Wristwatch lost a Mission Beach found.
Brian was playing football with some friends on the shores of Mission Beach when his watch got snagged, popped the band loose, and off into the dry sand it went. Surely something as big as a watch could be found by several people running their fingers through the sand like little rakes, right? Nope, all their efforts were in vain. In his search for help, his friend Zack contacted Curtis Cox, a fellow RingFinder member and friend located 25 miles or so north of me. Curtis recommended a call to me since I’m much closer. Thanks Curtis! I arrived at the site, called Zack, and he had Brian meet me to define the search area. At first it looked like a family had come and camped right on ground zero, but, after a minute or two, Brian said it was more likely about 20 feet away, so, I started my search there. After just a minute or two, I got a likely signal and was in the process of investigating when Brian spotted a log that he said was more likely the spot. That log was over right next to the people camped and Brian waved to me to go there. I said, wait a sec, as this might be it, and it was, still ticking away! A happy Brian couldn’t believe how quick it was found. A pleasure to meet you Brian, talk to you Zack, and thanks for the reward.
I notice a text from Christopher requesting some help in locating Sandra’s David Yurman bracelet she had somehow lost on the beach in LBI the day before. They were not exactly positive that it was lost on the beach, but figured it was the most likely place it could be. The day before Sandra and some friends were doing some whale watching from the beach, and getting some excellent drone footage of the whales at the same time. That made me just a little nervous, as the whales move rather quickly up and down the beach, and it was very possible Sandra did the same. We arranged to meet at the house and walked up to the beach, while we discussed exactly what area they had spent most of the day prior. I asked Christopher to walk in front of me to box out the spot, as I followed behind, dragging my sand scoop around the perimeter. It was just a short while later, right in front of a group of people, that actually follow NJ Ring Finder on Facebook, where my metal detector got a loud signal, consistent with the bangle bracelet. Sure enough, It was Sandra’s bracelet, safe in my sand scoop, after spending two days buried in the Jersey Shore sand. Another near tragedy turned into memories !!!!
It was a beautiful day at the Jersey Shore, so why not take your dog to the beach??? After all, they love the water just as much as humans. And thats exactly what Lucy did that morning after she woke up. It was quite a few hours later that Lucy had a horrible mishap that you would wish on nobody !!!! She was throwing her dogs toy straight out into the water, when he beautiful Carter Trinity Rings flew off he finger. At that point she went into panic mode as many do, and began franticly searching without any luck. After about an hour she reached out to me. After getting all the details we had to act quickly, as the tide was coming in fast, do to the full moon. Once I arrived, she showed me the spot she believed the rings flew off, and I quickly got to work. I went out deep to start, knowing it would be over my head shortly. Having no luck, I worked 50′ paths back in to about knee deep water. Knowing time was running out, I went back out to about waist deep water. The greenhead fly’s were really having their feast on my upper body, so patients were growing very short. Making short sweeps, from waist to knee deep water, to expand my search area, to see if possibly they flew off to the side a bit. After about 25′ more feet to the south, BINGO !!!!! I got a fantastic hit, which I prayed was not a sinker or military debris, as this particular is littered with. After shaking out all the fine particles from my scoop, there, in the corner under a few shells, were Lucy’s rings. With a sigh of relief, I slowly walked out of the water, telling Lucy I was getting eaten alive. She looked very disappointed, figuring I was giving up, I told her to take a look into my scoop. Its at that very moment that makes doing this so so rewarding ! The emotions really tell a story of their own.
I received a text from Robyn in reference to a St Michaels pendant that was lost the prior day on a softball field. She had said it had extreme sentimental value, and it had been given to her nephew by his grandmother quite a while back. After getting all the details, we agreed on a time to meet at the ball field. If you know about softball, prior to the game, there is quite a bit of workouts that take place. That said, I started my search on first base, one of the locations it may have come off. Then searched the dugouts with no luck. Checked around home plate where batting practice took place, and still nothing. Then down the 3rd base line where lots of throwing and stretching take place prior to the game, yep you guessed it nothing. So, I walked back to the bleachers where Robyn was sitting, and talking with Michael, her nephew, who lost the pendent. After talking with him he mentioned that after playing first base, he went into the dugout, then out to coach 3rd base, the only spot left to search. Guess what, thats right, nothing again. Something is not right, he positively lost it on the field, but one KEY detail we missed. While heading out to coach 3rd base, he noticed the end of the chain hanging way down by his belt, with the cross stuck on the lobster claw clasp. But, everything was already searched. I stood back deep on the grass/clay line where he might have been playing, mumbling to myself, that I covered from the pitchers mound, all the way to the dugout, and even back on the grass a bit. It was then I realized I hadn’t covered right behind the mound where a first baseman would charge hard to make the cutoff on a line drive to second base. It was just a few moments later the pendant was recovered, right where I just mentioned. This is a perfect example of why we ask so many questions when doing a recovery, that one clue of the chain hanging low, could have eliminated all the extra searching. Regardless, another very happy ending.
