Quebec woman finds message in a bottle launched 34 years earlier

June 15 (UPI) -- A Quebec woman taking a walk on the beach near her cottage discovered a message in a bottle that had been thrown out to sea by a Newfoundland man 34 years earlier.

Trudy Shattler said she was walking with her mother-in-law on the beach near her Pagouatchiou cottage when she found a bottle on the rocks containing a note that was dated May 29, 1989 -- 34 years and one week before the day she found it.

"I was so excited. I mean, what I'm looking for all the time is a note in a bottle," Shattler told SaltWire.

Shattler said some water had gotten into the bottle, so the note, written on the back of an Export A cigarette pack, was damaged.

Shattler could make out that the bottle had been thrown into the water at Fox Point, 10 miles off Port au Choix, Newfoundland, but she could only make out a few letters of the author's name.

Shattler posted photos of her discovery to Facebook, where they were shared nearly 200 times before coming to the attention of Port au Choix man Rick Hamlyn.

"As soon as I seen it, I knew the writing and I said, 'That's dad's,'" Hamlyn said.

Hamlyn said his father, Gilbert, was well known for launching messages in bottles -- always written on the backs of cigarette packs -- into the water while out fishing. Gilbert Hamlyn died two years ago at the age of 72.

Hamlyn said Shattler's bottle is the first he knows of to ever be found.

Shattler said she will send the bottle to Hamlyn, who plans to place it at his father's grave.

"Oh my gosh, wouldn't he love to say that someone finally got my message after all these years," Hamlyn said.