"Okay, with apologies for length, here's our story. We were about halfway through a two week family vacation on beautiful Kauai having the amazing time you would expect. My wife and I and our three young adult daughters were enjoying a great day at Polihale Beach, when, late in the afternoon, one of our girls came running out of the surf telling us that a certain ring had slipped off her finger while swimming. We all knew the ring because it has been in our family a long time and has immense, almost indescribable historic and sentimental value. My daughter had been in the habit of removing it before swimming but on this afternoon did not, with a terrible consequence. All five of us ran back into the water and searched in vain for a long time. Another fellow on the beach donned a face mask and searched alongside us, actually apologizing to me in the end for not being able to find it (what a great guy). Eventually we realized it was futile and we left that beautiful spot, my daughter inconsolable and the rest of us not much better. As we drove back to the south shore, our wonderful family vacation and future memories of it hanging by a thread, we wondered if there might be some sort of metal detection service on the island, and so started searching on Google. That led us to this site, and I pulled over and called Derrick, who answered right away. He was immediately personable and comforting and suggested that we meet at the beach the very next morning, which happened to be Mother's Day Sunday. When the morning came I left my daughters with their Mom, and met Derrick and his partner at Hapuna Beach. I told them the story of the ring, and Derrick set to work. I couldn't be sure exactly where the ring had been lost, and there had been such a strong current in the late afternoon the day before, that we had to plot out a generous search grid. The sand was very soft, the water was still flowing almost sideways (though at a fraction of the strength of the previous day) and I really didn't have much hope. Nonetheless, moving methodically along the makeshift grid, after maybe 30 minutes Derrick detected something, scooped up some sand, rinsed off an object in the water and held out a ring for me to see. I couldn't quite believe my eyes: it was the solid gold ring with the amethyst gem adorned by diamonds that my father had given to my mother a long time before, and that she had in turn recently given to my daughter (who had always admired it) as a university graduation gift. I hugged Derrick, and a crowd of people spontaneously gathered round to see what was up and to hear the story. What a jubilant, unique and unforgettable scene. I had tears in my eyes. I called my family and they were stunned and ecstatic, with my daughter getting on the line to thank Derrick directly (I wouldn't let her come with me, saying it would be too stressful for her, and that she should just spend Mother's Day morning with her Mom. That meant she and her Mom and sisters were on tenterhooks waiting for my call - which was one I dreaded making until Derrick wove his magic. Then, I couldn't dial the number fast enough). I can't quite believe the skill that went into Derrick's discovery of the ring in that surf; to me, it was a remote long shot and absolutely a needle in a haystack, but I hired Derrick nonetheless as I felt we just had to try. I was also so impressed that Derrick dropped everything in their lives and came out to Hapuna at the first chance,  giving up their time on a Sunday in order to do that. Apart from that, Derrick is one of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet. We're still astounded by what happened and, as I told Derrick , we will never forget him or what they've done for us."

Pat Lewis