Details change but the basic story is the same – a loose ring went flying into the water as a ball was thrown. Anthony was enjoying a Cape Cod vacation with Anisha, his young bride of a little over a month, and friends when disaster struck. What had been a good time playing in the water suddenly changed to the depressing reality that the precious wedding band so recently installed on Anthony’s finger was gone. Frantic searching and diving to scour the bottom produced no results (it’s amazing how quickly a ring disappears into the sand!). The whole incident was observed by onlookers on the beach. Fortunately one of them was aware of the Ring Finders and suggested that Anisha contact me. So within a couple hours of the loss I was there with detector in hand and began a search.
Although the area of the loss was fairly well defined, search conditions were less than ideal. Wind, waves, and, in particular, thick floating and submerged mats of eelgrass and seaweed made it difficult to swing a dectector in a coherent search pattern. Nonetheless, after 2+ hours I felt that I had covered the area thoroughly at least 3 times, and there was no result. Sometimes, for no logical reason, a ring simply ‘disappears’ – maybe it was missed by an inch on a swing, maybe it was oriented such that it gave a poor signal as the detector was jerked around in the surf, maybe it sank rapidly into soft sand that was being exercised by the waves, maybe, maybe – who knows? In any case we were all tired and in the waning light it was time to call it quits. We were deeply disappointed, but… I told Anthony that all hope was not lost and that I’d be back for another look. I refused to believe that the ring simply could not be found.
Two days later the conditions were good – light offshore winds, clear water – so I headed to the beach about an hour before low tide. Again I did a regular search pattern and in about half an hour had Anthony’s ring in my scoop. It was located a bit outside of the ‘prime’ area but still within the area that I had covered well in my prior search. Go figure!
Then the part that that I love even more – the call to Anthony & Anisha to tell them that I’d found the ring. It was too bad that this could not be done in person (they had returned to home in Connecticut), but the exuberant joy on the other end of the connection could not be mistaken and was eminently satisfying. Arrangements were made to return the ring via their friend’s mother, who travels regularly to Connecticut. Thus the happy ending of another Ring Finder saga. And most importantly, congratulations to Anisha and Anthony – may your love and lives be long and blessed.
Anthony’s shiny new wedding band.
Anthony’s ring back where it belongs!
