The front panel of the radio includes the serial number 3259. (0866618)
WHEN fisherman Clive Brown found a large block, covered in barnacles, floating off the south coast, he had no idea it hid an emergency radio that might have floated across the Atlantic.
‘At first I thought it was a large piece of wood,’ said Mr Brown, 53.
‘It wasn’t until I pulled it aboard and chipped off some of the barnacles that I saw it was a radio. It is a real curiosity.’
Mr Brown said some of the barnacles had grown up to a foot long, suggesting that the radio had been in the water for some time. Amongst the barnacles were also four Columbus crabs.
Marine expert Richard Lord said it was unusual to see these crabs around Guernsey.
‘These crabs are found in much warmer waters,’ he said.
‘It is possible they have grabbed onto the radio. The crabs are native to Florida, so it is quite possible it has floated across the Atlantic.’
Mr Brown has now cleaned up the radio, and managed to fill a fish box with barnacles. He was surprised by what good condition the radio was in.
‘The knobs turn, and it still whirrs when I turn the generator for doing morse code,’ he said.
‘Now I would just like to know where it has come from. I don’t know if it’s from a shipwreck or what.’
Mr Brown and Mr Lord are trying to track down where the radio might have come from.
While it does have a serial number, there is no ship’s call sign or maker’s label.
‘It is a bit like a message in a bottle,’ said Mr Brown.
Article posted on 10th November, 2009 - 2.29pm
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