There are some words which, once they are pronounced, linger on the air with the persistence of the stench of halitosis from an unwelcome guest at a dinner party, and occasion an embarrassed silence from the rest of the company. One such word is in your subject line.

While a _man_ might, in such a circumstance, take the other aside, and explain his circumstances (i.e. send a private e-mail), you chose the route of the five-year-old in kindergarten, who, on hearing that another has a toy like the one he has lost, calls out across the classroom, "Teacher, he stole my...." Tom, who posts his e-mail address, clearly has nothing to hide, and if, of all the alleys in all the cities from which people on this board post, the one in which you lost your boat turns out to be the same one in which Tom found one, it will not be Tom who owes _you_ an apology.