How a Nalgene Bottle Tossed at Sea Forged Friendships

The gear we bring on our adventures carries the essentials. But at Nalgene Outdoor, we often hear that our bottles carry stories, too. Sometimes it’s the stickers owners add from places they’ve visited. Other times, it’s the miles a bottle travels that leave people marveling.

For Les Goldsmith, a veterinarian and lifelong adventurer, the idea of sending a message out to sea began decades ago. In 1971, while camping in the Florida Keys with friends during his college years at the University of Miami, Les scribbled a short note, sealed it in a wine bottle, and tossed it into the Atlantic Ocean.

He didn’t think much about it afterward.

Seven years later, his father called with surprising news: a letter had arrived from Ireland. A young farmer named Dennis Murphy had discovered the bottle washed ashore near his family’s farm on the southwest coast of Ireland. The two began exchanging letters, and years later they even met in person when Les happened to be traveling in Ireland for work.

What began as a spontaneous moment during a college camping trip turned into an enduring international friendship.

In 2001, when Les and his daughter Beth were visiting the Galápagos Islands together, they decided to try it again.

This time they chose a container they trusted.

A Nalgene bottle.

After seeing his first message travel across the Atlantic years earlier, he knew the ocean demanded something tougher than an ordinary bottle. Nalgene bottles are built to be durable and 100% leakproof, and he figured if anything could protect a message drifting across the Pacific for years, a Nalgene bottle was it.

They tucked a handwritten note that included a map, their names and a request that whoever found it send it back to them in New Jersey.  They even slipped in a dollar bill.  Then they set the bottle adrift in the Pacific Ocean and continued their trip. 

Years passed, and like the first bottle, the memory slowly faded.

Then, late at night on July 11, 2025, Les received an unexpected phone call.

On the other end was Dr. Greg Lewbart, a veterinarian leading a research team studying wildlife in the Galápagos Islands. Earlier that day, one of the researchers had discovered a bottle on a small island near Santa Cruz.

Inside was a note with Les and Beth’s names.

The bottle had been at sea for 24 years.

Even more remarkable, the call revealed an unexpected connection. Dr. Gregory Lewbart and several members of the research team were veterinarians who had studied at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine—the same school Les attended years earlier. As they talked, they began discovering mutual colleagues and shared connections throughout the veterinary world.

What started as a chance discovery quickly turned into a web of shared friendships and professional ties stretching across decades.

When Les’ Nalgene bottle was finally mailed back to him, Dr. Lewbart had included the well-preserved note from 2001, and the shaggy dollar bill that had been in the bottle as well.  The message with the map was in remarkable condition.

And the Nalgene bottle that protected the cargo was still intact.

More than two decades after being set adrift, the bottle had protected its message long enough for the story to come full circle.

For Les and Beth, the rediscovered Nalgene bottle is more than a remarkable coincidence. It’s a reminder that small acts of curiosity can ripple outward in ways we never expect—connecting strangers, rekindling old friendships, and sparking new ones decades later.

It’s also a quiet testament to something else: the objects that travel with us on our adventures sometimes carry our stories farther than we ever could ourselves.

After 24 years in the ocean, the message inside finally made its way home.

And the Nalgene bottle that carried it is still doing its job.

Nalgene bottles are ready for any travel adventure, big or small. Visit Nalgene.com to purchase.