Marine Police will continue their search today for missing St. David?s man Christopher Pope but last night a friend said she feared the worst.

Police are checking with Immigration to see if the bachelor, who did odd jobs around boat yards, had flown off the island.

However, one friend said she believed he must have perished as he would not have deserted the boat he lived on because it belonged to his brother.

Susan Oatley said: ?It does not look good. He would not have left the boat hatches open ? it was found that way.

?He was very meticulous about his dinghy. It leaked.

?Even when he spent Christmas Day with us he said he had to go back to the boat to pump it out because it was taking on water.

?He probably got up in the middle of the night and fell overboard after losing his footing.

?Maybe a gust knocked him over.?

Yesterday Police divers continued their search in the waters around Dolly?s Bay in St. David?s yesterday searching for the 48 year old who was last seen by residents there on Thursday morning.

Mr. Pope?s punt was found full of water and still tied to his sailboat and a large response to appeals for information yielded no recent sightings.

Mrs. Oatley also said Mr. Pope, an Englishman who had been in Bermuda for about 30 years, suffered from asthma and could have fallen overboard during an attack.

Mrs. Oatley described Mr. Pope as a nice, caring person who enjoyed reading.

?We shared books a lot.?