The final day of the 365 day nature play challenge and we’re throwing a message in a bottle into the Bristol Channel.
1 – The message in the bottle
Wednesday 31 December. Clear skies & sunset. 3°C
Our final challenge. We both like this idea. It occurred to us a couple of weeks earlier. We’ve had an old balsamic vinegar bottle with a cork hanging around the kitchen for months. It was too nice to throw away. We have a discussion about plastics littering the ocean and agree you should never throw anything plastic into the sea. We decide brown glass and cork are fine in this situation. Particularly if it might lead to an adventure.
Research suggests pencil is better than pen for long sea voyages but in the end we opt for a sharpie. I write a bit about the challenge and our contact details. B grumps that I’ve got all the good bits but comes up with a cracker:
“Hi. I’m B. As L probably told you we’re doing the 365 day thingy and I was hoping we could get in touch even if you are a sea creature or far away. From B.”
She takes charge of rolling it up very tightly. We’ve made a hole in one corner and tied string in it so that it’s easy to get the paper out of the bottle if someone finds it. B likes the sound of the cork going into the bottle and out again. We’ve just bought some sealing wax and have a go at burning that to make it a bit more sea proof.
Now we have to work out when we can throw it. I reckon just after high tide is best. This is 4.05pm. Sunset! Perfect.
It’s the most beautiful evening. Very cold but the light on the water is pinky and after days of storms it’s beautifully still. B does her best throw (I have nightmares of it crashing on the pebbles) and it sails out about 15 metres, where it lands with a splash and bobs about. We’re both very excited. Very slowly it moves down parallel to the beach, slowly drifting further and further out to sea.
We watch it for ages, wondering where it will go and if we’ll ever hear where it gets to. We hope so. It feels the perfect end to an amazing year.
