A man and woman who became friends as youngsters through a message in a bottle have met for the first time – 45 YEARS LATER.
Fred Nass and Tina Campbell had a touching relationship that lasted years after he visited the UK via boat from America at the age of 15.
Fred decided during the voyage to send out some messages into the sea and one was picked up by Tina – who was living on Guernsey.
And after losing contact for many years they have found each other again – and Fred made arrangements to fly over so they could meet in person for the first time.
Fred, now 60, said: “My mother was a bit of an adventuress and on this occasion rather than flying, she decided to take me by boat.
“I put out about 25 notes.
“The last ones were just as we were entering the English Channel.”
A short time before he was due to return to his native New York, Fred had a call from his father, who had flown home ahead of them.
He added: “My dad called to say I had gotten a letter from somebody in Guernsey.
“I was like, ‘Where’s Guernsey’?”
The reply was from 11-year-old Tina Robilliard – now Campbell – whose family lived on the tiny channel island and had picked up the bottle.
The two wrote to each other over the next year but they lost contact – until Fred came across the old letters last year.
He wondered if his friend was still around, and set about tracking her down with the help of the internet.
Tina said she had forgotten all about Fred when her mum rang to tell her she had received a letter.
He said in the letter: “I don’t know if you will remember me, but I’m the boy in the bottle you found.”
“I said to my husband, Chris, ‘I don’t believe this’,” said Tina, 56.
“It’s so strange how things turn out. I could have been anywhere in the world by now.”
