Thursday, November 16, 2006

Release Date 11/2/2006


Released the bottle off of West coast of Milos around 11:00 AM. We were continuing our paddle around the island.

The weather was perfect, the wind had shifted to be from the South, just as we rounded the corner and started up the West coast, so we surfed most of the way.

Stunning scenery with a huge number of dramatic cliffs coming down to the water, all kinds of different rocks and soil. The coast was also covered with large sea caves that we could paddle into and out of.

The Island in the picture is off of the West Coast of Milos, and called Antimilos. It looks really cool, just a mountain rising up out of the sea. That morning it was especially beautiful because the top of the mountain was covered in a cloud.

One of those paddling days that is just perfect. Not to hot, not to cold, tail wind, dramatic scenery, every once it while you just had to just look up, smile, and say "wow".

Truth: Sunsets can be beautiful, you feel better if you stop appreciate them.

Release Date 10/30/2006



Released the message off of the Southern Coast of Milos Greece. We were doing a kayaking and camping trip paddling around the Island.

We had spent the night at the site of an abandoned sulfur mine on the Southern Coast. It was a very dramatic environment with a huge array of old buildings and machinery. The mine was abandoned in the 1960s, and everything beds, tools, equipment just left there. Funny thing was you could still sulfur deposits on the ground and smell the sulfur.

I released the bottle on the next morning. Right afterward we were exploring an old settlement along the coast, and I found a volcanic hot spring. After moving some rocks around we were able to have spitz bath before lunch.

Later in the day I was kayak fishing away from the other paddlers when I came upon large sea turtle. She was just resting on the surface, and I was able to paddle right up to her. In Florida the turtles are very skitish, but this one just calmly looked at me, and paddled around. Eventually she dived.

We got off the water that night since a massive storm came through, force 6 winds and tremendous rain and lighting. We watched from a bar, spent the night in a hotel, and the next day touring the island until the storm blew over.

Release Date 10/27/2006




Released this message while scuba diving off of Milos Greece. We actually were diving off the coast of a small island adjacent to Milos, called Kimilos.

It was the end of the diving season, and the operator, Milos Diving, said it was their last week for the year.

The water was cool, about 70 degrees. This was a wonderful dive. We went along a limestone ledge viewing sponges, and Octopi (not sure if that's correct...)

Visibility is excellent in Greece, 70 or 80 feet.

It's so funny the underwater environment totally reminds me of the Gulf of Mexico off of the West Coast of Florida. Limestone features with patches of eel grass and sponges, but no coral. I noticed a number of the fish are the same. The geology is MUCH more dramatic in Greece, with ledges plunging hundreds of feet very close to shore.

On the way back to the boat we went into a sea cave. It was dark, but the cave extended above the surface, so it wasn't technically an overhead environment. It was very beautiful, and full of shrimp in the back of the cave.

Release Date 10/21/2006


Released this message in Cold Spring New York.

It was a beautiful sunny day, and the leaves were just turning. Really nice colors in the trees on both sides of the river.

We had planned to paddle from Cold Spring to Bannerman's Island, but because of heavy winds, 20 plus knots we turned back before reaching the Island.


Instead I went over to Storm King and had a nice day viewing the outdoor sculpture.

Truth: Its exciting to go somewhere new.