Green Bay, Door County and the Northwoods
The keys were in your pocket at the boat launch. Now they are not
Green Bay, Appleton, Door County, Minocqua, Washburn and Eau Claire
Up here keys can slide off the cabin dock. They can drop into the grass beside the trailer at the boat launch, into the snow where the snowmobiles were unloaded, or onto a Green Bay front lawn on game day. A lost ring or a phone can go the same way.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewelry recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone in Green Bay, Door County and the Northwoods with a metal detectorist who can search there. Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach the place, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
That covers key fobs, engagement rings, Oura rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, chains, Apple Watches, metal-framed glasses and hearing aids too.
From the truck to the dock and back
With lost car keys, begin with the line you walked, from the vehicle to the dock, the ramp or the shanty. Walk it once, slowly, then stop. Drop a pin where you parked and another where you last had them, and photograph both.
Somebody may have picked them up already. At Bay Beach Amusement Park the main ticket window takes your name, your number and a description of what you lost. Then message us on WhatsApp with both pins, the photos, the time and what is on the key ring.
Places we cover in Green Bay, Door County and the Northwoods
- Green Bay
- The lawns and streets around Lambeau Field
- Bay Beach Amusement Park
- Appleton
- Lutz Park and the Fox River
- Door County
- Sturgeon Bay
- Sister Bay Waterfront Park and marina
- Whitefish Dunes and Peninsula state parks
- Minocqua
- Torpy Park and Lake Minocqua
- Tomahawk Lake and Kawaguesaga Lake
- Washburn
- Thompson's West End Park on Chequamegon Bay
- Apostle Islands mainland: Little Sand Bay and Meyers Beach
- Eau Claire
- Phoenix Park and the Chippewa River
- Half Moon Lake
- Big Falls County Park
- Lake Altoona County Park
Where the truck gets parked and the keys get dropped
A stadium neighbourhood, launch ramps, a chain of lakes, a Lake Superior campground and a tubing river.
Game day in Green Bay, with cars on the grass
On the day of a home Packers game, cars go on the grass all over Green Bay, and the city's game-day parking page covers grass parking city-wide. The Packers also point fans to free parking on many residential streets within walking distance of Lambeau Field. A key fob that slips out while you pull on a jacket could end up in somebody's turf.
Lutz Park on the Fox River in Appleton
Lutz Park is three acres (1.2 hectares) along the Fox River, with a boat launch, an accessible kayak launch and fishing from the shoreline and the bridge. Keys could leave a pocket while you are bent over the trailer winch or lifting a kayak off the roof.
Sister Bay and Sturgeon Bay in Door County
Sister Bay's Waterfront Park has more than 1,900 feet (about 580 metres) of water frontage and 600 feet (183 metres) of sand beach, with the village marina next door. A wedding band taken off for sunscreen would be a beach search here. On the Lake Michigan side, Whitefish Dunes State Park has a sandy beach backed by big dunes, and Nicolet Bay Beach in Peninsula State Park faces Green Bay, with kayak and paddleboard rentals by the water. Sturgeon Bay sits between Green Bay and Lake Michigan, and Destination Sturgeon Bay lists whitefish, fished on the ice, as the winter catch. Gloves come off out there, and a ring could go with them.
Six lakes in one chain at Minocqua
Tomahawk Lake, at 3,462 acres (1,401 hectares), is the biggest of the six lakes the Minocqua chamber counts in the chain. Lake Minocqua is next at 1,339 acres (542 hectares), and both have public boat landings, as does Kawaguesaga Lake. Torpy Park, 4 acres (1.6 hectares) in downtown Minocqua, has a beach with no lifeguards on duty. A watch or a phone could go over the side of a cabin dock, so tell us which dock and which side of it.
Thompson's West End Park, Washburn
Washburn is in Bayfield County, on Lake Superior's Chequamegon Bay. The Lake Superior Circle Tour guide gives Thompson's West End Park 50 RV and tent sites, a swimming beach, a fishing pier and a boat launch, open May 1 to October 15. An earring or a pair of metal-framed glasses could go missing between the camper and the water, so tell us the site number. Up the peninsula, the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore has Little Sand Bay, 13 miles (21 km) west of Bayfield, and Meyers Beach, 17 miles (27 km) west, where kayaks set off for the mainland sea caves.
Floating the Chippewa through Eau Claire
The float starts at Phoenix Park, where the Eau Claire River meets the Chippewa downtown. Visit Eau Claire has tubers climbing out at Hobb's Landing, 45 minutes to over an hour later, and advises carrying a phone in a buoyant watertight container. Keys deserve the same care. For swimming it points to Half Moon Lake downtown, the 13-acre (5.3-hectare) Lake Altoona County Park and the sandy beaches by the waterfalls at Big Falls County Park.
From your first message to the search
You are not passed from person to person
Whoever reads your first WhatsApp message is the person you deal with all the way through.
The spare fob is worth photographing
It shows the detectorist what they are looking for, and goes to them with your pins and photos before they set out.
Turf, sand and snow are three different searches
A fob in a Green Bay lawn, a ring in Sister Bay sand and keys in Minocqua snow each need a different plan, so our first questions are about the ground.
Bad news comes in the first reply, not the last
Keys dropped somewhere along a river float, or down a hole in the ice, are a poor bet. We say that before anyone drives out, and we say why.
You hear the costs first
We explain the costs before any search is booked.
Ground, water and winter in northern Wisconsin
Lawns, campsites and beach sand
A Green Bay lawn, a campsite at Thompson's West End Park and the dry sand at Sister Bay or Torpy Park are the simpler searches here. Some people try a metal detector rental first. Renting one yourself can suit a fresh loss on dry sand or a lawn. A detectorist makes more sense for wet sand, water, a large area or a small item.
Inland lakes, two Great Lakes and not a tide among them
Nothing here has a tide worth the name. NOAA puts the biggest Great Lakes tide at under 2 inches (5 cm) and counts the lakes as non-tidal. Wind moves the water instead and can start a seiche, which NOAA describes as an oscillating wave that can be several feet high.
Lake Superior stays cold into late summer
Around the Apostle Islands, the National Park Service says the water averages only in the 40s Fahrenheit (below 10 C) in May and June. Even in late summer the surface rarely passes 60 F (about 16 C), except in protected bays.
Snow, ice and the sled season
The Minocqua chamber counts more than 1,700 miles (2,700 km) of groomed snowmobile trails. In late December 2017 the National Weather Service in Green Bay compared satellite pictures from five Decembers, and the ice on the bay was well ahead of the two winters before. If keys go into the snow, save a pin straight away.
If it happened at the launch, on the ice or on a Green Bay lawn
Launched on the Minocqua chain at six this morning, and the truck keys were gone when we came back in. Ramp, dock or lake?
Could be any of the three. The Minocqua chamber lists public boat landings on Lake Minocqua, Tomahawk Lake and Kawaguesaga Lake, so first tell us which landing. Then where the truck and trailer stood, which side of the dock you tied up on, and whether the keys were in a pocket or a bag.
Parked on a front lawn for the Packers game and came back in the dark with no fob. Is a lost key fob in grass worth a search?
It can be, if you know which lawn. Cars park on grass all over Green Bay on game day, so the address comes first. Send us the street, the house number and where on the lawn the car stood. Knock on the door too, in case the owner has picked it up.
Unloaded the sleds near Minocqua and the truck keys are in the snow by the trailer. Wait for spring?
No, message us now. Save a pin where the truck and trailer stood and photograph the parking area. The Minocqua chamber puts average snowfall at 65 inches (165 cm) a year, so more may land on top.
My husband pulled a glove off on the ice off Sturgeon Bay and his wedding band went into the slush by the shanty, which moves this weekend. Too late after that?
Not too late, but harder, because the shanty is the only marker out there. Before it moves, drop a pin at its door and photograph it with the shoreline behind. Note the date and the landing you drove out from, then message us.
We have dug with our hands for an hour on the Sister Bay beach and my engagement ring has not turned up. Have we made it worse?
Maybe a little, but the bigger risk is losing track of the patch. The beach at Waterfront Park is 600 feet (183 metres) long, and what counts is your few feet of it. Stop digging, line yourself up with the stage, the gazebo or the playground, take a photo each way and message us.
We tubed from Phoenix Park to Hobb's Landing in Eau Claire and the keys were gone when we climbed out. Any chance?
A poor one if they went in mid-river, because nobody can say where along the float that was. Better if they could be on dry ground, on the grass at Phoenix Park or the bank at Hobb's Landing. Look over both first, then message us.
I searched metal detecting Wisconsin and still have no idea who to ask. Our cabin is near Washburn, on Lake Superior. Too far north for you?
No, Washburn is on our list. We look for a detectorist who can reach your place. Send the nearest road, a pin, and whether it was lost on the beach, in the yard or off the dock.
Green Bay, Door County and the Northwoods
Start with where the truck was parked
Then the dock, the ramp or the lawn, and what is on the key ring.
The details go first, so write them down tonight. Message us on WhatsApp with a pin, two photos and the time you last had the keys.