PE teacher Katherine Moon was surfing at Cutty Sark, in St Ouen’s Bay, after work on 28 May when she felt her ring slip off her finger.
‘It was 6pm on the Friday before half term and I was desperate to get in the sea,’ she said. ‘I ran in without realising with my ring on and, as I was in waist-deep water, it came off. There was quite a big swell – good, four-feet conditions –and there were rip currents and loads of seaweed. While I was in the water I was ducking and diving around, fumbling to find it, but I kept just feeling stones. When I went home, I had to tell my fiancé and I was absolutely devastated. I was crying so much.’
After Miss Moon posted about her lost ring on Facebook, she was contacted by metal detectorist Steven Andrews, who offered to help track down the possession. He said: ‘I first got into recovering people’s lost rings through the Jersey Metal Detecting Society. The club is often approached by people who have lost items and the club members will help when possible. As “recoveries” are something that I really enjoy, I have recently set up my own Facebook page, Jersey Lost Ring Metal Detecting.’
After searching for eight hours across the weekend, Mr Andrews was able to track down Miss Moon’s ring using the information she had provided him with – which included the land position from which she had entered the water from, the time that she lost the ring and the depth of water she was in at the time.
‘Since my first ring recovery in 2019, I have found 16 rings for people,’ said Mr Andrews. ‘Using tide tables, a tide-height calculator app and a GPS device I planned a search area [for Katherine’s ring].
‘It then came down to putting the hours in, walking up and down the beach with a metal detector and keeping an eye on my footprints to make sure that the ground was searched effectively. I found the ring on Sunday 30 May, 240m down the beach and just a couple of inches beneath the sand.’
Miss Moon, who is due to get married to her fiancé, Jack Le Riche, on 10 July, emphasised how appreciative she was for Mr Andrews’ help.
‘I screamed when we found the ring, I was so ecstatic,’ she said. ‘I am forever grateful for [Mr Andrews] giving up his time. It’s not the cost but more the sentimental value as the ring is one Jack had chosen for me.’
Shaded box
Mr Andrews offers the following advice for Islanders who have lost a ring:
lRecord the area in which it was lost and get someone searching as soon as possible. A search area can be indicated by:
lA GPS position from a smartphone, with a pin on a map or with the What3Words app.
lAn area marked on a satellite image.
lPhotographs of the area.
lMeeting a detectorist at the location.
lWhen a ring has been lost on the beach, the time and date of the loss is also important as it gives an indication of the state of tide at the time.
