Liz's Log - Old Bermuda Bottles

For hundreds of years inhabitants of Bermuda have been throwing their used bottles overboard. Whether thrown from land or tossed from a ship, you do not need to go far to find these little treasures along the shorelines of the earliest settlements. Steve McPhee lives in Bermuda and has been diving for bottles for over twenty years. He is the author of the premier guidebook on the subject, and was interviewed by Kev for the film Kev is making on the Glass of Bermuda. On Wednesday, Steve picked us up in his boat and took us to one of his favorite diving spots. This day was to film him diving and bringing up some bottles. Jeff donned his wetsuit and snorkeling gear and, using Kev's underwater camera, followed Steve and filmed him. Judith borrowed some of Steve's snorkeling gear and joined them. These hand blown bottles pictured were found, along with some black glass bottles from the 1780,s. We learned from Steve about the history of bottle making, how to identify and date the bottles, the shipwrecks, and the early history of the islands. As a finale to an already amazing day, Steve took us by boat around through the islands showing us the oldest houses and telling us about those early settlers. It was an amazing day and we have the rarest of mementos to bring home. love, Liz