Kids & Family

41 Years Later, Message in a Bottle Discovered on Jones Beach

German man found bottle at Jones Beach 41 years after it was thrown from a fishing boat in Scotland.

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Heather Doyle, Patch StaffVerified Patch Staff Badge

A tourist from Germany discovered a message in a bottle on a Long Island beach 41 years after it was thrown into the sea off the coast of Scotland.

Michael Scholz was visiting New York and took a trip to Jones Beach when he came across the treasure.

Inside the aged bottle was a note from John Souter, 66, of Lossiemouth, Scotland, who had thrown the bottle from a fishing boat on June 7, 1973.

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“ I tore a bit of paper out of an old fishing almanac onboard 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,” said Souter, according to the New York Daily News.

Scholz brought the bottle back home to Germany and mailed a letter to Souter.

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“I have your message in a bottle. But I didn’t found your message in Germany,” Scholz wrote in his letter, according to the report. “Recently I visited New York. During a trip to the coast about 30 miles from John F. Kennedy Airport, I found your message…More than 40 years was your bottle on the go. Wow! It’s a long time.”

The message traveled nearly 8,000 miles between Scotland, New York, Germany, and once more to Scotland.

“It’s amazing to think how far it traveled,” Souter said, according to the report. He and his wife Eileen sent Souter a Christmas card in thanks and plan to stay in touch.

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