Message in a bottle found on Chesil Beach on Portland

The bottle travelled across the Atlantic over the course of a year before arriving in Dorset.

It was discovered by Mary Bird from Fortuneswell, Portland, who found it whilst doing a beach clean on Saturday.

She said: “Whilst doing a beach clean, I noticed a gin bottle so collected that to bin, but then I saw another dark brown bottle.

“We noticed it had something in it, a message, so we took it up to Quiddles Café, where we pulled out the cork.

“We found a stick to fetch the contents out, and there was a strange rolled up plastic bag with writing on it.

“Inside was a damp piece of A4 lined paper with some writing on it in French.

“I have since taken the message to my dad, who translated it as best he could. We also looked up the address which was not in France but in Canada.

“It seems that the bottle travelled across the Atlantic in a year and five days and made its way from Quebec to Portland.”

The message was sent on Sunday, January 13 (2019) – the translation is understood to say: “A little message from the sea. Every year for the last five years during festival (Christmas) time. I send a bottle from the quayside of Cloridorme in Quebec, Canada to experiment about the journey/voyage it will make.”

She explained: “We will be writing a handwritten letter to the sender, Andre Huet. We will also be putting our own message in a bottle and sending it from Portland Bill sometime when the tide is right, to see where it ends up.

“This glass bottle has spent a year being tossed about in the oceans, it has survived storms, whales, boats and raging waves. We were in the right place at the right time.”