It bobbed through the waves on its voyage across the North Sea.
Three weeks later, a message in a bottle thrown into the water from a cruise ship circling Orkney washed up on the beach at Bridge of Don.
The Cormack family were the lucky finders of the letter contained in the old water bottle which had managed to withstand the treacherous tides.
Robert Cormack was out walking the family dog, Hugo when he came across the vessel.
Mr Cormack, of Bridge of Don, took it home to his family and let his nine-year-old son Muir read the contents.
The bottle had been thrown from a cruise ship off the coast of Orkney just three weeks before, the message revealed.
Dated August 21, the letter stated: “Hello to whomever may open my message in a bottle…I have always wanted to send a message in a bottle as I think it would be so exciting to hear back from someone finding it.
“I really hope that someone does find this and writes to let me know, no matter how long after the date on this letter.
“So please, please write to me and let me know who you are and where you are.”
The message had been written by Gillian Bromley, from Sheffield, who had been on a cruise of the British Isles with her 18-year-old daughter Charlotte.
Mr Cormack’s wife Lisa says the family couldn’t wait to get in touch with the sender who had left her contact details.
She said: “We sent her an email and we got a response back.
“She sent us a picture of her with the bottle before she threw it into the sea.
“It has just been great to find it. The boys have taken the letter and bottle to school for show and tell.”
Ms Bromley says she was just as excited as the Cormacks when she realised they had picked up her message, and it softened the blow of returning to work.
She said: “I’m really chuffed to have got a response. When I opened my e-mail and read ‘message in a bottle’ I was delighted. It was a lovely surprise.
“It certainly made it a bit better finding out my letter had been found.
“It was our last night before going home so I just decided to go for it.
“My daughter threw one in as well. The fact it has taken only three weeks to get to Aberdeen is great.
“It is the perfect ending to our holiday.”