 From East Idaho News
-------------------------------------------------- (CNN) — Boat captain Jennifer Dowker runs shipwreck tours all summer long, so she knows that there are all sorts of secrets hidden under the surface of Michigan’s waterways, but she was still shocked to find a message in a bottle written in 1926. Dowker is the owner of Nautical North Family Adventures and was scuba diving in the Cheboygan River on Friday to clean the windows on the bottom of her glass-bottomed boat, the Yankee Sunshine, when she made the discovery. She has a small collection of bottles and other odds and ends she’s collected while diving, so the old-fashioned green bottle caught her eye. It was sitting on the bottom of the river about 10 feet underwater, she told CNN. “At first I thought it was just a cool bottle and then when I picked it up, when I was still under the water, I could read the word ‘this’ in the paper,” Dowker said. “It was kind of like ‘Holy Smokes! We’ve got a message in a bottle here. Cool!'” When she got back to the surface, Dowker showed the bottle to her first mate and a potential diving client, who had been watching her from inside the boat. She said the bottle was about 2/3 filled with water and still had part of a cork inside, but its seal had deteriorated over the years. She was able to fish out the note with a small tool and gently unrolled it to read the message. The note was dated November 1926 and read: “Will the person who finds this bottle return this paper to George Morrow Cheboygan, Michigan and tell where it was found?” Her first mate, Rob Hemmer, works at a local museum and his co-workers said to put the letter in the freezer to dry out, Dowker said. Dowker said Cheboygan is a small town and she knew a few Morrows lived in the area, so she posted pictures on her company’s Facebook page and hoped that a handful of people would see it. “I figured we’d track it down pretty quickly and that’d be the end of it,” she said. “So I kind of forgot about it because it was already late that night … and went to bed.” When she woke up Saturday morning, her post had gone viral — it has now been shared more than 100,000 times and has more than 6,000 comments from people offering tips, or who just wanted to know more about the story. “What was going through my mind was where am I even going to find the time to do the research to find the person,” Dowker said. “I’m a single mom running a small business with three teenage boys.” She needn’t have worried because on Father’s Day she heard from George Morrow’s daughter, Michele Primeau. Primeau told CNN that she’s not on Facebook, but she got a call out of nowhere from a complete stranger, who had seen Dowker’s post and decided to track her down. “I don’t do Facebook, and I’m just flabbergasted at how this has grown,” Primeau said. She recognized her dad’s handwriting when she saw a picture of the note, even though it was written about 20 years before she was born. Primeau said her dad’s birthday was in November and would have been 17 or 18 when he wrote the note and braced the cold of Northern Michigan to throw the bottle in the river. “I can just see him going out and doing that because it was his birthday,” Primeau said. “I don’t know for sure. But it just sounds like something he would have done.” She said her dad was always sentimental and she remembered her leaving a note in their wall while remodeling their basement and throwing another message in a bottle into Lake Huron on a family camping trip. Her dad died in 1995 and Primeau said the discovery has brought back a lot of good memories. “So he’s been gone a long time, but it was kind of cool because all this happened on Father’s Day weekend,” she said. Dowker wanted to return the message and the bottle, but Primeau decided she should keep it. “I thought the right thing to do would be to give it to her,” Primeau said. “She found it and that would keep my dad’s name living on.” Dowker said that she’s going to have them framed in a shadowbox and Primeau is going to send a photo of her father at that age for the display. She’s planning to put it up in the boat, or in the company’s office and gift shop. Primeau said she’s planning to make the trip up to Cheboygan in September, to see it. “I told her ‘you have a lifetime pass on the Yankee Sunshine,'” Dowker said.
From ABC4 Utah
--------------------------------- Somewhere in the Utah wilderness, just off a hiking trail in the northern part of the state, a treasure chest containing $10,000 in cold, hard cash is buried, waiting to be unearthed. Given an obscure, cryptically written poem as a clue and a vague idea of where the chest could be, hundreds of folks have already headed to the great outdoors in search of a great reward. The activity’s organizers, John Maxim and David Cline, tell ABC4 that their self-funded treasure hunt has already received national attention. Some people are planning on flying in from as far away as Atlanta and Hawaii in search of the prize. Have you heard of the Treasure Finders phone app? Created by Len Wright, it's a free app that has combined geocaching and an old-fashioned scavenger hunt. The latest treasure that's up for grabs: $50,000 in a buried chest that's hidden somewhere in Utah (between Centerville and Payson). Abe Hochstetler is Len's partner. He says that the new treasure includes one thousand ounces of silver and a lease on a new Ford truck. When speaking of the treasure hunters Abe said, "There’s a big chance they’ll be grabbing my booty, matey!”
Sunday morning sea shanty, anyone?
Sent on a mission to retrieve an ancient hidden map—the key to a legendary treasure trove—seventeen-year-old pirate captain Alosa deliberately allows herself to be captured by her enemies, giving her the perfect opportunity to search their ship. More than a match for the ruthless pirate crew, Alosa has only one thing standing between her and the map: her captor, the unexpectedly clever and unfairly attractive first mate Riden. But not to worry, for Alosa has a few tricks up her sleeve, and no lone pirate can stop the Daughter of the Pirate King. In Daughter of the Pirate King, debut author Tricia Levenseller blends action, adventure, romance, and a little bit of magic into a gripping tale on the high seas.  Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond are at it again.... only this time they're on the hunt for pirate treasure in Madagascar. A clever, witty, and delightful twist on the classic Christmas story. This one's a must-read for any pirate lover! I smiled through the whole thing.  Such a fun book with wonderful illustrations! Santa may (or may not) have to walk the plank. Poor Santa! There's a reason that most pirates are on the naughty list.  Whether you are 8 or 80, Skull King will bring out your scurvy pirate soul and the thrill of a treasure hunt! With the expansion, new powers come into play for each pirate, adding fresh intrigue. Skull King allows you to create lasting memories and inspires playful competition. The ultimate objective is to have fun! This game plays well with anywhere from 2 to 6 players.  Peter Pan is growing up. Nearing adulthood, he faces a choice: join the pirates of Neverland or face their wrath—or leave Neverland for good. Reluctant to abandon the Lost Boys, Peter searches for someone who can care for them and withstand the dangers of Neverland. The tough and witty Jane seems like the perfect replacement until he realizes that leaving her is almost as unbearable as becoming a pirate.  Stow your treasures in swashbuckling style with this Redd mini backpack by Loungefly. Inspired by the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction's iconic auburn-haired pirate, it is an essential accessory any fashionable buccaneer would treasure.  Customizable: 1. Pick your own color for the rim/handle 2. Add your own logo, saying, or photo to the back  Arrr ya ready for Halloween? If your littles like Build-a-Bear, this pirate costume ($16) sure is cute.  "Ahoy, landlubber! Come with me, board me ship upon the sea! Not a pirate? Don't know how? Ye can learn to be one now! Come in closer--I don't bite. A pirate ye shall be tonight!"  |
