When Robert (Bobby) Lambe finally left the warmth and security of his rescue vessel USNS Comfort yesterday he had little other than the clothes he was wearing.

Dressed in a navy military boiler suit, white T-shirt, baseball cap and tough steel-capped boots, he had nothing else except a knapsack containing a jacket. He kept none of the items he was wearing at the time of his rescue, choosing instead "to let them all go".

He was taken to Madrid to collect his papers and new passport from the British Consulate General, which would enable him to travel home. He was booked into a hotel for the night, and given cash for his journey, but other than that, Mr. Lambe was a man with nothing in a strange country far away from home.

But no matter how stressful the circumstances, the fishermen remained up-beat and did not complain about the freezing Madrid temperatures, or the loss of his possessions. He knew he had escaped with the greatest possession of all - his life.

The 35-year-old just wished his friends Alan Edness, 56, of St. Anne's Road, Southampton, and Micah Battersbee, 29, of Dock Hill, Devonshire, had managed to make it out alive with him. For Mr. Lambe, everything has been put in focus now. Since being picked up by the American Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort after surviving an incredible 20 hours in the mountainous waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Mr. Lambe has received attention from international media crews from around the world.

He responded to all requests for information, and though still recovering from his ordeal, took the attention in his stride, even though it became a little overwhelming.

"Every single person who interviewed me asked `when are you going to get off the ship and where are you going', but that was the furthest issue from my mind,"said Mr. Lambe.

"I was alive, and that was all that mattered to me. I couldn't care less where I was going or when I was getting off the ship because at least I was there, safe and warm. Nothing else seemed to count.

Mr. Lambe said he could not believe his eyes when he looked outside the roof of the life raft to see the warship approaching him just two hundred feet away. He said the rough seas and high winds had shielded any sound of the hospital ship as it diverted off its course and went to his aid.

"I popped my head out of the life raft and this huge ship was a couple of hundred feet away. I couldn't believe my eyes,"said Mr. Lambe.

"I knew the ship was coming for me because the US Coast Guard was constantly flying over me. I was trying to see what the name of the ship was, but couldn't.

"It could have been from anywhere, I didn't care. All I knew was that the ship would be warm and dry, and I was wet and very cold. When I realised it was a hospital ship, it was unbelievable. I could not have asked for anything else."

Mr. Lambe was able to climb on board the ship and was immediately tended to by numerous doctors and nurses. They attempted to put him on a stretcher and carry him to the sickbay, but in true Bobby Lambe style, he opted to walk instead. After a full medical, doctors wrapped him in an electric blanket in a bid to raise his desperately low body temperature, which he recollects had fallen from its usual 98 degrees into the 80s. He was put on a drip and left in sickbay for three of four days until he had fully recovered from hypothermia and exhaustion. And upon release, he was given tasks on board the ship to keep him busy and help kill the boredom.

After more than a week on board, Mr. Lambe believes he has made some life-long friendships. And he credits many of the people on board USNS Comfort for helping to raise his spirits and speed his recovery.

"I had a nice time with the guys on the boat,"said Mr. Lambe.

"I know I have a bunch of e-mails to write when I get home. A few of them want to come and visit Bermuda - I am sure we will stay in touch.

"Nobody sat me down and asked me how I was feeling, trying to get me to talk, but they would come by, tap me on the shoulder and ask how I was doing. Then they would take me off with them for a while, to what ever it was they had to do - that meant a lot to me.

"But even though I had a nice time on the boat, I knew I had to get back home. I didn't have to deal with anything on the ship. Now is when I start to deal with the reality of what happened." And as for his new friends on board the warship, who are heading off for an uncertain future as the possibility of war with Iraq looms large, he said he wished them all well.

"I don't think these guys will be in any danger,"he said optimistically.

"It's a hospital ship so I think they will stay on the outside and stay clear of any trouble. I hope they will. I will be thinking of them."