Kayaker finds message in a bottle almost exactly 35 years after it was sent

While at Delaware's Prime Hook Beach in the summer of 1985, Cathi Riddle and her cousin thought it would be fun to send a message in a bottle and see if anyone ever responded to their letter. Finally, 35 years later, Riddle received a reply.

In the letter, dated Aug. 1, 1985, the girls wrote about their pets and asked the person who found the missive to "please write back when you receive this and tell us about yourself." Riddle told WBOC they were curious about how far the message could go.

On Aug. 8, kayaker Brad Wachsmuth was on the Broadkill River near Prime Hook Beach when he saw a bottle floating in the water. He picks up trash during his kayaking adventures, and grabbed the bottle to recycle. Back on shore, he saw there was a piece of paper inside the bottle, and after reading the message, got in touch with the Milton Historical Society, which helped connect him with Riddle.

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Wachsmuth told WBOC with "the tides and the amount of storms that come here, tropical storms, nor'easters, hurricanes, over 35 years you would expect it wouldn't end up in the same waters." It appears the bottle likely "didn't travel very far," Riddle said, but it's not too far-fetched to believe that "perhaps it traveled the world and came back."