The South Tyneside message in a bottle written in eyeliner - and what an epic adventure it had
‘We even wrote it with my eyeliner pencil’
We wonder if this is the longest wait a South Tyneside youngster has ever had for a reply to a message in a bottle - unless you know different.
South Tyneside schoolgirl Katelind Sisterson finally got a reply to her message nearly three years after she launched it in the North Sea.
And now, 15 years on from that great story, we’re asking ‘did you get a reply after sending a message in a bottle? Where did it come from? And how long did you have to wait for a reply?’
Back in January 2009, Katelind decided to write a note, place it inside a pop bottle and cast it into the North Sea in the hope someone would find it.
As time went on, the 10-year–old, from Harton, South Shields, forgot all about her mission – until July 2011 when a reply finally came back.
The bottle had travelled almost 500 miles up the coast and eventually washed up on a beach in Baltasound in Unst which is the largest and most northerly Shetland island.
Mum Lesley McAthey, 48, said back in 2011: “She’d forgot all about it and we never thought we’d get a reply, after all it could have ended up anywhere.
“We’d put it in the water off Roker Beach. It was just an ordinary pop bottle and a little note inside said something like ‘if you find this will you please reply’ and it had Katelind’s details on it.
“In fact we even wrote it with my eyeliner pencil, I never thought it would ever end up being found.”
But on June 20, 2011, Shetland islander Tony Ashcroft found the bottle lying on a beach and sent the Harton Primary School pupil a postcard.
Ms McAthey said: “We forgot to put the date on when we sent our message, so he’d asked when we’d sent it. He also included an e-mail address so we’ve tried to reply, but so far had no response yet.
“I think Katelind has been very lucky to get a postcard, considering how far the bottle went and where it could have ended up. I bet there’s not many people out there who have heard something back like this.”
We would love to hear from other people with ‘message in a bottle’ stories and you can share yours by emailing [email protected]