BOTTLE LAUNCHING

On most days, when the ship was in international waters, we went through a ritual of putting a message into a bottle and throwing it into the ocean. Each bottle also carried a cover letter in Chinese, English and Spanish - asking the recipient to send a letter to a special PO box or an email address set up for that purpose - as well as the date, time and GPS coordinates of the throwing.   Read more
On most days, when the ship was in international waters, we went through a ritual of putting a message into a bottle and throwing it into the ocean. Each bottle also carried a cover letter in Chinese, English and Spanish - asking the recipient to send a letter to a special PO box or an email address set up for that purpose - as well as the date, time and GPS coordinates of the throwing.

This ritual was documented by videos. Some days we had to throw two, since there are days, for example, crossing the Panama Canal, when throwing a bottle may not be possible. As it was, it took us 35 days to arrive at our disembarkation point – Columbia, and by then we have thrown all 32 bottles into the ocean.

Up to now, I have received two responses from bottle retrievers, a Canadian and a Panamanian. We have met, in Vancouver and in Hong Kong.

I feel like I have won the lottery.