Over the past 8 months I have not been able to update the Spiral Island website for various reasons. Mainly because my business has been taking up most all of my time.

Now that there is light at the end of the tunnel for a new Spiral Island being created by my friend Richie Sowa, I will make some time to keep Spiral Ialanders up to date with all the news I get from Richie.

RICHIE SOWA ANNOUNCES REBIRTH OF SPIRAL ISLAND 

LATEST MESSAGE FROM RICHIE (July 26, 2007):

Thank GOodness,

                     Finally when I was about to just give up here in Mexico and go traveling ,,,It all came through,,,,,,,,,I am very exited to announce the rebirth of "spiral island"   this time transformable into a boat,  Eco-spa-ship,,,an ecological-space-making-ship, with of course wonderful spa facilities and the amazing possibility of even becoming in the future an actual spaceship.

                                                                                Joyful wisdom

Model of new Spiral Island

UPDATE: October 13, 2006

Michel McDermott, Communications Coordinator at Mercury Marine has informed me today via email that Mercury Marine published my story about moving Richie Sowa's Spiral Island with my 9.9 Mercury outboard motor back in March 2001 in the Mercury Messenger dealer magazine.  This is the message that I received today from Michel, and as soon as I receive a copy of the story from Michel, I will post it here on the Spiral Island website. I would also like to take this time to thank Michel for contacting me, and to Mercury Marine for publishing the story in the Mercury Messenger dealer news.

Thanks again to Michel McDermott, Communications Coordinator, Mercury Marine.

RandyMac McCallum

Message to me from Michel McDermott:

RandyMac,

We did publish your story in our dealer magazine, the Mercury Messenger.
I'd love to send you some copies, but couldn't find an address on your
website. Do you have a mailing address I could send them to?

Michel McDermott
Communications Coordinator
Mercury Marine

Original Story on Spiral Island:

Ultimate 9.9 outboard motor test?

First off, Richie is an ecology green-environment friendly person and he wasn't too enthused about hooking up a motor to his island to move it from one lagoon to another back in 2001, but we talked him into it. After we moved the island, which took two days, I gave Richie the 9.9 Mercury outboard so he could sell it to a local fisherman so he could cover most of his expenses for a trip that he took to Central America back in the Spring of 2001.

Can a 9.9 Mercury Outboard Motor move a 60 ton floating island?

That's like asking if such a small motor can move a 60 ton barge or boat. And most people would never attempt such a task with such a small outboard motor. However, we put Mercury and their claims to the test back in March 2001. According to Mercury Outboards, they have been engineering, building and providing the best marine power in the world for over 60 years. And this little story is proof that their 9.9 Mercury outboard motors can handle heavy loads without failing. Back in March 2001, we attached my little 9.9 Mercury outboard to Spiral Island and put it to the ultimate salt water weight pushing test in the back lagoon of Puerto Aventuras, Quintana Roo Mexico.

Randy and Richie with 9.9 Mercury outboard motor

Moving a 60 ton plus floating island depends on heavy duty marine power and we can attest that Mercury claims of consistently offering the strongest and toughest marine power anywhere are true. After attaching the motor to the back of the island, my little 9.9 Mercury motor started on the first pull after sitting for 2 years. And after giving Richie a few lessons on how not to over rev the motor which causes cavitation, Spiral Island was moving around the lagoon.

9.9 Mercury Outboard Motor

Every once and a while some bubbles formed, but even so, we never encountered any sign of blade failure (breakage) and soon we were spinning the island from one side of the lagoon in Puerto Aventuras to the other.  Of course we used guide ropes to help stablize the island, but the little motor did more than we ever expected that day.

A few weeks later, the same motor was attached again to Spiral Island and this time we moved Spiral Island out into open sea so Richie could relocate the island down 1/4 of mile to a new lagoon, as requested by the Marina Authorities at Puerto Aventuras.

I'm not sure if Mercury would provide any warranty on the motor after moving such a heavy object, but thanks to their motor, we were able to move the island, even though many people didn't think the little 9.9 motor would even budge the island.

Richie guides island in lagoon with 9.9 Mercury outboard

The following are some photos taken back in March 2001, when Richie and I amd his many friends moved Spiral Island from the lagoon in Puerto Aventuras to a new location 1/4 mile south. The move saw us almost wind up in Cuba when the island got caught in a huge wind. We drifter for a while, and the little 9.9 did it's best to guide us back, but soon we had to flag down a Parasail boat to otw us back to the lagoon.

Spiral Island in the Puerto Aventuras lagoon

This is the ultimate Survivor Show adventure. During the move of Spiral Island with the 9.9 Mercury Outboard and guide ropes, we experienced a huge gust of wind off the ocean, and this dragged Spiral Island out to sea. There were approximately 12 people on the island when we started drifting out to sea. We did not have enough water on the island, but we did have a case of some Sol cervesas (beer) to party. The waves caused some serious damage to the island, but the little Mercury outboard did it's best to stabilize the island during gusts of winds.

This is the Puerto Aventuras lagoon where Richie's Spiral Island was originally located before we moved the island back in March 2001.

Puerto Aventuras lagoon

Later this weekend, (May 6th, and 7th, 2006) I will be posting more of the history of Spiral Island and more photos that have not been available on the web. Please come back soon, and please let your friends know about Richie Sowa, and his Island paradise. Please give out the Richie Sowa's Spiral Island website URL to as many friends as possible: http://spiralisland.westkootenayunplugged.com/index.php

Happy Cinco de Maya . Have a nice weekend. 

RandyMac 

And some more text after the tabs!A recent visitor (JoAnne) posted a nice message to the Spiral Island web site, and took time to show her genuine concern and caring nature about Richie's pets. She asked me whether Richie's beloved pets managed to survive the hurricane that destroyed Spiral Island and devasted much of the Yucatan coast back in 2005.

I have sent an email to Richie, and he doesn't get to email that often so it may be a time before I can provide a definite answer, but I am sure Richie would have mentioned if any of his pets did not survive. Richie is a very kind gentle soul, and I am sure his pets safety were his first priority in preparation of the hurricane.

Do you have an action plan prepared for your pets well-being before a major storm or hurricane?

Pets are a part of the family, and should be treated us such. And pets are very keen to the approach of mother natures fiery and extreme weather, and often become anxious and will be your indicator that a major storm is very close.  It's always a good idea to keep your pet(s) close by, and make the same basic precautions for them as for yourself and the rest of your family. See more information on your pets and animals preparation plans for a hurricane below. Click Read more.

Richie Sowa and his beloved pets

Thank you!
written by JoAnne on July 28, 2006

"As an animal lover and after seeing photos of Richie holding his cats and his dog, I couldn't help but become concerned for them. I sure hope they were able to swim to safety."

Pets?
written by JoAnne on July 27, 2006

"What happened to Richie's pets? Was he able to get them off the island before the hurricane."

We have been trying to come up with some ideas to help raise some donation funds for Richie Sowa to help him help Richie raise some funds to help rebuild his new Spiral Island, we are considering some new designs for a line of Spiral Island T-Shirts. These T-Shirts are just concept designs right now and are not available yet for sale.

If you have any design ideas for some fund-raiser T-Shirts for Richie Sowa's Spiral Island, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

Spiral Island T - green & orange black

Spiral Island T - green on black front view

Please leave us your comments. 

RandyMac, Administrator

By MIKE STARK | Associated Press
July 9, 2006

SHEPHERD, Mont. (AP) - Some good ideas start with a stinking dog.

Not long after Bruce Kania bought a farm out here, he noticed a foul odor from his dogs that swam in the ponds and streams on the property. His place is at the end of a 60-mile irrigation ditch, which is rich with nitrogen and phosphorous from fertilizer that has run off into the ditch and worked its way downstream.Too much of those nutrients can mean too much algae, which can hamper the life of other tiny species, which in turn, reduces the prospects for insects, birds and fish.Bad as it was, it got Kania thinking. Wasn't there some way to get those excess nutrients out of the water?

Five years later, Kania is perfecting his solution and selling it on the world market: floating, manmade islands, teeming with life and possibilities.The islands, acting as a sort of floating filter, are designed to improve water quality with plants that suck up excess nutrients. They also create wildlife habitat, function as small-scale wetlands and add a little visual spice to waterways.

To read the full article, visit the New Mexican web site: Montana man says floating islands will clean pollution  

Web site link: Floating Islands International