A Man Made Floating Island
A man named Reishee Sowa that is who. This island is his inspiration, his baby, his dream. With the help of friends met along the way and a lot of hard work his dream has become a reality.
It is an amazing sight. You see a house on the island and you think wow, how lucky for someone to be able to live out there...
Strange Places of the World
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Reishee Sowa's paradise on water
The Spiral Island
Wikipedia says..
Spiral Island I was a floating artificial island in a lagoon near Puerto Aventuras, on the Caribbean coast of Mexico south of Cancún. It was built by British eco-pioneer Richart (or "Rishi") Sowa beginning in 1998; he filled nets with empty discarded plastic bottles to support a structure of plywood and bamboo, on which he poured sand and planted numerous plants, including mangroves. It was destroyed by Hurricane Emily in 2005. Sowa has built a new Spiral Island II in Isla Mujeres, Mexico.
The original island sported a two-story house, a solar oven, a self-composting toilet, and three beaches. He used some 250,000 bottles for the 66ft (20 m) by 54 ft (16 m) structure. The mangroves were planted to help keep the island cool, and some of them rose up to 15 ft (5 m) high.
Sowa is a musician, artist, and carpenter. Now in his fifties, he is an environmentalist who believes in recycling and low-impact living.
A book about Rishi's journey in building the original island and his philosophies, titled Spiralogically Speaking written by the German author Tanja Samed along with Rishi, is due to be released in 2008.
Spiral Island has been featured in a number of newspapers and TV documentaries around the world, and was featured in an episode of the Ripleys Believe It or Not!'' TV show.
Poll
What's With The Spiraling Bottles?
The spiraling pop bottles that actually make the base for the island are very fitting because spirals are the shape of all creation - microcosms, macrocosms, DNA, galaxies; the oldest forms of life were spirals. It is the eternal circle.
Reishee Sowa, a visionary
Reishee, originally from England, is a musician and an artist and as it turns out a visionary.It took Reishee 6 ½ years to create this island that was built right in the channel it now sits in. For the first year he lived in it in a tent - then he built his first house and it fell apart in a storm so he tried again and once again it fell apart in a storm. Never a quitter as you might have guessed he built a 3rd time. Now his little house stands strong and it is complete with guest room and a deck on top where he still pursues his love of painting.What happens in waves and storms? Reishee replies, "Most of the wave goes under the island only about 10% comes on top. The part of the wave going under actually makes it flip down again and stay level."
insideReishee continues "The spiraling pop bottles that actually make the base for the island are very fitting because spirals are the shape of all creation - microcosms, macrocosms, DNA, galaxies; the oldest forms of life were spirals. It is the eternal circle."
"We are being faced with a population explosion and maybe building islands is the answer. This island is an example of something that could be built worldwide. You could be totally self sufficient with it. All is as natural as possible. I catch rain water for showers, the toilet naturally composts, and you can grow your own produce," adds Reishee.
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Destruction by Hurricane Emily in 2005
During the hurricane in 2005, Spiral Island was washed completely onto the beach in one piece, with a small percentage of the bags of bottles washed up on the beach away from where it landed. The roots of the 7 year old 7 meter tall mangroves were intertwined through the island's base and the strong net that was wrapped totally under the whole Island.
The island did not sink, but was instead thrown up on the beach almost completely intact.
C'mon Let's Read . .
THe case for micronations and artificial islands.(Essay): An article from: The Futurist
Amazon Price: $9.95 (as of 11/07/2009) 
An Ecological Study of the Delaware River in the Vicinity of Artificial Island,
Amazon Price: (as of 11/07/2009)
Your Comments !!
motorpurrr wrote...
This is nice. I saw a show on this a few years ago. Thanks for the reminder.
Posted January 19, 2009
Bob wrote
cool
Posted June 25, 2008
Witness a man made paradise on water yourself !!
The spiral island sits in a lagoon near Puerto Aventuras, on the Caribbean coast of Mexico south of Cancún.So you can take a flight to the Cancun airport and a bus ride will take you to the island.
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