A Scottish family vacationing on the Central Coast found more than just adventure.
Four young cousins found a message in a bottle. The bottle has been on a years long journey, a journey that is still far from over.
Toby, Theo, Ollie and Eve Duncan are cousins from Scotland. Their families were recently visiting Pismo Beach. Like many who visit the area, they headed straight to the ocean to go body boarding. While in the surf, they saw something in the water. At first they were afraid to approach because they thought it might be an animal, but after a closer look, they discovered the floating object was a bottle.
It was sealed up tight with wax and had a note inside. So they headed straight back to shore to show their parents.
What they found inside was a big surprise.
"There were two letters in it. From four years ago and two years ago," said Ollie Duncan.
The oldest letter was written in 2015 by a young couple in Ojai. The letter explained they were celebrating their engagement.
They talked about their plans for the future and also included a message to whoever might find it. The couple also wrote about how they hoped the person who opened the bottle would also find love.
Well that bottle did find another person two years later. A second letter inside explained that a couple from Ventura found the bottle. They were so taken by the letter inside that they decided to add their own wishes of love to future finders and again throw the bottle back out to sea. And that's where the Duncan cousins join the story.
“When I saw the letters, I automatically wanted to write a letter as well and join in with the journey," said Eve Duncan.
Eve's uncle and father agreed the best thing to do was to add a third letter and once again send the bottle on it's way.
“We decided we wanted to pass on the love, so we hope that – we have love in our family and don’t need the bottle and don’t need the hope so we want to pass that on," said Paul Duncan, Eve's uncle.
The adults thought it would be an important lessons for their children.
“Well there’s a lot of destruction and a lot of hatred in the world in the moment and it’s nice to see a bit of love," said Paul.
It's an adventure the young cousins say they will never forget.
“Yeah, it’s been quite exciting, I didn’t expect this to happen," said Eve.
After leaving Pismo Beach, the Duncan family traveled north along the Central Coast and stopped in Monterey Bay for a whale watching trip. It's there they threw the bottle back over board now with three letters inside. The first from 2015, the second from 2017 and now the latest penned in 2019. That bottle is now adrift off the coast of California waiting for another finder to unveil the wishes for love.
The Duncan family contacted both of the letter writers and they heard back from both couples. They also added contact information so hopefully in the future they too can offer a personal message of hope.
