Lost and Found: 71-Year-Old Scuba Diver Recovers Items Dropped in Lake

A little favor to area fishermen has turned into a major hobby for a West Bend man.

"I started diving in 1957, we’ve been (recovery diving) for Port Washington probably for the last 23 ... 24 years. If somebody drops something in the harbor, we’ll go after it for them,” 71-year-old Ralph Ripple said.

Ralph and his son, Mike, who also dives, offer this service to anyone who loses something in the water — for free.

The project started out as a way to help out fishermen who would lose gear on buoys that mark the shipwrecks off the Port Washington coast.

"They would always try to find somebody and if you call somebody like a diver, it’s gonna cost you $100 to $200 just to get them here," Ripple said. "We do it for nothing, so it’s really not a loss and it helps the harbor out, too."

Ralph Ripple can often be seen at the ; he owns a charter boat company called Divers Delight Charter and teaches people how to scuba dive.

A few years ago, he put up pamphlets in the marina’s office highlighting his free "lost and found" diving service.

Some items that get swallowed up by Lake Michigan are more cause for alarm than others.

"If somebody lost their car keys, then they’re in a panic. We come down there right away," Ripple said. "If it’s not a panic, we’ll come down when we get to Port and we’ll just jump in the water and find it for them. If somebody’s from Illinois or Michigan and they lose their car keys — it’s kind of panic."

Car keys are the most common item the Ripples are called to retrieve. The most expensive thing they find is jewelry, such as wedding rings. One time, Ralph returned false teeth to a woman who lost them while looking over the edge of a boat. That was the most unusual item retrieved, according to Ripple.

No matter what the item is, the most rewarding part of going into the water is being able to return the precious cargo to its owner.

"Once you get down in the water, you find it and give it back to them — and see the look on their face. They think, once it’s dropped — it’s gone forever ... and it’s really not,” Ripple said.

Members of the community aren’t the only ones Ripple and his son recover items for. The Port Washington Marina calls on the help of the Ripples several times a year.

"He’s just always on the water and always under the water," said Lisa Rathke, the assistant harbor master.

The marina just recently called on Ripple when crews dropped a pipe used to open pump out valves on the docks into the water.

Often times Rathke said she’ll just mention something to Ripple in passing whenever he stops into the office and a few days later there will be a surprise waiting.

"I won’t even ask him 'can you do anything?' You just say to him 'I heard this person lost this item on that buoy out there' and next day it’s lying on the ground," Rathke said. "It’s just his personality. He loves being helpful. He’s just the most fun loving, bubbly, happy-go-lucky, got-life-by-the-pants kind of guy."

Rathke is impressed with the amount of ship wreck artifacts Ripple has found and bought up over the years, including the large anchor located on one of the corners in the marina. Ripple said he found the anchor under 70 feet of water in the 1980s, and brought it out of the lake. It sat in his yard for several years, until he decided to donate it to the city of Port Washington when the marina was remodeled.

Ripple said the only time he won’t retrieve something is if there is severe weather. Otherwise, his boat frequents the waters off the coast of Port Washington, where he likes to explore some of his favorite shipwrecks.

Ripple does not charge for the recovery service because he said he doesn’t need to make money from doing something he loves.

"I love the water and I don’t want people to get upset because they lost something in the water, you know, so it’s more fun when you can just give it back to them," Ripple said.

The brochure his family put up in the marina office says it all: "When calm inner harbor waters try to steal your stuff, the best way to get it back is by adding a Ripple to the water."