Archaeologists find message in a bottle on Indian Island shore

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U.S. Navy archaeologist Dave Grant and Ben Carlson, archaeological assistant, were walking along the shoreline at Naval Magazine Indian Island Oct. 13 when they happened upon a message in a bottle. The message had been placed in a bottle by three Sequim High School sophomores in 2010.

Grant and Carlson read the message, which contained a poem and three phone numbers left by the teenagers, who had sent the bottle into the Strait of Juan de Fuca at Port Williams Beach near Sequim on June 22, 2010.

Grant called the phone numbers, which were written on the back of the poem, and left a message stating that he and Carlson had come across the bottle on Indian Island, along Port Townsend Bay. At the time, the two were completing an archaeological assessment relating to beach erosion that may impact sites on the island.

Alexi Nelson of Sequim called back to say that she, Laura Rutherford and Ally Taiji were the ones who placed the note in the bottle. Nelson, now a student at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, said that the girls placed the message in the bottle with a poem, which asked the person finding the bottle to contact them. The note inside also asked that the finder put the bottle back into sea, along with a new note.

Grant said he plans on having his daughter write a poem and have the bottle sent out to sea in the Caribbean by a family member who is planning a cruise.

Nelson said that while in high school, she, Rutherford and Taiji were known as the "three brunettes" and were the best of friends. Like most high school friends, the girls have drifted apart. But Nelson was able to contact Rutherford about the bottle being found.

The young friends wrote the following message and placed it in the bottle in 2010.

“Dear Beholder of the bottle:

Whoever you are and wherever you may be, the message to you is the same from us three.

We held the key, but now it is up to thee, to return this glass bottle back to the sea.

The tradition is great, the message is strong and ye cannot delay in sending it on.

We all have our days where life gets us down.

But today is the day you forget all about your heart wrenching ache, your worries and cares, for we are connected through pens and the air.

We can make history, us three and thee, keeping the bottle roaming through land and through the sea.

Each time it re-enters the great ocean blue, the message grows stronger with each word anew.

Follow your heart, keep your head held high and never believe the limit is the sky, if you set your mind to it you know you can fly.

This is our message to you now it's your turn to send one out too.

Sincerely,

‘The Three Brunettes’”