Lost ring Oahu Tag | Page 28 of 37 | The Ring Finders

This ring find began when I received a voicemail from Pastor Les Araki. While metal detecting on Waikiki Beach a young couple Bruno & Maria on there honeymoon from Uruguay approached him and said Bruno had just lost his ring in waist deep water. Pastor Les was pressed for time but took a quick hunt however he didn’t locate the ring. They borrowed the lifeguards cellphone and called me at home. Since I’m only 10 minutes from Waikiki I told Bruno I would load up my gear and be right down. I met Bruno & his lovely wife Maria on the beach and asked Bruno to join me in the water where he thought the ring fell off. We went about halfway into the protected area and Bruno looked ashore to see if Maria agreed to the location. She gave a nod and I turned on the Excal and started walking parallel to the beach. Five paces later and ten feet from Bruno I got a nice tone and two scoops down out came Bruno’s Gold Wedding Band. He was astonished how quick the recovery occurred. As we walked toward the shore the beach goers in the area started clapping. One gentleman said, “How did you find it so fast?” “Great equipment and a little experience by the operator,” I said. A few hugs and hand shakes and Bruno said, “Thank you for saving my honeymoon.” Aloha to Bruno & Maria.

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!