“I did not believe it!”: 31 years after throwing a bottle into the sea with a letter, a Scottish receives an answer

In 1994, Alaina Beresford threw a bottle into the sea as part of a school project in Scotland. When writing her mail, the 12 -year -old schoolgirl, she probably did not expect to receive an answer 31 years later. And yet, his bottle at sea has found a recipient in Norway, reveals the BBC.

Placed in the waters of Portknockie, in Scotland, the message locked in a carbonated drink bottle failed in the North Sea before being discovered by a volunteer responsible for cleaning a Norwegian island.

“PD: I come from Scotland”

“Dear reader. My name is Alaina Stephen and I am 12 years old. I come from Portknockie and do a project in the water. So I decided to send a message in a bottle,” discovered the official elected happy. “My teacher’s husband took them and dropped them in the middle of the ocean.”

The teenager had been careful to leave directives to the reader of his letter: “When he finds this message, write us his name, his leisure, the place where he has found it, the date and, if he can, any information in his region. Accept the expression of my distinguished feelings. PS: only Scottish.”

Although he was not expected there, Alaina Stephen, now 42, received three decades later a Pia Brodtmann postcard, 27, accompanied by photos of her bottle.

“My name is Pia and I come from Germany,” is written. “Today, I found your message in a bottle in Lisshelløya, a small island around Vega, Norway.” Pia explains that he cleans the beaches as a volunteer for four months.

“At the front of the postcard, you can see our work boat Nemo and our sailboat Fonn, where we live. You can also see the surroundings of Vega. I wonder when and where your teacher’s husband threw your bottle in the ocean.” And to add, in the blink of the adolescent mail launched three decades before: “PD: I am 27 years old and I really like to climb and sail!”

The two women in contact

Alaina Stephen, who had moved from the written address in the back of her message, returned to live with her parents. This is how he discovered this email. The forties managed to find Pia on social networks. Then he asked for a photo of the letter.

“I was surprised when he did, I couldn’t believe how readable it was,” he told the BBC. Today, the two are still in contact. “And I hope we continue doing it,” concluded Alaina Stephen.