Determination Prevails

One of the things that gives my best friend Keith.and I a rush is the ability to give back to others with the hobby of metal detecting. Since I have met keith back in 2016 we have hunted basically the entire east coast of Florida including the Treasure Coast of Florida. During a recent trip Keith and I were detecting a beach in an area that had been producing some pretty nice rings and other jewelry. I decided to take my search a little further to the north than we usually go. That's when I had a hit on my Excalibur that proved to be a beautiful gold chain. The sad part was before I couldn't  grab the chain before it slipped through my scoop and was gone. 

One would think that it would be a simple task to just search where it fell and bingo you would have the chain. Well as luck would have it not more than 10 minutes into my new search a man walked out into the surf asking me if by chance I had found a gold chain. I confirmed that I had saw and touched the chain but it had slipped out of my scoop. That day the waves were large and the current was fast. One would not believe that a chain would move 50 feet away in 20 to 30 minutes. Well, after looking for the chain I sent the man south to find Keith so we both could look for it. Here is the best part of why we do returns and why we always work as a team. 

The man who owned the chained informed me that 10 years prior his father had passed away from cancer and that chain was the only thing his father had passed on to him. (That is the only thing we need to hear,  A sentimental possession, ) He told me how he couldn't sleep for days and his vacation had been ruined. Fast forward here comes Keith. 

 After the man brought Keith we both continued to look for the chain. Keith is very methodical in the way he hunts and conducts his search. The things he has found in 3 years of detecting is more than most people find in a lifetime of detecting. 

Well for the next two hours Keith and I looked high and low or the chain. The rough surf, the murky water and current was taking us to task. After two hours of searching and ready to quit Keith announced that he had found the chain. It had moved 50 feet from the original place. Keith had to actually run out of the water holding his hand under the scoop in order to keep the chain from slipping out again.

Seeing the man so emotional and grateful was all we needed as payment. There is  no amount of money worth the joy of watching the  man react to finding the chain. The man thanked us, wanted to pay us, wanted to buy us dinner but the thing that made the whole thing great was the Text that the man sent to keith. I think that says it all. Returns are probably more emotional and worthy than finding any item in the ocean and getting that rush from the find. Whenever we do a return we always insist on two things. One that we can get a photo of them for the memory and two that they pay it forward to a perfect stranger if they ever encounter someone who needs help.