Lee Brogan had a stroke of bad luck when he was wiped out by a large wave whilst surfing in Runswick Bay in Scarborough, England. His surfboard vanished underneath the water and was nowhere to be found. But luckily, a young couple found the board 400 miles away from where he lost it.

Costing between £800 and £1200, the surfboard was very important to Brogan as he had owned it for 10 years.

Stephanie Riise, 22, and Jake Anderson, 23, stumbled upon the surfboard whilst hiking on the Shetland Islands off Scotland’s coast.

“Our interest was piqued at that point,” Riise said to SWNS, “and we were just wondering where it had come from, how far it had traveled, who lost it, what story was behind it.” 

The couple investigated the board’s origin, going on Facebook to see if they could find the owner and hear their story. She posted about the board on the Shetland Seashore Discoveries Facebook page. It only took a few days to be contacted by Brogan, the owner who lost the board. 

Brogan proved he was the owner by answering their questions and providing photo evidence. The couple’s friend delivered the board to Brogan once his story convinced them. The couple also signed the board, saying, “Found washed up on a peerie beach in Skeld, Shetland” and dated the message. 

“It’s just been fun to have been able to do something nice for someone during lockdown as everything’s been quite doom and gloom,” Riise said about the situation. 

Perhaps surfboards are the new messages in bottles, connecting people from hundreds of miles away.