Message in bottle's 5000km journey
A message in a bottle has been found 5000 kilometres away from where it was tossed into the ocean, a whopping 42 years later.
Scottish fisherman John Souter said he threw the old lemonade bottle into the North Sea in 1973, and it was found by a German tourist on a recent trip to the United States, The Daily Mail reports.
The tourist, Michael Scholz, took the bottle and its note back to his home in Germany and then posted it back to Mr Souter’s former address.
Mr Souter said he wrote the message while on the water with his dad and late brother-in-law, Bill.
“I remember doing it. I was aboard my father's fishing boat. I tore a bit of paper out of an old fishing almanac on board and wrote my name, address and the date on it, before putting it inside an old Hay's lemonade bottle and throwing it into the sea,” he said.
“Bill did the same thing. He heard from someone who found his note within a year, but I'd completely forgotten about mine. It's amazing to think how far it travelled.”
By the time Mr Scholz had found it, the bottle had traveled around 5300km to Jones Beach in Nassua County, New York.
When he got home, her returned the message, along with his own note explaining how he found it.
“During a trip to the coast about 30 miles from John F. Kennedy Airport, I found your message,” he wrote.
“More than 40 years was your bottle on the go. Wow. It's a long time. This is fantastic. I'm very impressed.”
Morning news break –January 5
