Most interesting find (flotsam and jetsam)

spartacus · 22 July 2009, 09:50

I can't be the only one who gets a kick out of finding something that's been washed up or lost overboard.

The best area is the west coast of lewis, which has thrown up some fantastic finds over the year. I'm praying for a lost Maersk shipping container with a new BMW 5-series, however until that happens, I've found...

1/ Pair of trawler oilskin trousers. Could have been made for me. Lasted 5 years before a seam gave way.

2/ Countless footballs (could have opened a sports shop)

3/ Modern St Kilda mailboat (minus the mail) in the 1980s. If unsure - check out the link http://www.kilda.org.uk/facts.htm

4/ Inflatable marker bouys (garage is full of them), now used as fenders!

5/ Lobster pot. Needed a little work, but caught three decent sized lobsters in 2007 - so it works!

PeterM · 22 July 2009, 10:03

So far ;

Endless fenders washed down the river & out to sea
Lifejacket (no-one in it ! )
Numerous seat cushions
Waders
A SIB - I literally ran over it- submerged under the water & covered in weed etc

Kernow Buoy · 22 July 2009, 10:22

A lovely old Thermos flask went bobbing by, assumed it had to be broken but we went back for it and good news, it was in one piece

I dropped it on the slipway when we got back in

m chappelow · 22 July 2009, 10:40

only last saturday an aluminium breathing air cylinder half full of water ,few years back a fridge freezer, a headlesss seal ,and a bloated dead cow upside down lashed to a wooden pallet ,and one year we found a kids balloon with a label and address from some where in lancashire ,a sea suvival pack from a russian liferaft that had been in the sea that long it had barnicals on it ,and a marker bouy with id numbers that came from spitsbergan nr the north pole .oh and a mermaid ,,,,,,,,,,only joking on that one ,

Tim M · 22 July 2009, 10:47

Quote:

a bloated dead cow upside down lashed to a wooden pallet ,

All I ever find is fenders

Found a chartplotter under the deck of a RIB I bought not so long ago. God knows how long it had been there, looks shagged though.

Maximus · 22 July 2009, 10:58

Like everyone bouys ect,have found a few floating lures includeing a couple of nice Rappalas at the high tide line,and snagged at low springs.When I dived alot found several torches,and best of all an exspensive dive computer! very pleased with my find till I got back to 'Bovisand'and heard a young woman had lost it!!Made her day though!!

codprawn · 22 July 2009, 12:54

My best find was a bouncing bomb. A dummy one used for tests from Mosquitos.

JSP · 22 July 2009, 14:06

Found part of a Flintlock riflle when moored up to the wall at Dickies in Bangor at low tide.
It was the main metal cast of it with Hammer, Frizzen and pan (All springs still working)

C2 RIBS · 22 July 2009, 14:11

A sailor who fell of a racing yacht mid solent in Summer 2008 and no one saw him missing , All I saw was a head which I first thought was a buoy!! having picked him up wearing no lifejacket it took me about five minutes to catch up with yacht

Gordon T · 22 July 2009, 14:41

About £800 in mixed, loose notes found in the water and along the shoreline. Was about 6 weeks wages in the early 80`s. Looked for about 8 hrs and couldn't find any more so called it a day when it got dark. Was going to go back next day but the sea came away and even after looking along the beach, didn't find any more. Must have cost me £20 in petrol but it was worth it.

Nos4r2 · 22 July 2009, 19:20

A speargun, with the spear stuck firmly in something-though never got to find out what as the tether broke while hauling it aboard.

CJL · 22 July 2009, 23:24

How about;

A beer barrel (empty

)
A fridge,
A 50ft barge,
1 ton builders bag
and hundreds of fenders!

Chris

JSP · 23 July 2009, 00:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by CJL

How about;

A 50ft barge,

Chris

That's theft mate

BogMonster · 23 July 2009, 01:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by m chappelow

a bloated dead cow upside down lashed to a wooden pallet

Really?

Not much to find around here just plastic bags from the Argies and the odd bit of wood

timw · 23 July 2009, 20:44

Whilst moored I heard a soft slapping sound coming from the water at the transom. I leaned over and saw what I thought was a water-logged large bundle of rags. I used an oar to push it away into the flow of the river but as I did so it rolled over and to my horror a face, marble white but with lips bitten away exposing rotton gashed teeth in a hideous rictous grin, reared up out of the water towards me. One eye was staring at me, but the other just hung against the cheek attached to a thin tendon of flesh.
I decided to try and lash the corpse to the Rib by some rope around its leg; but the rope sank through the putrid flesh like butter straight to the bone and slipped off allowing the morbid bundle to float off down river.

It was later found on the foreshore at Chelsea. I heard that it was the body of South London hood killed in a turf war a few days earlier and thrown off a bridge into the Thames.

Yuk!

Hightower · 23 July 2009, 23:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by timw

Whilst moored I heard a soft slapping sound coming from the water at the transom. I leaned over and saw what I thought was a water-logged large bundle of rags. I used an oar to push it away into the flow of the river but as I did so it rolled over and to my horror a face, marble white but with lips bitten away exposing rotton gashed teeth in a hideous rictous grin, reared up out of the water towards me. One eye was staring at me, but the other just hung against the cheek attached to a thin tendon of flesh.
I decided to try and lash the corpse to the Rib by some rope around its leg; but the rope sank through the putrid flesh like butter straight to the bone and slipped off allowing the morbid bundle to float off down river.

It was later found on the foreshore at Chelsea. I heard that it was the body of South London hood killed in a turf war a few days earlier and thrown off a bridge into the Thames.

Yuk!

The first and second paragraph made such good reading that I thought you were going to say in your third paragraph that it used to be a fellow Ribeye owner lost at Sea

Hightower · 23 July 2009, 23:30

Well I did find a floating football a couple of years ago off of Southsea . I took it home and explained to my Son where I found it. He was convinced that it had floated all the way around from Italy. I asked him "why!"......."It says made in Italy on the side"

The other interesting thing I saw float past in the water was in March whilst I was at anchor fishing for Plaice. Was a load of Turds

. Someone obviously had, had a dump in one of the fishing boats up stream of us. Obviously I didn't try and salvage any of it

Even the fish went off the feed!

camtheribman · 23 July 2009, 23:35

i was out sailing one day and sailed past the bow deck of a fairly big yacht, the rescue boat brought it in and it still had all the gaurd rails on it. Other than that i have found various parts of cars and the odd trees

JSP · 23 July 2009, 23:36

Talking about things floating past. Trip from caernarfon to the albert dock for the River festival. Doing about 6 knotts as there was no wind to fill the sails, water like glass. Not a strip of land in sight. A little paper boat goes floating past us.

Hightower · 23 July 2009, 23:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSP

Talking about things floating past. Trip from caernarfon to the albert dock for the River festival. Doing about 6 knotts as there was no wind to fill the sails, water like glass. Not a strip of land in sight. A little paper boat goes floating past us.

That's wicked when something like that happens. I'm yet to find a message in a bottle. Buy I guess that would be classed as littering these days.