Message in a bottle to be displayed in England museum

message with co-ordinates of where he found it and stuff like that.”

“I didn’t think it would travel that far. I honestly didn’t know where it could end up,” he says. “I was pretty surprised that someone found it. I didn’t ever think someone was going to find it, but it was worth a try.”

Kenney was also surprised. “I forgot about it. It surprised me quite a bit when I saw that somebody found it,” he says. “I was very surprised by how far it did go.”

The crew was fishing around 270 miles off the coast of Newfoundland last summer. Goodwin says it will be interesting to see when, where or if the other notes come ashore. Two were in plastic bottles and two were in glass ones.

“We’ll see what shows up where,” he says.

Clark says the beach on which he found the note is quite secluded.

“I have never really found anything else there,” he says. “After a storm, there are usually bits of lost fishing nets, etc., and the odd bottle – without messages.”

This was a very interesting find.

“There was a gale blowing and quite a bit of rain so I actually waited to open it until I got back to my vehicle,” he says. “The content of the bottle was really interesting as the note gave lots of info about the boat, crew, where they were and what they were doing. The best bit was the photo of the lads together with the enormous fish.”

When he first texted Hatfield he offered to send the bottle back. But now there’s been a change of plans. A local museum is interested in displaying it.

“He told me the museum wanted it and if I would want that,” Hatfield says. “I told him to let the museum have it.”

The museum is The Castle Heritage Centre in Bude, England. The castle was built in 1830 and the heritage centre housed inside it displays artifacts and exhibitions about local history.

“It is such an interesting story and we are very pleased that Paul wanted to donate the message and bottle to our heritage centre,” says Heritage Development Officer Janine King.

“The message is of interest because it is so well preserved and detailed. To have a photograph of the two boys who threw the bottle overboard is also fantastic,” King says. “The fact that it only took six months to arrive on our shores also indicates the power of the tides. Also, the bottle surviving its journey largely intact shows how long plastic can survive in the ocean without disintegrating.”

The heritage centre intends to display the bottle and message as part of a future exhibit. It doesn’t have any other messages in bottles in its collection, but it does have a display highlighting other items that regularly wash up on the shore.

Clark was excited to be the first person to see the note when it washed up onshore. He’s excited others will get to see it too.

“As a kid, I can remember throwing in a message in a bottle. I would have been over the moon to get a message back,” he says. “Finding their bottle was the next best thing!”