Back on Cape Cod Sand to Find and Return a Lost Zippo Lighter
July 20, 2026
How lucky can one get? Me for being given the OK to detect dry sand or Connor who had lost a very sentimental Zippo lighter that had belonged to Connor’s grandfather? As for me, I got the OK from my doctor at 10AM and went directly from the office to the beach. Or was it Connor who was waiting at the beach for me to find the lighter?
At 11:30am I was ready, detector and sand scoop in hand, ready to start the search. Connor lead the way and commented that the two 6X6 inches by 12 foot long had not been on the beach the previous night. If the tide brought the timbers in, had it taken the lighter out? Well about 25 feet further down the beach I began to search over an area of 20X20 feet with only one piece of melted aluminum can I was beginning to think maybe the watch had been moved by the wave action.
My second signal sounded like it had a good possibility to be the lighter, and it was. The search was over and the hike back to the parking lot began. Memories of Connor’s grandfather and my connection with the US Navy was very enjoyable. The return went a bit further when I offered to give Connor a ride home.
Well, I have to say, I must give Connor the luckiest person tag today. He had called for help which ended with a successful result and given freely.
A bit about the ship shown on the lighter:
USS Leahy (DLG/CG-16) was the lead ship of a new class of destroyer leaders in the United States Navy. Named for Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, she was commissioned in 4 August 1962 as DLG-16, a frigate, and reclassified as CG-16, a cruiser, on 30 June 1975.
USS Leahy served longer than any other ship of her class. After more than 31 years of active service all over the globe, the “Sweet 16” was decommissioned on 1 October 1993. After another 11 years in the reserve fleet, she was scrapped in Brownsville, Texas, in 2005.
