NC boy’s message in a bottle washes up in Normandy, France

One year after it was set adrift off the North Carolina coast, a boy’s message in a bottle has been found in France.

Ben Geren, 10, sent the letter in March 2016 as part of a second-grade class project at the Summit School in Winston-Salem.

“I was excited, but more surprised,” Ben told the Winston Salem Journal. “I knew there was a chance in a million.”

Jean Pierre Enguehard, a retiree in Normandy France, posted the recovery on Facebook on Sept. 8, along with a photo showing the corked bottle covered with a cluster of sea life.

“Found this morning on the beach with message inside from North Carolina, USA,” he wrote.

Geren’s message explained the bottled was part of a second-grade project.

Susan Schambach is a second-grade science specialist at the Summit School and organizers of the project. She responded to Enguehard’s Facebook post with a thanks and full explanation.

“We do this each year as a second grade project studying the Gulf Stream,” she posted. “And a sea captain takes them 40 miles off of North Carolina and puts them in the Gulf Stream current!”

His discovery had gotten a lot of media coverage in France, and he has posted photos of some of the news stories on Facebook as well.

This is the third a bottle set adrift by the school that has been found in the past five years, including one found by a 9-year-old girl in Verton, France.

This story was originally published October 11, 2017 at 7:03 AM with the headline "NC boy’s message in a bottle washes up in Normandy, France."