From the Boathouse: A record-breaking discovery of a message in a bottle
Ahoy!
“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds” is well known as the unofficial motto or, better, tribute to the United States Postal Service.
Well, how about, “Neither seas nor storms nor shattering on rocks stays this bottle from keeping the contents secure” for the world’s oldest message in a bottle.
The Marine Biology Assn. (UK) released more than 1,000 bottles in the North Sea between 1904 and 1906 as an experiment conducted by George Parker Bidder to study the ocean currents. A finder of a bottle, 55% from fishermen at sea, would receive one shilling as an incentive to return the postcard inside the bottle.
The North Sea is known as a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean situated off the eastern side of the United Kingdom between Scandinavia, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and France. The experiment showed that the currents carried the floating bottles with a postcard inside toward the continent, while some were found on Britain’s shoreline.
This was not a new method to study the currents, as messages in bottles have been used since 310 BC for that purpose, but it was the best method at the time. Now, the marine pollution act and most local regulations prevent you from throwing bottles into the ocean, but we have better trackable devices for the job today.
However, Marianne Winkler was on vacation with her husband strolling the beaches on Amrum Island, Germany, when she picked up the bottle on April 17, 2015. It is ironic to my opening sentence that, according to reports, a retired German postal worker found the bottle that had been floating for 108 years, four months and 18 days in the North Sea.
Recently, the Guinness World Records recognized Winkler’s find as the oldest message in a bottle recovered from sea.
It is interesting that the bottle may have not have appeared to drift far from release to Mrs. Winkler’s hands, but the story would be in its journey over 100 years surviving storms, battles at sea, and not being bashed upon rocky shorelines.
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My tip of the week
The California Boaters of California is asking you to contact your elected representatives to vote “no” on Assembly Bill 2092 (Frazier), which will use recreational boating funds for commercial vessels.
The bill is amending the Abandoned Watercraft Abatement Fund revenues to delete the section that the fund cannot be used for abatement, removal, storage or disposal of commercial vessels. So your recreational boaters’ funds will be used to rid the waterways of abandoned commercial vessels.
RBOC is asking that you use its message or modify the text below:
“Please vote “no” on AB 2092 [Frazier] when it is considered in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
“This bill would target recreational boater funds for the cleanup of abandoned commercial vessels.
“Commercial vessels are much more expensive to clean up and the cost of one vessel could exceed the entire amount of available funds.
“The owners of commercial vessels do not contribute to our fund — only recreational vessel owners do.
“The demand for cleanup of recreational vessels already exceeds the amount of available funds. These vessels should remain the top priority at this time.
There is no condition in the bill restricting the cleanup of abandoned commercial vessels to those that pose a danger to recreational boaters.”
Recreational boaters need to be aware that there are many special interest groups that are targeting the monies designated for recreational boating, which boaters primarily fund through special taxes and fees. Please take a moment to contact your state representative to let them know to use recreational boaters’ dollars toward recreational boaters’ projects only.
The original boating program, “Boathouse TV & Radio Shows,” has stretched from coast to coast for more than two decades. See the details atwww.boathousetv.comwww.facebook.com/boathouseradio and www.twitter.com/boathouseradio.
Safe voyages!
MIKE WHITEHEAD is a boating columnist for the Daily Pilot. Send marine-related thoughts and story suggestions to mike@boathouse.com or go to boathousetv.com.