Yngmar
Well-known member
On our recent adventurous crossing from Greece to Sicily along the edge of a Medicane that the forecasters forgot to mention when we set off, we've encountered about 5 or 6 of these. They were all built the same way, a styrofoam raft, possibly made from lashed together styrofoam boxes that seem to forever fall off fishing boats. Strapped on top is a single jerrycan, white or red. And they were all trailing a few meters of some green webbing or some such, perhaps to stabilize them and prevent capsizing, like the drogues on a liferaft. Each had a number written on them, although somewhat inconsistently, we saw a roman IX and then a 39 and some others I don't recall..
I've got a few blurry pictures as I only had my phone to hand.
The one with the red can looked like it was vacuum sealed in a clear plastic bag and had a big label with some text written inside, but was too far and bouncy to make out anything even with the binoculars. The others were less elaborate though.
What are they? Some low-budget science experiment studying ocean currents? Floating refueling stations for migrant smugglers? A lost art project? The jerrycans looked too light to be filled with much liquid, but certainly could fit a battery, GPS tracker and some data gathering equipment and keep it dry, so a scientific study is the best I can come up with. Better ideas?
We were a bit concerned about what would happen if we ran over one in the dark and the webbing caught under the boat.
I've got a few blurry pictures as I only had my phone to hand.
The one with the red can looked like it was vacuum sealed in a clear plastic bag and had a big label with some text written inside, but was too far and bouncy to make out anything even with the binoculars. The others were less elaborate though.
What are they? Some low-budget science experiment studying ocean currents? Floating refueling stations for migrant smugglers? A lost art project? The jerrycans looked too light to be filled with much liquid, but certainly could fit a battery, GPS tracker and some data gathering equipment and keep it dry, so a scientific study is the best I can come up with. Better ideas?
We were a bit concerned about what would happen if we ran over one in the dark and the webbing caught under the boat.
