While on my Colonial Williamsburg/Chincoteague, VA trip we decided to launch a message in a bottle. Could we actually get in touch with people on the shores of France? Would our bottle land on an island after navigating around Cape Horn to land in the Pacific and spawn some cargo cult?
I tend to google everything I have little experience in, and I was surprised to find little information about people that launch their own (NASA’s Pioneer Plaque not included). I was most interested in methods of housing the papers in a watertight container that looks like it what it actually is (not a piece of trash) and was not going to degrade in the ocean’s harsh conditions. We would hate to add to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
The Container
Since this project (like most) was on a budget, the best deal was going to be using Grolsch’s unique beer bottle. A simple wire lever assembly opens and closes the bottle. While the mouth is smaller than most domestic beer bottles, it’s a very heavy and robust. I reasoned that it could stand up to hitting docks and ships and not break.
The Message
Our message wasn’t more than the basics of who we (my girlfriend and I) were. Inside was a 3×5″ photo of us by her Chincoteague Pony, a short message in Latin describing the pony, an e-mail address, and a National Park Service brochure of Assateague Island. Each of these items were in a ziploc bag as extra insurance against water. We jammed all these papers into the bottle and hoped for the best. In hindsight, the only way the finder was going to remove the message was through smashing the bottle. Scrap wire was wrapped around the bottle’s lever mechanism to prevent it from being opened accidentally.
The Launch – 8/1/2009
I figured the key to a successful message was getting it as far out into the ocean as possible. In a probably ill-advised move, I brought my 12.5-ft. long Dagger Crossover kayak out on the Atlantic to launch the bottle. I got out as far as I was comfortable traveling (the surf was rough after a recent storm) and threw it. Pretty simple. I had a fun time getting the water back out of the kayak after I took a tumble through the surf in the return trip.
Found! 8/8/2009
One week later, I received an e-mail that my bottle was found by a group of surfers (from the same area we launched it from). They thanked us for sharing the experience of opening it. While the round trip of the bottle was probably less than a few miles, I think it definitely made their day. So, in the end, we achieved making a link to complete strangers which I will call a success.
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cute story ^_^ I feel inspired now; however, I think I may launch something helium balloon style =)