San Diego found
Chelsea contacted me about a ring lost by the husband of her friend Rebecca 3 weeks ago, and most likely lost in a volleyball court. Rebecca had taken off the family heirloom ring to play the game, and gave the ring to her husband to place in his pocket for safe keeping. After the volleyball game, a game of basketball, and a walk in the park, they discovered the ring missing from his pocket. Not much I can do in a paved basketball court, so, the most likely place to start would be the volleyball area. Normally volleyball courts are detected often, so, it was not likely still there, but, always worth a try. In this case, the court in not in a high use area, so, the odds were getting a tad better. I also learned that a detector was already used to try and find the ring. The odds were now getting worse again until I found out it was just a cheap kiddie detector and the person using it didn’t have much experience using one. The odds went up a bit again. My wife and I met Chelsea at the site and she relayed as much info as she knew while we walked to the court. Once we got there, I noticed that even though it was a sand court, it was fairly hard packed. The odds just dropped again. Hopefully it was a lot more fluffy when the ring was lost as a ring wouldn’t sink into this surface very easily. I fired up my Equinox 900 and was hit with all sorts of interference signals when I started sweeping the coil across the sand. There must be all sorts of big metal down deep under the court. That actually improved the odds to someone with some detecting experience. A novice would be overwhelmed, but, I’ve learned a few things over the years about dealing with bad conditions. Knowing that the ring is a fairly recent loss, and should be relatively shallow, I mainly just turn the sensitivity way down to help eliminate the deep targets. Knowing what the ring should read and sound like also helps in this situation. I made it maybe 8 feet along one side of the net when I got my first likely signal. Sure enough, it was the ring we were hoping to find just two inches down. My understanding is that the ring is going to be a surprise reveal to Rebecca from her husband. A pleasure meeting you Chelsea. You’re a good friend for taking charge of this, and thank you for the reward.
I was called late in the afternoon to find a lost wedding and engagement ring in the sand at Pensacola Beach. The beach this day was packed with folks enjoying the weekend and fine weather. Sarah and Ron had their umbrella and beach chairs set with an extra shade tent for the infant baby. Sarah took her rings off and set them on the cooler while applying sunscreen on the baby. The baby squirmed about and somehow kicked the ring that when flying through the air, landing in the sand and burrowed in out of sight. At this point Sarah didn’t know the ring was missing but after taking care of the baby and getting him settled she soon discovered the rings were missing. Sarah and Ron frantically looked around for the rings, sifting the sand as best they could with no success. People were weaving their way through the crowded beach and impacting the area where the rings could have been buried. When I arrive I first surveyed the area they thought was the most likely spot. There were beach chairs, umbrellas, coolers and towels laid out every where. I politely asked everyone it I could move there property so I could check for the lost rings. Luckily everyone was cooperative. It didn’t take long to locate a couple of targets, the first was a aluminum can pull top that sounded surprisingly similar to a gold ring that had been soldered together. The second was the ring! Their beach neighbor had a tent set up with fabric sides. Apparently the baby sent the ring flying which hit the side of the tent with a little bounce and settled in the sand that may have been stepped on sending it a little deeper in the dry sand. In any event Sarah and Ron were overjoyed the ring was back on her finger. They were all smiles and grateful. 
A local surf shop in Pensacola, Waterboyz, celebrated its 30 year anniversary since opening its doors. They celebrated by having a special ring make for the founders. Since the founders surfed, one of them lost his ring in the water at a break west of the Pensacola Pier. The ring was solid silver and my detector literally screamed when I passed the coil over it. The ring was found and returned to its happy owner who was amazed it was recovered from the surf. I was more than satisfied to have been of service, and had a long shot recovery success. 
