Saturday, May 3

The Message In A Bottle Coincidence

Coca-Cola bottle

Here's a coincidence story I found on the Horncastle News website.

It's probably something we've all thought about doing but Robyn Hughes, 17, from Horncastle went ahead and did it. She put a message in a bottle - a Coca Cola bottle - and dropped it into the English Channel.

Robyn told the Horncastle News:

"We were on our way back from holiday in France when my dad suggested we should all throw a message in a bottle into the sea. They were all in Coca-Cola bottles and I never thought anything about it."

But she should have thought more about it, because she got a reply. The bottle was found on a French beach, by a French man - called Henri Perroy.

And Mr Perroy sent a letter to Robyn - that's by normal air mail not bottle post.

Now the strange bit is that Mr Perroy has actually been writing to a Horncastle resident for over 40 years. He has a penfriend there and the two have corresponded since they were young boys - and because of that he knew a great deal about the town and local area.

As Robyn said, "It’s an amazing coincidence. I don’t know what the odds are. It must be millions to one."

But there's another twist to the story because Mr Perroy was hundreds of miles away from his own home in the village of Archettes when he discovered Robyn’s bottle. So that must push up the odds even higher.

Funny old world.

Message in a bottle
As Bob Dylan once said, 'For the times they are a-changin' (still)
An American teenager who launched a message in a bottle from a cruise ship in the Bahamas was stunned to be tracked down after it washed up 4,000 miles away on a British beach five years later. Retired electrician, Tony Hoskings found the green barnacle-encrusted bottle as he walked his dog on Goonhavern Beach, Cornwall. Source

Other 67 Not Out Posts:
World Record Message In A Bottle Coincidence
The Castaway And The Message In A Bottle Coincidence
Classic Coincidence: She Fell From Heaven And Landed At His Feet

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8 comments:

  1. Suzie10:18

    I've always wanted to drop a bottle with a message into the sea since a little girl. I'm hoping to go on a boat trip this year and if I do I shall do it!

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    1. Look forward to your bottle washing up on a Cornish beach!

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  2. Great story and synchro! What makes it even more powerful, I think, is that he wasn't in his hometown when he found it!

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    Replies
    1. Agreed, this adds an extra level.

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  3. hello mike reading some of your posts ive missed i have been in hospital again. hope you are well

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    1. Sorry to hear that Tom, I;ll send you an email.

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  4. Is Mr Perroy the French form of Mr Perry ?-)

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    1. Some places say it is a variation of Perry, but it's also an area of Switzerland. Perry as a surname comes from Pears - originally pear pickers.

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