last Wednesday he thought he was going to be catching pompano -- not finding a mesage in a bottle.

Mr. Timothy James of Southampton said he had been telling his son about how he used to go fishing for pompano when he was a boy.

Jonathon said he would like to try it so at 6 a.m. last Wednesday they went to Cross Bay in Southampton to go fishing.

Jonathon said that is when he found the bottle on the beach.

When he opened it he found a message and a map from Mr. Jetze de Jong, the chief officer on board the Nedlloyd Rosario .

Mr. de Jong said he was travelling to New Orleans from Singapore and had been about 250 miles south-east of Bermuda when he threw the bottle overboard on August 2.

He said the Nedlloyd Rosario was a Dutch roll-on roll-off vessel which meant she had a ramp that allowed vehicles to drive on and off her stern and she could also carry containers.

Mr. de Jong asked whoever found the note to contact him at his address in the Netherlands.

Mr. James said his family plan to do exactly that.