Over the past few years roaming the beaches of Martha’s Vineyard, Mikey Waters has recovered 105 wedding rings, countless keys, tools and cell phones. He has even located two meteorites.
Armed with a top-of-the line scuba dive model metal detector, Mr. Waters has saved many a summer vacation, recovering items of sentimental value that were thought to be lost to sand and sea.
A former contractor and EMT, Mr. Waters doesn’t remember exactly when the spark for finding jewelry and other knick-knacks started. But the initial allure faded quickly.
“I started out just randomly searching beaches and found change, bottle caps and just got bored quickly,” he said. “No pirate's treasure, so I kind of lost interest and in the basement it went.”
Then he saw a Facebook post from young woman who lost her wedding ring. Mr. Waters decided to dig out the metal detector again.
“I thought, well, why don’t I grab my metal detector out of the basement and I can go get some fresh air and walk the beach and see what I can do,” he said. “So I went out and sure enough, I found it, took it back and posted online to the girl and it just took off virally.”
Soon he began receiving an outpouring of requests to retrieve prized possessions. He first asks for an approximate location of the lost item and then gets to work, heading out to Island beaches, not all of which are created equal in the eyes of a sand detective.
Some beaches are “pretty much impossible” he said, citing South Beach as an example.
“That’s real heavy surf undertones, currents, that’s real bad,” he said. “[Inkwell Beach] is a very difficult beach where it’s so rocky and I have to use a different scoop, more of a cylinder with a pointed edge on it. And even still, it’s real hard to dig in and get the signal.”
He doesn’t have a set financial rate for his services, preferring to leave it up to the owner.
“I tell them I’ll accept any reward offered, at least maybe a little something for my time,” he said. “I would say the majority of them so far have been very generous.”
Mr. Waters recalled numerous emotional stories from happy customers, noting the reactions when people call him asking for his services and then when people receive their personal items back.
“The way [one woman] was telling the story, she had called my house and left a message on the machine, and she was in tears, leaving the message and hearing the story,” he recalled. “How could you say no? After I found the ring, she made arrangements to come back for a weekend just to come and get it in person.”
Though faced with health issues his whole life, Mr. Waters shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. He finds joy and purpose among the beeps of his detector, signaling another happy end to a previously sad story.
“[I’ll continue] as long as I can stand and walk, as long as I can keep at it,” he said.
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