James was enjoying the evening surf in chest-deep water when he realized that the platinum wedding band he’d been wearing for 15 years had gone missing from his hand.  An online search for help turned up The Ring Finders and in a short time I received a call.  I met him at the beach a half hour later to see what could be done.

Unfortunately the ring apparently had been lost in chest-deep water on an incoming tide, and the tide was now at neck-deep max.  The wind was kicking up waves of 2 feet or so over the sand bar where he thought the ring might have been dropped.  I didn’t have high hopes for a recovery in those conditions but wanted to give it a try before the ring started to work its way down into the sand.  After 45 minutes of riding the waves and being lifted off the bottom, I admitted that no matter how much ‘fun’ I was having I was on a fool’s errand, so I returned to shore.  We discussed other possible places where the ring might have been lost — in the dry sand where James had been ball playing, or near the water’s edge where he had a little tug of war with his daughter.  I covered these areas carefully with no luck and finally had to give up when it was too dark to see.

James and his family were leaving the next morning to return home to New Jersey, but I told him that I’d come back again at low tide that afternoon and resume the search.  Given the uncertainty about where the ring was lost I didn’t feel too optimistic but I was eager to try.  The next day proved to be beautiful, with low wind, sunshine, and relatively calm seas.  I started by gridding the nearshore area where the tug of war took place, then did a swath along James’ likely path when he went out to the sand bar.  Gridding on the bar yielded no targets at all until I found an inexpensive charm bracelet after a half hour or so.  Then another half hour went by without a single signal until…  a nice strong tone that was either a bottle cap or a ring came through the headphones.  One scoop and a good shake to clear the sand, and James’ ring was in hand!

I contacted James and needless to say, he and his family were thrilled to hear that the ring had been found, despite seemingly difficult odds.  His wedding band is now in the post on its way home.  Thanks James, for giving me the opportunity to help out and ultimately produce another Ring Finders success story!

James’ platinum ring.

Big smiles from James and his wife Jo.