Floating Gold

[annk]

Sailing offshore from Lanzarote heading south it was a clear calm morning when we saw a drifting black hulled wooden boat about 25 feet long and seemingly abandoned. It was freshly painted and had a brand new 50hp motor on the back!

We debated for a while, circled the boat a couple of times at a safe distance, called out and looked through the binoculars. No response. We decided to sail on, no long range communication on board. no way to lift the engine off and a bit scared the thing might be stuffed with drugs.

To this day I wonder whether we made the right decision....

[casual]

While returning from the Bahamas years ago on a Flat Calm Day in the middle of the Gulf Stream I,came accross a area of light Green Water about a 1/4 mile in size.As I,was motoring I,entered this Green Water and watched my engine gages go haywire temp went down volt meter showed discharge and the compass started swinging slowly 30 or so degress trying the VHF radio it also would not receive not even static.Engine contiuned to run fine.As I,passed thru this area back to the Blue water of the Gulfstream all returned to normal.Anybody got an answer.Over the years I,have questioned many an expert have had responses from a Sub under me to a release of bottom gases.No I,was not drinking and yes I,had a crew member seeing the same thing.Go Figure

[KDH]

While on our Atlantic crossing I came on watch just in time to see a large completely round buoy that looked more like a small weather balloon. My husband identified it from his military experience as a buoy for a submarine communications antennae.

[GaryMayo]

Originally Posted by casual

While returning from the Bahamas years ago on a Flat Calm Day in the middle of the Gulf Stream I,came accross a area of light Green Water about a 1/4 mile in size.As I,was motoring I,entered this Green Water and watched my engine gages go haywire temp went down volt meter showed discharge and the compass started swinging slowly 30 or so degress trying the VHF radio it also would not receive not even static.Engine contiuned to run fine.As I,passed thru this area back to the Blue water of the Gulfstream all returned to normal.Anybody got an answer.Over the years I,have questioned many an expert have had responses from a Sub under me to a release of bottom gases.No I,was not drinking and yes I,had a crew member seeing the same thing.Go Figure

PBS documentary some years back said it was methane gas discharge from the bottom. Light discharge would do as you described, heavy discharge, boils the water with escaping gases, sending boats to the bottom. Boats float on water, not on methane. Good scientific documentary, forget the name. Aired 20 years ago.

[mrohr]

Gold? Found a few bales in the Bahamas back in the 1980s ;made a lots friends at beach potlucks,God, I wish I could turn back the clock!
Crossed the Atlantic with a Brit skipper who investigated any flotsam in the hope that it might be ambergris (whale vomit ?),he hoped to retire if he could only score some.
I saw a fair amount of vomit myself however.

[BlackOak]

damn...this is real interesting stuff. Keep 'em coming!! Them floating styrofoam balls...seen tons of them so far on the west coast of florida, all nicely layed out like a row of pine trees

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by GaryMayo

The PO of the boat, his wife, kids, grandkids would have given you five times that much, in cash and karma

That is sorta what I was thinking.

[nagrom snoyl]

So why is this whale vomit so valuable and what is it used for? Ive heard it before but can,t remember where.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by nagrom snoyl

So why is this whale vomit so valuable and what is it used for? Ive heard it before but can,t remember where.

Believe it or not, its primarily use is in the perfume industry and it can come out of either end of a whale!!!!!

[Lagoon4us]

A 20 dollar note floating on the surface, we picked it up and that was first drinks at the yacht club! Soggy Dollars Rule!

[Hermanns]

Great documentary about some of this in the 80's called "Square Grouper" - fascinating film and tales of overnight wealth

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Hermanns

Great documentary about some of this in the 80's called "Square Grouper" - fascinating film and tales of overnight wealth

My first vist to the keys was to a camground. There we met a guy that came down on spring break a couple of years earlier. Still there with still some left................somewhere.

[tager]

I heard a second-hand story about some guys in the 80s who chartered a motorboat and found a huge stash of herb purely by chance. They went back to Miami to find a buyer, and ended up being directed to a banker. Go figure.

They invested the money in rehabilitating one of America's struggling "downtown" districts and quintupled their money. They went from middle class americans to 'well off' just by luck!

[Celestialsailor]

I was on a date and we decided to go for a walk on a rarely used beach in Moss Landing, Ca. That's when we saw a strange and wonderful thing floating out there. At first, she said..."Oh look...looks like a bail of pot". I said, after another minute..."No, looks like a baby elephant...see...there's the trunk". As we both moved closer to the shore and as it drifted in...at the same time we both exclaimed..."Oh my God"!!! Right when a leg with a shoe appeared. It was a body of a man that had capsized 6 months earlier and he sank to the bottom of the Monterey trench. It took that long for the corpse to gas up and come to the surface. It wasn't a pretty sight.

[Rhapsody-NS27]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

It took that long for the corpse to gas up and come to the surface. It wasn't a pretty sight.

I've been around a body that was bloated like that from being in the water... The WORST smell I have ever been around.