An American man who’s made a hobby of reconnecting people with their messages in a bottle is reaching out, in hopes of finding help tracking down some Canadian senders.

Clint Buffington calls himself the “Message in a Bottle Hunter” and has been reconnecting people with their bottle messages for years, but he has run into a snag when it comes to a couple of Canadian bottles.

In speaking with CTV’s Your Morning from Salt Lake City, Utah on Tuesday, Buffington said he’s looking for someone named Andrew Smith from Richmond, B.C. Someone who found the bottle in British Columbia reached out to him for help in finding the bottle’s owner.

“He wrote a really sweet and interesting message in a bottle, including a drawing of a pirate ship,” Buffington said.

His other Canadian search is for a Nova Scotian who went to high school in the 1980s. Buffington’s father found this one, but has been unable to make a connection.

Buffington, a former college English teacher, has found more than 80 messages in a bottle simply by spending time walking around on the world’s beaches. Since 2011, he has since found between 20 and 25 of the owners. He also helps others connect with their own messages.

“There’s a little bit of detective work that goes into tracking down the people because these things -- just by the nature of what they are -- they’re floating around out (in the ocean) for years,” he said.

“Most people are really receptive and, like me, want to strike up a friendship. So I’ve been really lucky in that way.”

Once he connects with a bottle’s rightful owner, Buffington tries to meet them in person. Buffington says one of the first bottles he found was from a couple’s first wedding anniversary. They included a slice of their wedding cake in the bottle.

“I was like, ‘I’ve got to meet these people.’ Anyone whimsical enough to put cake in a bottle and send it out to sea, I’ve just got to meet them,” he said.

Buffington said the couple lived in Washington, D.C. Through his work travels, Buffington has hung out with them a few times since giving back the bottle. The couple even went to Buffington’s wedding.

Buffington says some of the most meaningful reactions he’s gotten from his bottle work is when the bottle owner passes and he’s able to connect with someone close to them. In 2011, Buffington found a message that was between 40-50 years old. The couple had already died, but he was able to connect with their daughter and give the message back to her.

“It’s a very unique position,” Buffington said. “I feel very lucky to have this strange hobby where I get to deliver final letters from people -- often to their kids or surviving family members.”

Buffington has set up a blog and Facebook page where he chronicles his discoveries.

“I want to bring a little magic into the world, honestly,” he said. “I think we have plenty of hardship…to deal with on a daily basis and I feel like this is a way to push back on that a little bit.”