New Wedding Ring Lost at Clontarf
June 27th, 2010 by Brad Lovell
This would have to have been the most freakish job I have had to date. Peter lost his new wedding ring in shallow water at a harbour side beach in Clontarf. I am fairly familiar with the beach at Clontarf, and thankfully it is not a surf beach. But I explained to Peter that from my experience when a ring has been lost in the water, especially when you don’t know where it fell off, it is always going to be difficult to recover. When I arrived at the beach, Peter had made some perimeter markings in the sand as a guide. I turned on my detector to begin what I figured would be a long slow grid search. First sweep of the detector and I receive a sweet loud signal. Plunge the scoop into the sand, and out pops Peters shining gold wedding ring! I think I was just as shocked as Peter! It is rare to pull a ring out of the shallows so quickly. Both Peter and myself couldn’t believe our luck! If only all my jobs we’re this successful! 
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Last night I received a phone call from Alex. He had been playing volley ball the previous day at Manly Beach, and lost his wedding ring while diving for the ball. Knowing Manly beach is constantly hunted by other metal detector guys, I told Alex I would finish my dinner and head straight out there. Alex showed me the area he had been playing volley ball, and the direction he believed the ring to fall. We squared off a search area with a large safety buffer, and began the search. After an hour of slowly covering an extended area I was starting to worry. But there was one positive sign, I was getting lots of targets including coins…which is an indication that the area has not already been hunted out by another metal detector man (or lady). It was time to begin searching the other side of the volley ball area. Although Alex did not beleive the ring was dropped in this area, you just never know where rings can end up. After about 5 minutes of searching the new area, I got a nice strong signal which would normally indicate a 50 cent coin. This signal can also indicate a large gold ring. After locating the target with my pinpointer, I caught a glimpse of gold between the sand. This glimpse of gold was indeed a gold wedding ring. I handed the ring to Alex who right away said that was his wedding ring. After a quick text message to his wife, I took this photo of a relieved Alex and the ring with my iPhone.
On Friday afternoon I met up with Danielle at South Curl Curl beach. The previous day Danielle’s brother had lost his wedding ring (which was passed down from a late relative) in about knee deep water. I mentioned to Danielle that finding a ring in the surf is always difficult, and the chances of recovery are always low. Danielle and her brother decided to call me out anyway, so at low tide I began the search. The surf was a little rough, with a strong current making a deep channel near where the ring was lost. I spent about 2 hours searching the area where the ring was dropped, and also the bottom of the channel in case the ring had been washed into it. Besides a couple of bottle caps and a $2 coin, there was no sign of the lost gold wedding band. I recently discovered there are a few metal detecting guys who read my blogs, and try finding the rings I was unsuccessful at recovering. I have made this easier by providing a treasure map above as to where this ring was lost. Danielle mentioned the ring is just a plain gold wedding band, about 40/50 years old. There we’re no engraving besides the hallmark. If anyone does find a ring that matches this description, please contact me on 0413727410 so I can put you in contact with Danielle.
A few days back I received a call from Anthony, who’s wife Myer had managed to lose her engagement ring somewhere at Balmoral Beach. Myer removed the ring to apply suncream, and at some point the ring has fallen in the sand. A passer by noticed the distressed couple searching for the ring and found my website on his iPhone. An hour later I was down at Balmoral Beach about to search for Myer’s lost diamond engagement ring. The couple had been sitting in 2 locations throughout the day, and remembered the path that they walked which was a good thing. We started the search in the position they had spent most of the time sitting, and both Myer and Anthony had a feeling it was in this area. After Anthony circled off a search area in the sand, I began detecting and digging any and every signal. After digging a few old bottle caps, and a 5 cent coin I received a very faint crackly signal. I have learned not to ignore these signals anymore as thin gold engagement rings can do this. When digging up diamond rings in dry sand, I do not use a scoop encase it knocks out the diamond. So I pushed my pinpointing device into the sand until I was right above the signal. After pushing some sand away I knew right away I had found Myer’s engagement ring. It doesn’t matter how many times I recover a lost ring, the feeling you get when you see a beautiful diamond ring sparkling in your hand is a great feeling. And it feels even better when you return the ring to the owner and see the smile on their face. Anthony and Myer, it was a pleasure meeting you guys 
Tuesday I was called out to Freshwater Beach to search for Dan’s lost gold ring. Dan had placed the ring on his t shirt, and when lifting his shirt the ring had fallen somewhere in the sand. Dan had an idea where the ring was, but frustratingly could not find it in the loose sand. About an hour after Dan’s phone call, I arrived at Freshwater Beach and found where Dan was sitting. He showed me the spot he believed the ring to be. After about 3 minutes of searching, I received a nice clear signal from my metal detector which was in the gold signature range. With the use of my pin pointing device, I was able to locate the signal which was indeed Dan’s lost gold ring. After some of the tricky and difficult jobs I have had lately, it was nice to have a quick efficient recovery 
Kristy had only been married for 10 weeks, and was given the task of minding her husband’s wedding ring while he went water skiing. Kristy put the ring on her thumb, and carried on with her day. When it was time to leave the small beach area they we’re located, Kristy realised her husband’s wedding ring was no longer on her thumb. As you can imagine, both Kristy and her husband we’re gutted. Without her husband’s knowledge, Kristy gave me a phone call and asked if I could head up to Woy Woy on the central coast to help her out. As always, I mentioned to Kristy I would love to help out…but from the information she had given me I think it will be very difficult to find. Kristy had no idea where the ring had dropped, but luckily she did not venture out more than knee to waist deep water. After an hour plus drive, and a 10 minute boat ride to the location, I began detecting the beach which was now under water due to a high tide. Unbelievably after 
10 minutes, and digging up a few bottle caps, I looked in my scoop and spotted a large gold wedding ring. Kristy was willing to take a risk, and it had paid off. After returning the ring to Kristy, she was misty eyed and gave me a big hug. She could not wait to get home and surprise her husband who had no idea Kristy had organised a search for his lost wedding ring. Kristy, it was a pleasure to meeting you, Krystal and Dean.