beachbites
15
www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM
n 1961 and ’62, Wilmington’s
Ray Cox was an interior com-munication
petty officer on the
USS Lookout, stationed at sea
and keeping our country secure
during the hostile years of the
Cold War. To pass the endless hours, he began
writing messages, the same message over
and over, placing them in empty medicine
bottles and sending them overboard into the
ocean because, Cox says, “We were bored.”
He remembers casting hundreds of bottles to
sea, all of which carried the same message: “If
found, please write to: Jesse Ray Cox.” Each
message was signed with Cox’s address, as well
as the date and time. One particular bottle,
about three inches long, with black electrical
tape wrapped tightly around the cork, was sent
overboard on May 1, 1961, at 8:44 p.m.
“I couldn’t tell you where I threw it over,”
says Cox. “It was dark, and we weren’t allowed
to know our location at any time.” He does
remember it being very cold, however, and
guesses that the Lookout may have been on
duty in Iceland or Antarctica.
overboard
after 49 years at sea, someone
got his message
in a bottle
I
Top: Roy Cox on July 29 with a
photo of the bottle found by Rich
Dunlap (middle left) on Sable
Island, Nova Scotia (bottom).
top Photo by Allison Breienr Potter. Others, courtsey of Ray Cox.