Lost ring Hanauma Bay Tag | Page 28 of 35 | The Ring Finders

This ring find began when I received an email from Ben who works with the Air Force and lives in Honolulu. Ben was enjoying the Bay with his family and before entering the water at Hanauma Bay he put his gold wedding band in his wallet. After taking a dip he returned to the area his family was on the beach and noticed his toddler son had picked up his wallet. He didn’t realize until after they left that his ring was gone. He went back to the beach was unsuccessful in finding it. That evening he found the ring finders and sent me the email. After calling him we agreed to meet at the park entrance at 6AM then proceed down to the beach to hunt for the ring. Their already was another detectorist I know hunting the other side of the park thankfully. It was a rather simple hunt in the dry sand. Ben drew a grid in the sand and I went to work. Two quarters and one dime and then BOOM! Gold Tone! One scoop and there was Ben’s ring. A sigh of relief came from Ben and I knew a weight was lifted from his shoulders. Not an expensive ring but the sentimental value is always priceless. Aloha to Ben.

While finishing up a ring find at Lanikai Beach my wife Wendy texted me to call Vera in Waikiki. When I called Vera who was vacationing with her husband Joe from Anchorage Alaska told me her husband just lost his hand-made Silver Tribal ring in three feet of water near the Duke Kahanamoku statue in Waikiki. I told Vera I could be there in about 30 minutes as I was on the North side of the island. We met at the statue and proceeded down to the beach. The rollers were coming in quite steady from knee to overhead. It was all I could do to try and stay in one spot. I had a great high tone but the target kept escaping my scoop. I went ashore and got Joe to join me in the water so we could work together. Between sets I dug like a madman only to be thrown about after a few seconds. Finally on about the 15th scoop the tone was gone and there in my scoop was the Silver Eskimo Tribal ring. Incredible engraving. Vera & Joe had a matched set and Joe admitted when the ring came off he cried. He thought it was lost forever. These rings have very sentimental value to the Alaskan natives as he and Vera explained to me. I was only glad it finally ended up in my scoop after so many attempts. Aloha to Joe & Vera!

This ring find began when Gareth from Auckland, New Zealand called. It was already dark but as always I wanted to get this ring before the band of detectorists go into the water in the protected area of Waikiki. As Gareth was testing the water to see if he could take his baby girl in he didn’t realize that the swim through the wall had a drop off from 3 to 6 feet deep. As he stumbled he put his hand down to break his fall and when he pull his hand out of the coarse sand his ring was gone. The lifeguard told him to watch for a detectorist to come down the beach but after an hour none arrived. That’s when Gareth googled “Lost Ring Waikiki” and found the ring finders. When I arrived there was just enough ambient light from the hotels along the beach I didn’t need my headlamp. I went out to the drop off and immediately got a nice tone but the target kept moving around and away from my scoop. I abandoned that thinking it was a pull tab. About ten feet away I got another nice tone and two scoops down there was Gareth’s awesome gold ring glittering in my scoop. Elapsed time 3 minutes. Gareth thanked me many times over and said the vacation was saved. Aloha to Gareth!

This ring find started when I was called by Frank from Rochester, New York. While celebrating his 20th Anniversary Frank was enjoying the warm waters of Waikiki with his wife. After about two hours in the water Frank started heading into the beach when in about waist deep water his Gold Wedding Ring fell off in a wave. He tried looking with some goggles but the turbulent sand covered the ring out of sight. That evening he found “The Ring Finders” and sent me an email. I never got the email or responded so Frank decided to call. We decided to meet in Waikiki in about 45 minutes at the Burger King across from where he lost the ring. Frank showed me the extreme ends of the grid and in I went. It was high tide and the rollers were coming in fast & furious. It was hard to stay on target let alone scoop into solid reef. After the first grid search I went in to give Frank an update. The only target I could retrieve was an 8 ounce fishing weight. I asked Frank to join me in the water and act as a marker so I could stay on grid. While in the water Frank realized I needed to search more towards Diamond Head. On the fourth leg I got a decent tone and one scraping scoop across the reef low and behold there was Frank’s ring. I was actually shocked as several targets were unobtainable in the reef. I was relieved as it was getting late and the surf wasn’t subsiding. I looked over at Frank and said, “Got it!” He was like, “Really?” In the scoop lets start walking ashore and I’ll show you. I didn’t want to take a chance dropping the ring back on the reef. Frank was so thankful and still had a look of disbelief. Frank texted a pic to his wife and was so thankful his 20th ended on a high note. Aloha to Frank!

This ring find began on Thursday afternoon when I got a call from Janett who lives at Schoefield Barracks in Wahiawa Hawaii. She had taken her two boys to the resort lagoons to play and while she was applying their suntan lotion she took her rings off and placed them on a blanket. When play time was over she gathered up the beach gear and headed off to the showers to wash off the sand her boys had gotten all over themselves. While there she realized her rings were missing and immediately went back to their spot on the beach to try and find them. The sand swallowed them up so she informed security who gave her my number. I told her it was getting late and I would search first thing Friday morning. Janett texted me a pic of the ring and one of her boy playing on the beach so I would have a general sense of where they were. When I arrived the next morning I was able to use some distance markers in the pic to triangulate a grid. Several coins and metal junk targets later I got a loud concentrated tone and one scoop down I found one of Janett’s rings. This one wasn’t the Solitaire. I continued on but couldn’t find the other half. I noticed the tracks of the sand cleaning tractor nearby and wondered if it had consumed the ring. It appeared to fall short of the grid area but where was that other ring? I finally got through to Janett whose phone was on the charger. I explained to her the other ring wasn’t here. I talked her through the scenario again and told her it was possible the diamond prong may have snagged a thread and was still on the blanket. I told her to go through all her items and that of the boys. She did it once already but said she’d look again. I expanded my grid a bit then gave up. I called Janett to coordinate the return of the ring half that I found and when she answered the phone I could tell she had been crying. When she emptied the boy’s beach bucket the other ring went tink-tink onto the floor. She was so relieved after thinking it was gone forever. We met at Denny’s and put the ring set back together the way it belonged. Great way to end the days hunting. Aloha to Janett.

This ring find began when I got a call Thursday from Arnie and Debbie who live in Skokie, Illinois. They were visiting his Aunt & Uncle and taking in a day at the beach. Then while his lovely wife Debbie was wading in waist deep water off Duke’s in Waikiki her engagement ring fell off. They tried to find the ring with a snorkel and goggles and a detectorist also went in for them but the ring was not to be found. Arnie then googled “lost ring Waikiki” and that’s how he found “the ring finders”. I told Arnie I lived 10 minutes away and I’d meet them in front of the hotel. When I arrived and went down to the beach it was high tide and the rollers were coming in. It was going to be a challenge staying in grid. Arnie directed me from shore and I attempted my best to stay in line. After a penny and a pull tab I got a nice low gold tone but had a rough time in the surge getting the target in the scoop. Finally on the fifth try I looked in the scoop and bingo there was Debbie’s beautiful ring. I looked towards shore and gave them a thumbs up. I let them look into the scoop and the pure look of elation came over Debbie’s face. She really didn’t believe it would be found. Vacation saved. Aloha to Debbie & Arnie!