Kapidr
Sr. Member
I received an email from a woman who found my blog on a ring finder site. She was researching “How to find a ring lost in the ocean”. You see her husband had thrown off his wedding ring that day at the beach in waist deep water by Dondanville Road in St. Augustine Florida while he was catching a football. The ring was his fathers and it was passed down to him so one can imagine the added sentiment.
At the time of the call it was raining. Luckily for him it was high tide when he lost it. That means when the tide goes out it will be under the wet sand and likely not in the water which makes it easier to find. Low tide that night was around 5:45 p.m. which would have been a perfect time to find it, however it was still raining and lightening. We made arrangements to meet at the next low tide which was 6:30 a.m. the following morning even though rain was forecast for then too.
We got a break around 7:00 p.m. the same night when the rain stopped and although the tide was still coming in there was a chance the water had not come in enough to cover where the ring was. I hopped in my jeep and went to the beach. I called the couple but they were unable to meet me but they were able to described where they were when it was lost. Again luckily for them they had made a giant drip sand castle which was still there and they stated the husband was in front of that castle about 30 feet deeper into the water when he lost the ring. The next morning that castle would be gone as it was below the tide line and finding exactly where you were on the beach is not as easy as it sounds without a marking like that.
I found the big drip castle quickly just north of Dondanville road but it was then 7:30 p.m. and a county employee was locking the gates to the beach. I went up to the employee with the key and explained what I was doing and asked if she would mind if I parked right there at the gate and she told me I could.
After parking I made my way down to the drip castle and started a grid search. The first target I heard was at about 8 p.m. and it turned out to be a tungsten ring. The wedding ring this man had lost was described as gold with two thin black lines encircling it so I kept searching. About 20 minutes later it was beginning to get dark and the water was rising to where my search area was when I heard that wonderful sound of BEEP BEEP!!! RING SOUND!! I dug excitedly and sure enough it was the ring he’d described.
I called them and asked again for the description and told them I may have found it and a quick photo sent to them comfirmed it. Needless to say they were SUPER HAPPY!!!! I was able to deliver the ring to them the following morning and was rewarded with a very generous reward but the smiles I saw were priceless.
My good camera was at camp with my son so forgive me for the not so great photos.
Barbara
At the time of the call it was raining. Luckily for him it was high tide when he lost it. That means when the tide goes out it will be under the wet sand and likely not in the water which makes it easier to find. Low tide that night was around 5:45 p.m. which would have been a perfect time to find it, however it was still raining and lightening. We made arrangements to meet at the next low tide which was 6:30 a.m. the following morning even though rain was forecast for then too.
We got a break around 7:00 p.m. the same night when the rain stopped and although the tide was still coming in there was a chance the water had not come in enough to cover where the ring was. I hopped in my jeep and went to the beach. I called the couple but they were unable to meet me but they were able to described where they were when it was lost. Again luckily for them they had made a giant drip sand castle which was still there and they stated the husband was in front of that castle about 30 feet deeper into the water when he lost the ring. The next morning that castle would be gone as it was below the tide line and finding exactly where you were on the beach is not as easy as it sounds without a marking like that.
I found the big drip castle quickly just north of Dondanville road but it was then 7:30 p.m. and a county employee was locking the gates to the beach. I went up to the employee with the key and explained what I was doing and asked if she would mind if I parked right there at the gate and she told me I could.
After parking I made my way down to the drip castle and started a grid search. The first target I heard was at about 8 p.m. and it turned out to be a tungsten ring. The wedding ring this man had lost was described as gold with two thin black lines encircling it so I kept searching. About 20 minutes later it was beginning to get dark and the water was rising to where my search area was when I heard that wonderful sound of BEEP BEEP!!! RING SOUND!! I dug excitedly and sure enough it was the ring he’d described.
I called them and asked again for the description and told them I may have found it and a quick photo sent to them comfirmed it. Needless to say they were SUPER HAPPY!!!! I was able to deliver the ring to them the following morning and was rewarded with a very generous reward but the smiles I saw were priceless.
My good camera was at camp with my son so forgive me for the not so great photos.
Barbara
