Strong magnet, $10.
Roll of duct tape, $5.
Cord, about $4.
Wife who brings these things to the lake to recover your entire wad of keys from 9 feet of water, priceless. Thank you, sweetie!
I had just finished a 13+ km row. As I came to the dock, there was a fisherman spread-out on the end of the small dock,
http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2012-09-23
He left me little space to place my water bottle, cell phone, P&S camera, keys and a couple small tools for making adjustments or repairs, so I had to place these items uncomfortably close to the edge. Then I had to climb up out of the shell onto the dock from about 2 feet below dock-level (that’s how much the lake’s water level has fallen with this summer’s drought). As I climbed up-and-out, ker-plunk went my keys. It seemed like slow motion as I helplessly watched them hit the water and disappear…
I texted Clare that I would be “delayed,” hoping I might get some help from the several fishermen who were launching or recovering their boats at the nearby ramp. When no one had any ideas or tools, I paused to consider what items might be in our garage. I texted Clare again and asked that she bring the magnet, duct tape and some twine from the garage. My hope was that my large, thick campus keys had enough iron that they would be attracted to the magnet.
Clare arrived; I slapped together what you see above and snagged my keys with the first drop of the magnet into the water. Whew!
What worked? The only keys with iron are the two that unlock the Dodge cross bars of my car-top roof rack. (One is above the duct-tape-covered magnet and rightward-pointing in the image.) The key rings themselves seem to have iron in them as well, but what a lot of money and hassle were saved by this “save”; thank you, St. Jude … and St. Clare!
Oh, and after 25 minutes in the water? Both car remotes still work!
[This is another shot under the Ott-Lite —
http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2012-09-22 !]
Fast forward five years, “Humility”:
https://365project.org/rhoing/365/2017-09-24
A year ago (“Scullers’ paradise!”):
http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2011-09-24