HANAUMA BAY, Hawaii -- A newlywed who lost his wedding ring in the ocean a day after he got married received the break of a lifetime on Oahu.

Carlton Helm was married last weekend. His very understanding wife let him paddle the day after the wedding.

He packed his wallet, cell phone and wedding ring in a waterproof case and headed out for an 8.5-mile paddle along Oahu's east shore. He had almost finished paddling when he realized he lost the case.

"It was gone. The container was gone, and I freaked out. I was like 'Oh my gosh,'" Helm said.

How do you break the news to your new wife? How do you tell her that you just lost your wedding ring less than 24 hours after getting married?

"As soft as possible. 'Honey, I lost my ring,'" Helm said.

The couple left Sunday night on their honeymoon to Molokai. They did not think they would ever get the ring back.

"I didn't care about the cell phone, wallet. I mean they could have racked up the credit cards. I just wanted my ring," Helm said.

As luck would have it, four days later the container washed up onto shore at Hanauma Bay.

"We looked through (the waterprof case). Jeanine (Nichols) made some phone calls and I had the great idea 'Hey, let's charge up the phone.' I have the same charger so we charged up the phone and we made our first call to Molokai," Hanauma Bay Park employee John Moniz said.

"(We were) ecstatic. We're like, 'This is an act of God,'" Helm said.

"First thing he said was, 'I was in the dog house, but now I'm out of the dog house right now,'" said Nichols, a Hanauma Bay worker.

Employees at Hanauma Bay said they have found the owners of lost items before, but this one was special.

"I think we saved his marriage," Nichols said.

Helm said he will still paddle. However, he plans to leave the ring at home.