Message in a bottle emerges at Navy base

A 27-year-old message in a bottle has been reunited with its writer after contractors working on a wharf refurbishment project at Garden Island discovered the timeless treasure late last month. The workers were deconstructing the side of the timber wharf to replace it with steel when they found an old glass bottle with a handwritten note and a 5¢ coin inside. The letter had been planted in an old cone fender bolted on the side of Morsby wharf. “As we pulled the cone fender off, something fell out,” worker Noel McAlpine said. “It was a 500ml glass Coke bottle . . . then we realised there was something in it.” After spending half an hour trying to retrieve the note from the bottle, the crew were surprised to find one of its authors was still working on Garden Island. “We read the names on the note and recognised that one of the names was the same as a guy who was working with Duratec on another project,” he said. So they reached out to the author, who was shocked to hear about the discovery. Danny Smith and his co-workers were wrapping up a short-term project at Morsby, then known as Small Ships Wharf, in 1993 when they planted the note. Mr Smith told the Sound Telegraph he didn’t remember much about the day, only that the project was almost done and the note was “the last piece of the puzzle”. “When they showed me the note I could recognise my handwriting straight away,” Mr Smith said. “The last time I was at the wharf was when I worked there and planted the note, nearly 30 years ago. “It’s brought back many memories.” The current crew said they were happy the note was back in Mr Smith’s possession. “We might continue the same tradition when this project is finished,” Mr McAlpine said.