Lost Ring in the Waves! – Found!!!
Yesterday afternoon I was wrapping up a nice weekend when I got a call from Marcus. He was out at Pensacola Beach and had dropped his large, solid gold class ring out in the Gulf while throwing football with his friend. This is a problem anytime but it was made bigger because Marcus said that he was between 4.5-5.5 feet deep. This is about my limit without scuba diving because it is so hard to set the scoop in deep water when you keep floating off in the current and waves. Marcus had a really good mark where he was though and seemed like a very nice guy so I decided to give it a try. My wife decided to tag along and she is always good luck. When we got there and walked out to the west side of the pier where the surfers go, we met Marcus and recapped where he thought he had dropped it. He had counted seven pilings of the pier out and had marked about 200ft west with his chairs. I had a good starting point as I waded out. I noticed that the water was just gorgeous and it was so clear I could easily see the shells on the bottom. As I made my way to the 7th piling I started to worry a bit because I was taking quite a few large swells that were well over my head. I got set and started my grid trying my best to stay online. I tweaked my machine a bit for the conditions and as soon as I put it back to the sand I heard a screaming gold tone. I knew that had to be his big gold ring and tried to set my feet to scoop it. I started to panic as I kept getting pushed off the spot and I worried I would lose the mark. As soon as I heard it again I put my scoop down and tried to push down. That didn’t work as the next wave rolled me inshore. I made my way back out and heard it again and told myself to relax. Marcus had given me great directions and this ring was so large that I knew I would find it again so I took my time. I waited for a lull in the waves and then set the tip of the scoop where I knew I wouldn’t scratch the ring. I looked up to double check that I had time between the next incoming wave. I blew all the air out of my lungs to make myself as heavy as possible and jumped up to forcefully land on the scoop driving it into the sand. I fell backwards to lift up the scoop under where I hoped Marcus’ ring would be just as the next wave put me under water again. I held on for dear life and as I came up I didn’t even need to look down into the scoop. I could see that big gold ring shining through the holes in the side. 😃👍 I left the ring in the scoop and concentrated on keeping it out of the waves as I half body surfed and half tumbled my way to shore. It had been less than 10 minutes but I was worn out. My wife gave me the “did you find it shrug” but I was scared to let go of anything until I got to about knee deep water. I finally gave them all a thumbs up and a huge smile and Marcus came running in disbelief. He pulled his ring out of the scoop and said “that’s amazing, you are the man!” That made it all worth it. Congratulations on getting your ring back Marcus. I’m so glad I could help!
Phillip called me about midday asking if I would help him locate his wife’s engagement ring. It was lost in the water close to the shore line, ankle to calf deep and they had been searching for it by hand, snorkeling and they purchased a metal detector to no avail. It had been a couple days since lost and it was high tide at the time. He said because of emotional and sentimental reasons, the ring just had to be found. I said I would help and showed up late that same afternoon. This was my first visit and ring recovery at Fort Morgan so I wasn’t familiar with conditions and packed my equipment for all conditions. I searched an areas about 100 foot square with no Luck. There was only one target and when I dug it Phillip thought I had found it only to be disappointed when I pulled up a piece of wire. After performing a second search with no success I decided to first expand the search another 50 ft to the west. Now, remember the ring was lost at high tide and the beach had a gradual slope, for ever 1 foot drop of tide the horizontal distance was probably 15 or more feet. It’s was now low tide so I concentrated on the wet sand with no standing water. Within 10 minutes I got a good but weak signal, dug it and there it was. I felt it was lucky I came right out after called because the sand shifts about quickly around here and I’m afraid in another day or two it may have been buried to deep to detect. Phillip and the family were all smiles and grateful and now they can finish their vacation with no regrets. I am alway glad to help. 
