Holden Beach couple finds bottle from Ireland along shoreline containing contents from man’s “Final Voyage”

HOLDEN BEACH, NC (WWAY) — You never know what you might find walking along the beach, especially if it hails from more than 3,000 miles away.

Holden Beach couple Chuck and Corinne Swartz were taking their usual stroll along the beach last week when they stumbled upon something that piqued their interest; a small bottle with some contents inside.

They took it home and opened it, which lead them to a man’s final journey.

“Well inside was a plastic bag, a baggie that had a note inside of his final voyage by a gentleman by the name of Gary Rickwood from Castlederg, Ireland. There was also a small bag of what turned out to be ashes from him and some pictures,” said Chuck Swartz.

After doing some research and wondering how a bottle made it all the way from Ireland to Holden Beach, they found an answer and took to social media to find out more.

“So I got onto Facebook, found the city where he was from, Castlederg, Ireland; found their homepage and jumped on there. They got me in touch with the wife, spoke with her and she said you know, he died in February and she put this out to sea,” Chuck said.

Untouched and unbothered, Gary made his trip from Ireland to Holden Beach. His wife asked the Swartz family to put him back in the ocean so he could continue to travel the world.

They say they are waiting for the perfect high tide to send Gary on his next voyage.