August 6, 2023 was what began as a great afternoon of boating on Cape Cod Bay turned into a fretful time of searching for a wedding band that had slipped from Zach’s finger after only 2 months of being worn. Zach tried diving in 9 feet of water to find the ring but lacked the ability to hold his breath long enough to do much searching under water. When the tide went out and the area was void of water he and others tried using a metal detector and “eye-ball” searching with no success.
One of Zach’s friends suggested he call J&E Enterprise, a metal detector dealer for suggestions. Eleanor offered up my name and number. Zach then called me. The tide was about ¾ full and I knew I could not detect in the 9 foot deep water and made arrangements for an early morning meeting when the tide would be down to only waist deep.
The morning came with storm alerts on the NOAA radio. High winds, heavy rain and possible tornadoes were on the horizon for Cape Cod area. The sky was a bit overcast at 7:30AM but otherwise it looked like the beginning of a wonderful day. I took a chance and left the safety of my home and was off to meet up with Zach, After the introduction and being shown were the over-size ring slipped from his finger I was in the water searching in a grid pattern. About 45 minutes of searching with only one other signal I located the wedding band.
I left the ring in my detecting scoop and headed out of the water, back to where Zach had been standing. He thought I had given up searching and I said yes, there is no need to search any further. I then put the scoop in front of him so he could see the ring in the scoop and retrieve it for himself. I love the emotions people show when their lost item has been found and is being returned. Even bystanders are amazed and become elated as they watch and add congratulations.
Zach’s wife was home and had offered up a bit of advice when she was told of the “loss”. That was “do not tell your mother until after TheRingFinder does his search.” While Zach was talking to Kelly I texted her a picture of the return. Yes, it was a wonderful feeling to be part of this story that ended with smiles that spread between Zach on Cape Cod and his wife several states away.
OH, I must add that the weatherman was correct. Two hours after I arrived back home the NOAA alerts started coming in every few minutes, Then the wind, rain, and lightening engulfed our area. There were two tornadoes in our area. One EF1 touched down about 30 miles and the other an EF0 was only 5 miles away. There was physical damage to homes and property but no human injuries. Both Zach and I were among the lucky ones this morning.
Caroline contacted me about a ring that slipped between the boards on her dock, and landed on the bottom of her lagoon. She said it was about 2 years ago, and wondered if I was able to recover it. I asked her some questions, and determined that I needed to come out and confirm a few things before agreeing to do the search. We decided it was worth a try, and I would attempt ASAP. After 2 weeks we met at the house, and i suited up and got into the water. It was just workable at a depth of 5 1/2′. I searched for about 45 min and not one signal that even sounded close to a ring. She told me to give up, but I wont quit, knowing the ring had to be there someplace. I worked out past the dock about 2′ where I got a solid tone that I knew was the ring. I had to put on a weight belt once I started to dig, and that didn’t work so good either. I decided to drag the ring back under the dock where it would be much easier to work. That took another 30 min. and FINALLY the ring was in my scoop. Unfortunately Caroline had to leave, so she was reunited with the ring at a later date. I guess the prop wash over the years pushed the ring out to where it was located. 
Hannah called about her necklace that disappeared into the sand the day before, when they were enjoying a nice day at the beach. They were in Beach Haven on LBI, and I told her I would be there ASAP. When I arrived we talked a bit about the situation, then headed right up to the beach. She was pretty sure of the location due to the fact there were a few good landmarks close by. Prior to my arrival she had also boxed out the area, which is always a great help. I turned on the machine and they walked up to the bench on the dune crossover. I think they had just sat down when I held up her beautiful necklace and pendant. Gotta love when your clients have a really good location to start the search. thanks Hannah, it was a pleasure.
If you have lost a ring don’t hesitate to call or text at 805-290-5009 as time is not on our side as the elements or others may get it first leaving you empty handed.
If you have lost a ring or other piece of jewelry don’t hesitate and call or text me at 805-290-5009 so I can quickly make a plan to get your ring back to you. Time is not on our side as the elements and other folks may get to it first.
August 1, 2023 was to be Brian’ third lucky charm day. He had lost his ring two years ago and I found and returned it. About two weeks ago he call to ask for help in finding his daughters ring. As I was leaving for the beach the phone rang again. This time to tell me not to bother, the group had found the ring in the sand. Today another call from Brian was to tell me his friend Patrick had just lost his ring in the surf.
Ten minutes later I was on my way as was Leighton. What a team member. He was on the way from the west and I from the east of the point of ring loss. On the way, while stopped at a stop sign I saw Leighton coming down the road. He passed and I followed him. We stopped, set up a plan. and were off to a private club. We were greeted at the front door of the club and were escorted to the beach boardwalk. On the beach we met up with Brian and Patrick, covered the usual questions and headed for the water. Detector and scoop at the ready I headed down the slope, heard a target, stopped to dig the target, some 30 feet from where Patrick was standing acting as a point of reference for the lost ring.
One scoop in the soft sand and I had a wedding band in my scoop. I walked out to were Patrick was standing. After giving the ring to him I saw a puzzled look on his face. He was a bit unsure thatt it was “the ring” lost. The lost ring had been his great-great-great-grandfather’s and at first Patrick did not see two identifying dents on the ring’s edge. The ring had been removed from the deceased by cutting and the repair left the two small marks. Thinking it might not be “the Ring” Leighton and I continued to search the area. While searching I thought about time and tide. The ring had been lost for almost two hours and the tide was going out. That was the reason for the difference in distance from where I found the ring and where Patrick was standing. Further inspection of the ring the indents were visible and there was no karat marking, an indication of the ring’s age and lastly, there was no inscription on the ring. Yes it was Patrick’s ring.
Another Lost ring had been found, returned and it’s story entered into the “Book of Smiles”.
Renee called about her beautiful Cartier ring that slipped off her finger while her and many friends were having “Sunday Funday” on the beach in Lavallette NJ. It was getting dark, I told her not to move from the area, and I would be there in about 40 min. When I arrived, they were all sitting in a circle, enjoying the end of a fabulous day, under the full moon. She had the spot marked with some empty cans, and about 3′ from where she thought she was sitting my machine gave a loud solid signal, which I def knew was her ring. They said NO way you have my ring, I replied with “you have some tiny fingers” seconds later they were all jumping around with excitement. Somewhere if the excitement I became “Dr. Ring Finder”. This was funniest and happiest bunch I have encountered in quite a long time. 
Chelsea contacted me about a ring lost by the husband of her friend Rebecca 3 weeks ago, and most likely lost in a volleyball court. Rebecca had taken off the family heirloom ring to play the game, and gave the ring to her husband to place in his pocket for safe keeping. After the volleyball game, a game of basketball, and a walk in the park, they discovered the ring missing from his pocket. Not much I can do in a paved basketball court, so, the most likely place to start would be the volleyball area. Normally volleyball courts are detected often, so, it was not likely still there, but, always worth a try. In this case, the court in not in a high use area, so, the odds were getting a tad better. I also learned that a detector was already used to try and find the ring. The odds were now getting worse again until I found out it was just a cheap kiddie detector and the person using it didn’t have much experience using one. The odds went up a bit again. My wife and I met Chelsea at the site and she relayed as much info as she knew while we walked to the court. Once we got there, I noticed that even though it was a sand court, it was fairly hard packed. The odds just dropped again. Hopefully it was a lot more fluffy when the ring was lost as a ring wouldn’t sink into this surface very easily. I fired up my Equinox 900 and was hit with all sorts of interference signals when I started sweeping the coil across the sand. There must be all sorts of big metal down deep under the court. That actually improved the odds to someone with some detecting experience. A novice would be overwhelmed, but, I’ve learned a few things over the years about dealing with bad conditions. Knowing that the ring is a fairly recent loss, and should be relatively shallow, I mainly just turn the sensitivity way down to help eliminate the deep targets. Knowing what the ring should read and sound like also helps in this situation. I made it maybe 8 feet along one side of the net when I got my first likely signal. Sure enough, it was the ring we were hoping to find just two inches down. My understanding is that the ring is going to be a surprise reveal to Rebecca from her husband. A pleasure meeting you Chelsea. You’re a good friend for taking charge of this, and thank you for the reward.
