March 19th, 2009 by Brad Lovell

I received a phone call from Rick last week. Rick was doing some work on the back of his boat. As he was throwing rubbish from his boat to his dingy, Rick watched helplessly as his gold bracelet fell off his wrist and went flying through the air, and into the water. Unfortunately this bracelet was very special to Rick. It was a gift from his wife over 33 years ago. And Rick also mentioned to me that he had planned on passing the gold bracelet down to his grand son, who seemed to love playing with the bracelet. The bracelet was lost in about 2-3 meters of water, so unfortunately I was unable to help out. But, Rick had already organised a diver, Josh. Josh attempted searching for the lost bracelet without the help of a metal detector. The water where the gold bracelet fell, was very murky, with a mud bottom. Josh had no luck finding the bracelet, and mentioned to Rick that he really needs the help of a metal detector. After a quick search on google for an underwater metal detector, Rick found my website. I met Rick and Josh down at Woodford Bay with my equipment, a beautiful spot near Greenwich and Lane Cove on Sydney’s North Shore. Josh did not have experience with metal detecting, but he is an expert diver. After a quick metal detecting lesson, Josh was under water, searching for Rick’s lost bracelet. After a good 3 hour search, Josh came up empty handed. I still had one plan up my sleeve. My scuba diving friend Matt was available on the weekend, and willing to head down to Woodford bay in an attempt to find Rick’s gold bracelet. Matt is still learning the art of metal detecting, which is actually a lot more complex than one would think. Finding a signal is easy, but digging up what is causing that signal 3 meters under water, with zero visibility is not an easy feat. I was unable to meet Matt and Rick on the weekend, so Matt picked up my metal detecting gear and gave it his best. I am not sure how long the hunt lasted, but unfortunately Matt was unable to find Rick’s bracelet either. So after 3 attempts, the gold bracelet still sits at the bottom of Woodford Bay. I really feel for Rick, who desperately wanted his Bracelet back on his wrist. But I am sure Rick feels a sense of closure knowing he did everything physically possible to retrieve the lost bracelet. I have not given up on Ricks bracelet yet. When I am unable to find a customers lost item, I return in my spare time to continue the search. I am hoping to get back down to Woodford Bay some time in the future to continue searching for Rick’s Gold Bracelet.