In preparation for a boat charter in the British Virgin Islands, I purchased a rather expensive pair of Polarized Ray-Ban sunglasses. While boarding the boat it occurred to me that the windy passages, choppy dinghy rides and an abundance of rum made for good odds of losing my new shades overboard. Before setting out the next morning, I channeled my inner “MacGyver” and fashioned a shoestring to a cork remnant from the previous evening’s wine fest.

The original KORKZ, born in 2014 in the BVI

The result wasn’t a masterpiece. It was uncomfortable, too long and didn’t have enough bouyancy to float my glasses, But it was eye-catching, and for the next 7 days, whenever we went ashore I would hear: “Check out that wine cork.” — “Hey, that’s cool! Where’d you get that?” Katharine, my wife, #1 fan and consummate support group would always pipe up and say: “He made it!”