A man enjoying a lunch break on a dock was stunned to find a message in a bottle sent more than four years ago.

Robert O’Connor said the letter inside was written in Swiss German and included a Swiss e-mail address, but appeared to have been thrown into the water in St Lucia.

Mr O’Connor said: “The date on it says March 29, 2016, so it’s been floating for four years. Underneath that, it says St Lucia.

“I never imagined something like this would happen. It was completely unexpected. We were just sitting on the dock getting a little something to eat.”

He discovered the bottle last Tuesday after a long day working to repair his cousin’s shed, which was damaged by Hurricane Paulette.

Mr O’Connor said: “On our way back, he decided he was going to buy us lunch.

“He bought us something from Four Star Pizza and we decided to sit off at Flatts Inlet by the aquarium.

“We were on the dock talking and I saw a bottle floating by and I thought I saw something inside.”

“My cousin says to go run to the other dock and try to get it, so I went sprinting to the wooden dock. I laid down and the bottle floated right to me. Sure enough, there was this letter inside of it.”

They passed along the letter to someone who spoke German who told them that it was written in Swiss German, a dialect used in some parts of Switzerland.

It appeared to suggest that the writer was travelling towards Soufriere, a town on the west coast of St Lucia about 1,295 miles south of Bermuda.

The letter, signed “Daniel (Jack)”, said: “So this is the promised bottle mail.

“Today we started in the Soufriere direction and for a change it’s not raining.

“I really enjoyed my time with you and our deep conversation and I really miss that but we will see each other again soon.

“Be well and take care”

Mr O’Connor said: “It does have an e-mail — or something like it. I tried e-mailing it but I haven’t gotten a response.

“I did try to look him up on Facebook, but I don’t know if it’s him or not. A lot of people have the same name.”