Five-year-old Yoav Hazan was sailing in the Adriatic Sea when he decided to toss a message in a bottle into the water. A few days later, an Italian couple found it among rocks during a beach cleanup, about 125 miles from where it had been thrown. They reached out to Yoav, and now they correspond regularly.
“For two years, we sailed around the world, and we were at the end of our journey after reaching Montenegro," his mother, Zohar Leitner Hazan, described the events to Ynet.
Yoav throws the bottle into the ocean
(Video: Zohar Leitner Hazan)
"My husband and I spoke about sailors’ traditions, and just then, one of our whiskey bottles was finished—it was the perfect timing for a message in a bottle. Yoav heard us, got excited and decided to write the letter. We wrote it together in Hebrew, then translated it into English and threw it into the sea.”
Yoav’s note read: “Hello, congratulations, you found my bottle! My name is Yoav, I am 5 years old. I am originally from Israel but now I live on a boat with my family. I am writing this letter from Italy, and soon I will eat ice cream here. I am very curious to know who will find my letter. It could be someone on a boat like me, or someone on the beach. If you found my letter, I would love to talk to you and hear what language you speak, how old you are and other things about you. P.S. I drew a picture of my boat for you. You can contact me through my mom’s email.”
The Italian couple replied within days, sending a message in Italian along with photos of the moment they discovered and opened the bottle. Zohar said: “They were very excited and wanted to speak with us, especially with Yoav. He asked them lots of questions and told them that he had sailed to Brindisi.”
When asked about the bottle’s journey, she explained: “We tried marking it on the map. The bottle traveled 125 miles. We were on our way to Croatia after Montenegro and tossed it into the most open part of the sea so it would drift farther, and they found it in Brindisi, in a small town.”
Zohar admitted she was stunned: “I was excited for an entire day, running on adrenaline. I told Yoav it could take thirty years, that maybe no one would ever find it, or that the bottle might not stay sealed. So I’m thrilled it reached its destination and that they collected it. It was very moving.”
She concluded: “It’s wonderful to discover good people along the way. The Italian couple is now corresponding with Yoav, each side asking questions and getting to know someone they would never have met if not for the bottle.”