Anne Field visited Albany on March 29, 30 and 31, 2017. She caught up on Friday night, March 31 with Mark McRae, an Albany sailor who took her out to sea on April 19, 2012.
On April 19, 2012 Mark, Jenny and Anne sailed 60 nautical miles south of West Cape Howe, the most southerly point in Western Australia to put a bottle out to sea. It was 100 years to the day that Anne’s Glaswegian Grannie, Agnes Gibson, sailed past Albany on the “Pakeha” on her way from London to Sydney. She was to meet her fiancé in Sydney and get married. My Grannie arrived on April 23, the next day she married at The Manse in Balmain, Sydney.
Inside the wine bottle was Anne’s Grannie’s life story. The bottle was prepared carefully for its long journey in the ocean ….
The bottle washed in unexpectedly at Bremer Bay, and was found as flotsam on the beach by a Perth fisherman. Her bottle was taken back to Perth carefully wrapped in a sleeping bag. Anne’s bottle was returned to her by the fisherman’s wife, in late July 2012 in Perth .
Anne recommitted the bottle to sea out of Eden, Southern NSW on September 30 2012. The bottle is still at sea.
Anne has recorded her story as Anne’s Adventure on You Tube (8 minutes). She plans to turn the story in 2017/2018 into an e book telling the story from her Grannie’s perspective.
Anne Field
Read my story of “the bottle” in my blog .
Youtube Anne’s Adventure.
Anne Field with Mark McRae from Southern Ocean Sailing, Albany March 31st 2017
