There's Something in the Sea - Phase Three: The Boat

Phase 3 of "There's Something in the Sea" began November 5th, 2009. It continues where the events of Phase Two, Mark's Room left off. In November of 1968 Mark Meltzer sets off on a boat from Baltimore, Maryland to continue the search for his daughter Cindy overseas.

Day One: November 5
Clicking on the "Gone Fishin" note in Mark's office from Phase Two causes a new window to pop up. The site of Phase Three is inside a boat that is out at sea. Just like the office from Phase Two, there are three views around the room which one can switch by clicking the arrows on either side of the screen. There is a loud mechanical hum in the background.

Mark's typewriter, coffee cup, microphone, and the photo of Amanda and Cindy are on his fold-out desk in the center. Clicking on the photo returns you to Phase Two.

Many of Mark's books and the tape recorder machine are also present. Clicking on the left filing cabinet drawer reveals all the folders from Phase Two. All of the items in the archive appear unchanged except for the Frozen Triangle book. Previously only the cover had been visible, but now it is open to the chapter about the missing Ice Beagle.

Notably, what might be a distant land mass can be seen through the porthole, possibly indicating that Mark is in port, though which port is not readily clear.

Day Two: November 6
In Mark's room on the boat there is a new note from Dash Carmady, along with three more photos he has taken of the floor tiles in Lutwidge's lab sitting in an open folder on the crate. The pictures form an 8x8 checker board when put together.

These photo's are the final clue to the solving of the 5x5 level of the Metal Box Puzzle.

The photos and solution can be found on the Puzzle Boxes page.

Day Three: November 9
There is a new two-page letter to Dash from Mark on the desk, and the metal box is now on the bookshelf to the left.

A new transmission from Phil Isidore is on the radio, accessible via its blinking red light.

Site Location Change:

Between November 8th and 9th the url locations of Mark's office and boat room switched. The boat (Phase Three) is now at http://www.somethinginthesea.com/home.html and, Mark's room in Montauk (Phase Two) is at http://www.somethinginthesea.com/bioroom/. It appears that the url location of the map from Phase One has also changed to http://www.somethinginthesea.com/bioroom/map/index.html

If the viewer tries to access the Phase Three site through an old direct link ( http://www.somethinginthesea.com/ship/ ) they will find only an unupdated version of the site.

Day Four: November 10
Mark has Cindy's personal "A Child's Garden of Cyphers" book on his dresser next to a letter from Amanda Meltzer.

The book looks like it has seen much use, and is very dirty compared to the copy that Mark obtained in Phase Two. The writing on the bottom identifies it as "Cindy Meltzer's" and declares "KEEP OUT!!!" in the Lutwidgian cypher. Inside is a cryptic word search which acts as a clue to solving the fourth level of the Metal Box Puzzle.

The transcript and solutions to the word search are on the A Child's Garden of Cyphers page.

There is now a "RADIO CALL LOG" memo hanging on the side of the shortwave radio.

Day Five: November 11
On Mark's desk is a tape recording labeled both directly on the cover by Lutwidge as Lutwidge 6/58 "Terra Incognito" #XVI= Le Maison Dieu as well as in a note from Mark describing where it came from.

On Mark's mirror is a message from Capt. Casey Ferrence saying that they will ship out at day break.

Day Six: November 12
There is a new note from Mark pinned to his bulletin board. Amongst other things, it refers to a book on the shelf of Mark's desk written by Jeremiah Lynch titled "The Atlantean Bequest: Being A Meditation Upon The Megaliths Of Eire". In addition to this, there is a letter in the typewriter from Mark to his wife Amanda explaining why he has "to chase this to the end".

Day Seven: November 13
There's a new radio transmission from Roscoe Inman, and Mark left a note about the puzzle.

Day Eight: November 16
There is a new note from Mark on the bulletin board, and a new transmission on the radio from Phil Isadore.

Day Nine: November 17
There is a new note from Mark on his desk,where he tells about a conversation he had with the captain. Next to the note is a recording of the captain during the conversation.

The right hand filing cabinet can now be opened and contains new archive tabs. Most of the previous week's items have been moved there.

Day Ten: November 18
There is now a chart pinned to Mark's bulletin board showing the coordinates where Hans Hunger's U-boat was sunk.

Day Eleven: November 19
There are two pages from The Frozen Triangle on Mark's dresser sent to Mark from Phil Isadore, and a new letter from Mark on the desk thanking Phil for the pages.

Day Twelve: November 20
The Frozen Triangle is now sitting upright on the desk shelf and can be opened to Chapter 9.

The chart pinned on Mark's bulletin board now shows new coordinates on it. The new coordinates are the last reported location of The Baldur before it vanished.

Day Thirteen: November 22
There is a Speedy Brothers Telegrams message card pinned to Mark's desk.

Beside the desk on the wall there is now a green letter holder containing four fan letters.

Day Fourteen: November 23
There is a new recording of Lutwidge on the table which talks about the Frozen Triangle. There's also a new journal note in Mark's typewriter.

Day Fifteen: November 24
There is a radio transmission advising ships to hold off on sailing in the equatorial region between 40° to 45° West due to a tropical storm.


 * "This is an international maritime weather advisory. For all ships traveling in equatorial regions between 45 degrees west and 40 degrees west. A late season tropical storm has been reported with gusts of 30 knots and above. Avoid travel in the region if possible for the next 48 hours. All ships are urged to avoid travel in the region: 45 degrees to 40 degrees west."

Mark left a note describing the Nellie Bly's final stop in the Bahamas, and its dramatic turn of events.

The image in the porthole has also changed. It now features stormy seas, suggesting that the ship is entering troubled waters.

Day Sixteen: November 25
There's a new transmission from Roscoe Inman.

Mark also has a box of "DIMENHYDRINOL" pills (an anti-emetic) on the shelf above his desk. He has probably been feeling sea sick.

Day Seventeen: November 30
There is a new note from Mark pinned to the bulletin board, and a small statue of Buddha (more precisely, Budai/Hotei) on the lower bookshelf by Meltzer's desk.

Also, the porthole, now showing clear weather, can now be opened and closed. Closing the porthole turns the background noise off, while opening it turns it on.

Finally, Mark's discovered the coordinates of the C-47's last mission and pinpointed it on his blue map. Mark has also connected the previous two points with a red line. Strangely enough, the third point veers off from the previous two, and does not create a triangle. This is most likely because the 3rd riddle of the Metal Box Puzzle asks where the "sky train" last embarked from. The answer to the 4th riddle, "the point where the sky train derailed" should be the coordinate that makes the triangle.

Day Eighteen: December 1
Most of the items from the previous week have been moved to a new archive folder.

Mark has part of a "Classifieds" section from Visionary Wonder Magazine pinned to a note on the bulletin board. It appears to contain an ad written by Lutwidge that mentions "True Rapture" and "R.K.Q.",as well as an "I.O.O.P." Meltzer has written a note underneath wondering if R.K.Q is R. Killian Quain/Lutwidge and if I.O.O.P. is an organization.

Also, there is a new transmission on the radio from Phil Isadore.

Day Nineteen: December 2
There is a pamphlet from I.O.O.P., revealed to be "International Order Of the Pawns", signed by Lutwidge on the dresser.

Day Twenty: December 3
There is a message to "Red Queen" from a "Grey Pawn" with a note from Meltzer attached to it on the dresser.

Also, there is a Lex Harlan interview recording on the desk sent to Meltzer by Phil.

Day Twenty-One: December 4
There is a transmission on the radio from Jeremiah Lynch. Judging by his voice, he seems intoxicated.

Day Twenty-Two: December 6
There is a envelope on the desk from Phil Isadore.

A postcard with a picture of the "skytrain" is next to the map. On the back is information on the last reported whereabouts of the plane (63 degrees N 32 degrees W). The postcard reads "I hear Meltzer is looking for this-pass it on. A friend."

When the coordinates are entered into the puzzle box, a new level appears with a recording of Lutwidge asking for the name of the only ship that made it safely through "The Icy Triangle."

Meltzer has plotted the point where the "skytrain" vanished on his map, connected the dots, and found the "Icy Triangle's" location.

There are also three new letters in the letter-holder on the wall. One is from a close friend of Phil Isadore's, another is from a Canadian acquaintance of Phil's, and lastly, there is a yellow letter with 2 notes attached,one being a poem in Lutwidgian cypher.

Day Twenty-Three: December 7
There is a new 2-page interview transcript on the dresser from The Monthly Undergrounder of a conversation with Lee Wilson Seward titled The Grey Ghost of Tangiers: An afternoon with Lee Wilson Seward. In the interview, Seward mentions his half-sister Mimi Tabor and close friend Elgar Vankin who disappeared in 1946, apparently to Rapture since Seward also mentions they fell in with people like Sander Cohen.

Day Twenty-Four: December 8
There is a new note from Meltzer on top of the box by the desk, where Mark tells of meeting and having a conversation with Lee Wilson Seward. On the desk there is also a new recording of Mark's conversation with Seward.

Many of the items from the previous week have been moved to the archives.