Eight year old Sarah DeLaughter and her Dad, Zane, of Duncan Oklahoma, had a rare find. The DeLaughter family was vacationing in Crystal Beach last week, as they have done the last several years. As Sarah told us her story, it was as if we were right along there with her as she made this never to be forgotten find! They were on a mission in the evening to search out crabs, which they did indeed find as well, “It was all hairy and bit Dad,” she giggled. All of a sudden, lying on top of the seaweed, Sarah says, “Dad, there’s a bottle – and it has a note in it!” Sarah picked up the bottle and they rushed back home, eager to get it open.
Sarah DeLaughter reading the message found in the bottle.
Sarah warned us, “The bottle smells a little,” and it really did smell of old stale wine. What do you expect after floating around for 4 years??
The authors of the message, suspected to be young girls, left no contact information, but Jaz did include “When you find a sweet spot near the beach, write a note and send it to sea, the bottle may come back to me”. If Sarah is asked to write about “What I did last Summer,” she will have quite a story to tell.
Notes were written on each side of what looked like a torn up brown paper bag. “Adrie” wrote on one side of the paper, and “Jaz” on the other. Click image for larger view.
The first recorded messages in a bottle were released around 310 BC. Among other purposes, they were used for scientific studies of ocean currents. Romantic reasons were another factor, perhaps to send or receive a sweet message or a love note. In 1945, an American World War II veteran tossed a bottle over the side of his ship. It was recovered by an Irish milk maid. The finding initiated an exchange of letters that lasted seven years until the two finally met. Due to all the media attention, they were never able to get their romance off the ground. The Police recorded a song “Message in a Bottle” in 1979. Nicholas Sparks’s novel “Message in a Bottle” was made into a film in 1999. In April of 2014, the oldest bottle was found in the Baltic Sea, the message was dated May 17, 1913.
Now, in addition to looking for shark’s teeth, sand dollars, sea glass, and all the other things I fixate on, I’m on the lookout for my own Message in a Bottle! (Georgia Osten, June 10, 2014)
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I have spent months on a sail boat….long periods of time living on one ,and living near large bodies of water and I always hoped to find a “Message in a Bottle!” It never happened…. Therefore I was so happy to hear that someone did find such HERE and I celebrate that event for and with them!
Dreams really do come true! Never give up!
This was such a sweet and mysterious story, I loved this! Thanks for sharing! Carlis