A Donegal fisherman has landed a late, late catch after he threw a message in a bottle overboard more than ten years ago.
The bottle thrown into the ocean by John ten years ago!
John Cunningham put the message in the bottle and wrapped it in the colours of his native county in June 2003.
He lobbed the bottle into seas near St Kilda’s Island off the coast of Scotland on February 13th, 2003 where he was fishing commercially for mackerel.
And this week he was left stunned when he was contacted by a man in Iceland saying he had found it.
John, from Old Fintra Road in Killybegs, revealed he regularly throws bottles with little messages into the sea.
He has received replies from around the globe from places such as Spain, Norway, Denmark and even the Cape Verde islands.
But John said this is the longest time he has waited to get a reply.
“To think that the bottle was bobbing around the seas of the world for ten years is amazing.
The letter left in the bottle by John
“I knew when I got the letter that it could have been a reply to one of my messages but I was gobsmacked to discover it was one I had thrown overboard ten years ago,” he said.
The bottle was found by Rikard Thorstensen while he was out walking on a beach at Bakkafjorour on the north east coast of Iceland.
Rikard took pictures of the bottle and sent a letter to John in Killybegs saying he hoped he enjoyed the pictures.
John said he plans to contact Rikard to thank him for taking the time to send his message back.
But, in the meantime, he plans to continue dropping messages into the ocean.
“I just love doing it and I love seeing a letter popping into my letterbox from around the world and wondering what kind of journey the bottle and the message have been on,” he laughed.
John (left) with his brother Pat on a recent fishing trip.
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