Ring Lost in Surf … La Jolla Shores, CA. .. Found with Metal Detector
La Jolla Shores, CA. … Thursday 4/16/15 .. 12pm
Ring Lost in Surf … La Jolla Shores, CA. … Found with Metal Detector
Today we have a nice low tide about 2pm. This is a good time to detect on the beach in the wet sand without bothering sunbathers on the dry sand. I arrived at La Jolla Shores beach about noon. After about a half hour messing around the fire pits a man walked up to me asking me if I could help him find his ring. I told him I was a member of TheRingFinders and gave him my card with our website information. His name was FX which is short for a longer name. He is visiting from Seattle, WA. Earlier in he morning at hi tide he had been surfing when his gold wedding ring of 15 years slipped of his finger. He felt it slip off when he was in about knee deep water but it disappeared right away. FX walked me over to the location which he had remembered was directly in front of the lifeguard tower.
I told him that I had to work the area slow and thorough as this is a game of inches. If I miss it by an inch, it could take hours to find it. He just stood by with his smart phone reading TheRingFinders website. I made a long pass to the waterline then returned toward the beach. Just before turning around for my third pass I heard a good tone that I knew was gold. There under 2 inches of wet sand was FX’s gold wedding band. Another good memory for a vacation holiday. Also a great smile for me to remember. After a many years of finding rings for people I go by beaches remembering the people and their rings that I have found and returned. Making good memories for everybody is part of what we do.
Sarah and her husband had spent the day at Laguna Beach. The weather has been awesome, sunny and temperatures in the mid 80’s. They left about 2pm to get on the road before traffic got too bad. Thirty minutes down the road Sarah realiz
ed she did not have her wedding ring set. Two very special rings that she has worn for over 25 years. Her and her husband had recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary last week. She knew that she had put the rings in the cup holder of her beach chair while putting on sunscreen. There was a possibility that the rings were in the sand where they had been sitting. Returning to the beach and sifting through the sand with their fingers with no success . Sarah Google searched “how to find a ring in the sand” . Up popped a link to TheRingFinders with my contact information. I was in my car about 8 miles away, but it took about 20 – 25 minutes to get to her location. Just as I pulled up Sarah’s husband found the larger ring. I was able to locate the smaller ring after a few swings of my CTX3030 minelab metal detector. It was a weak signal which may have been because it was in a vertical position. It may have been buried a little deeper because they had been moving around a lot of sand doing their search. What’s most important is Sarah has both of her very special rings back on her finger, hopefully for another 25 years. Sarah commented how her smart phone and the internet worked to bring us together. I agree, I have the metal detecting equipment and know how to use them, but the smart phones and internet makes these recoveries happen.
I received the call at about 3:30pm while detecting at Huntington Beach. It took me awhile to walk a half mile to my car, but I was able to me Alexis and Andrew at 5pm. We talked about the circumstances leading to the loss of the ring. I explained to them how my equipment works. Some people think metal detectors can find things several feet from the coil. Other people do not believe the work for such small items as rings. I knew it was possible to search the long walk back to the parking lot, but the best place to start would be where she picked up her blouse. Sometimes other persons move an item containing the ring or keys not knowing something was hidden inside. I set up an area to grid search about 40’x30′.. Making six passes parallel to the beach with out success, I setup my CTX 3030 to beach mode – all metal and began a cross grid. The next move would have been the long walk back to the parking area. (time consuming and the sun was setting). Three 30 foot passes to and from the water I got a nice 12-02 signal. Calling Alexis over to see the signal and hear the sound, I told her this is your ring and I scooped it. It was a beautiful ring. She dropped to her knees in tears of joy. Andrew also came over to thank me telling me that he had all but given up on ever seeing their ring again. It was a great day and I got another lesson of humility. It is a game of inches and it pays to cross check.