This was a great recovery for several reasons!
First, it marked the first ring recovery we’ve done since moving to the Big Island of Hawaii and joining Ring Finders three months ago.
We were so happy to help Pedro and Martyna from Poland find her lost engagement ring!
Second, this recovery set a new personal speed benchmark for finding lost rings!
Martyna had put the ring on a hat to shoot at sunset in memory of their one-year engagement at the same spot. Unfortunately the ring fell off the hat the moment a wave swept up and it was gone…!
They spent the evening looking for the ring with their fingers in the sand, and by the time they’d called us and we could make the hour’s drive to their location out at Anaeho’omalu Beach, Waikoloa, it was noon. Martyna told us she’d spent the night in tears.
Arriving on the beach, I was a little worried to see Pedro and Martyna’s friends – about six of them – all on their hands and knees raking fingers thru the sand and digging piles of sand here and there. Fortunately, they showed me the exact spot she’d lost the ring. I asked everyone to stand back and switched on our Excalibur II metal detector. Two, then three sweeps of the coil and, “HELLO!” I hear the growling lowish tone of platinum. 5 seconds… I asked Sylvie to switch on the GoPro but by the time she’d turned the power on, the ring was in the scoop and Martyna was hugging, Pedro, me, Sylvie and all her friends! Total search and recovery time was about 10 seconds! I wish all recoveries were that straight-forward – for everyone’s sake!
Brent and Sylvie’s Ring Recovery Feedback:
Pedro and Martyna did a few important ring-recovery steps right at the beginning which helped the speed of our recovery. We were fortunate that the waves were small with no rip along the beach. They were lucky enough to know exactly where they’d dropped the ring, so made a note of that exact location. They also marked the time – which gave us a chance to check tide levels and approximate wave height when they’d lost their ring. On the challenges-side, having their friends dig around seems natural, especially if one knows the locale, but…it can dislodge a ring’s precarious place in the sand and allow it to be swept out with the waves. Fingers-in-the-sand-technique has about a 2% chance of finding anything… Also the chances of recovery get smaller and smaller quickly with passing time. By the time we got out to the site, 18 hours had passed. Call as soon as possible and we’ll be there as soon as available! Again, so happy for small waves and good “X-marks the Spot” info!
So happy Pedro and Martyna are still rejoicing!
