Most likely here in Texas, but ya never know

Found after 19 years


The lucky couple who will spend their honeymoon in Cayman courtesy of
the message in the bottle: Johnathan Reed and Stephanie Smith.
Photo: Submitted

A US couple will have a dream honeymoon in the Cayman Islands later
this month courtesy of a message in a bottle thrown into the Caribbean
Sea nearly 20 years ago.

Back in June, 1987 Robert Hamaty of Tortuga Rum Co., Mike Adam of
Cayman Airways and Adrien Briggs of Sunset House set the ball rolling
when 12 rum bottles were tossed in the ocean off Cayman shores. They
each contained a voucher for a one-way Cayman Airways ticket to
Cayman to claim a case of Tortuga Rum, with a stay at Sunset House.

This was a special promotion being tried out by the companies who threw
the bottles overboard courtesy of boats provided by Mr. Attlee Bodden
and Mr. Briggs.

Four people had claimed their prizes within 18 months, with the bottles
found at South Padre Island in Texas, and it was assumed the other
bottles were lost at sea.

Surprise Discovery

But, incredibly, another one was discovered in April 2003 by Texas
police officer John Reed while fishing near Conn Brown Harbor in
Aransas Pass, Texas.

John explained to the Caymanian Compass that at the time he did not
even know if the companies the vouchers represented would be still in
business. However, he told his brother, Aron, about it, and as a
reporter for the Taylor Daily Press in Texas, he called up Mr. Hamaty,
interviewed him and did a story on it.

But although John now knew the vouchers were bona fide, he was not in
any position to take a vacation at that time.

He offered up the bottle and vouchers to his parents, Bob and Judy,
thinking it a nice 36th wedding anniversary present for them, but they
were also not in a position to take a vacation and put it in a place
for safe keeping.

Planning Wedding

Recently, while John and his fiancée Stephanie Smith were planning
their wedding on a very tight budget, his parents suggested them using
the message in the bottle. His dad got in touch with Mr. Hamaty and was
told that the vouchers would still be honoured.

Twenty-six-year-old John is to wed 21-year-old Stephanie, a
nurse's assistant, in Texas on Friday, 21 July.

Stephanie had even taken a second job to help pay for the wedding.

The couple is now anxiously awaiting its grand prize.

""We can't wait. We're so excited we can hardly think about
anything else," said John.

"We've never been anywhere as beautiful as we heard it is there,"
he said over the phone from Texas.

Commenting on the outcome of this particular find, Mr. Hamaty said,
"I think it's fantastic, especially when destination weddings and
honeymoons are such a big thing here now. I'm delighted because the
Department of Tourism will get a big plug out of this in the wedding
press," he said.

Prize Upgraded

Cayman Airways has now upgraded the prize to two roundtrip tickets and
Sunset House has extended the stay from three to five nights.

The couple will travel to Grand Cayman from Houston on Saturday 22
July. Transportation to and from the airport will be provided by the
Department of Tourism, along with a special horse-drawn carriage
ride, also courtesy of DoT, to Grand Old House for dinner (courtesy of
the restaurant).

Other treats in store for the couple include dinner at Café Med (from
Mr. Hamaty) and a DoT gift basket containing local products and crafts,
which will be in their hotel room on arrival.

Reflecting on his wonderful find, John said, "I've never been a
very lucky person. I'm not the kind who even wins money on scratch
lottery cards, so it was just extremely lucky and I was truly blessed
to find it".

Well Sealed

The bottles that were cast into the sea had been coated with liquid
plastic and sealed with a special epoxy glue to safeguard the vouchers
inside. Each contained a message typed on the Tortuga Rum Company's
letter head: "12 Tortuga bottles were released today, Saturday 13
June, 1987, off the shores of Grand Cayman Island, British West Indies
at exact position latitude N1920.5 longitude W8127.5 by the personnel
of Cayman Airways, Sunset House Hotel, and Tortuga Rum Company. Best
wishes to the finders from all of us!

"Please return your bottle and state date and location found to claim
your prize . . ."

Personal Delivery

Because Tortuga Rums were introduced into the US market for the first
time this spring (and are now available in 20 states there), the
importer, Majestic Distilling is arranging for a personal delivery to
John in Texas. Another irony is that Mr. Hamaty's son, Basil, is a
First Officer for Cayman Airways and may be flying the Houston to Grand
Cayman route that the Reeds will be taking on 22 July when they leave
for their honeymoon.

Mr. Hamaty admits that when he was called in 2003 by Mr. Reed's
brother, he had almost forgotten about the bottles.

Of course, there are still seven out there somewhere. Who knows when
and, if ever, the other prizes will be claimed.

"If this one has survived after all this time, they were obviously
very well sealed, and if not sunk or broken the others could turn up
too," said Mr. Hamaty.

Just recently, a message in a bottle sent from Grand Cayman waters over
two years ago was found 3,000 miles away across the Atlantic Ocean. It
was found by a couple in Devon, England and was dropped in the sea off
the coast of Cayman by a couple getting married here in May 2004.