Release Date 5/26/2007

I released this bottle off of the Norwalk Islands in Norwalk CT. The note in the bottle says the Thimble Islands, but I forgot to let it go until I got to Norwalk. We paddled in the Thimbles, then cartopped back to Norwalk.

We were camping on the Grassy Island. This was a nice spot, but it was covered in trash. We did a trash pick-up, but didn't have enough bags to do a really good job. I did take one giant bag of trash out, and also had a lot in the hatches and in other people's boats. This barely made a dent on the island.

We did find some cool stuff beach combing, and made a scary totem for the next people out of an old decoy, a doll, and other stuff. I also found a deer antler, some nice lobster floats, and a new PFD for the Downtown Boathouse.

I caught a small stripped bass, but it was too small to keep. It sure did look tasty though!

Truth: Kids look like their parents.

Release Date 5/25/2007

This was the final leg of my Cape May to Brooklyn paddle. We launched at Sandy Hook around 12:15, and reached Red Hook Brooklyn around 18:00, with a 45 minute break at Voodoo Beach under the bridge.

It was another lovely day, and we all paddled in the shorts and T-shirts. Air temperature got up into the 80s.

Shortly after launching I saw an orange floating in the water, then another, and another, they seemed to be perfectly good, so I started picking them up. In the end I picked up 20 of them, and there had to be two times as many still floating in a giant orange slick.

See the Atlantic Sea Kayaker message board for the real story.

We ate one, and I took the rest home. I'm still eating them 5 days later. It was funny because they weren't even all the same, some Navel, some Valencia, etc etc.

We paddled up the harbor dodging the large ships. I released the bottle right in the middle of the entrance to the harbor, that is the light at Romer shoal in the background.

We saw the Queen Mary leaving as we paddled up past the Narrows, it really looked like it was going to hit the bridge.

While paddling along the shore in Bay Ridge a small fish jumped right in my boat, and we watched somebody land a large bluefish.

To go back and get my car, I rode my bike into Manhattan, and took the SeaStreak ferry to Atlantic Highlands, then rode back out to the park to get the car.

Truth: Summer always comes.

Release Date 5/14/2007

I released this message off of Manaasquan NJ on 5/14/2007 at 10:00 AM. I was working on the 2nd to last leg of my Cape May to Brooklyn paddle.

It was a really nice day. About 55 degrees and sunny when we started, and it probably went up to 70 degrees during the afternoon. Almost no wind to start with, but the wind shifting to be a following wind and steadily increasing all day. By the time we finished it was blowing at about 20 knots, which was really nice since it blew us right up the coast. We launched at 9:00 AM, made it to Bradley Beach by 12:00, and after a 30 minute lunch break landed at Sandy Hook at 16:00. About 22 NM.

I paddled the whole day with my Greenland paddle, and even managed a very ugly cool-off roll with it.

There were lots of people fishing, and at one point I saw a blue fish bight the tail off of a 6 inch mullet. I saw a little disturbance in the water, then a fish floundering at the surface with its tail missing and blood pouring out. It looked just like one of those scenes on TV where a shark attacks. I saw the blue fish swimming around, coming back for the rest. Once I backed off a little he attacked again. These are very aggressive fish!


Truth: Spring is Here.