Long-time fisherman Robert (Bobby) Lambe is returning to Bermuda tonight unsure of everything except one thing - that he will once again make his living on the waters around the Island.

Having discovered his love of the ocean at the tender age of three, he said he could not imagine his life without it.

"What has happened during the last week or so has changed a lot of things in my life, I am sure," said Mr. Lambe last night.

"I don't know exactly to what extent things will change for me, but they definitely will. I don't know what I'm going to do differently yet, but the only thing I do know for sure is that I'm going fishing. That won't change."

Mr. Lambe has fished all of his life and owned his own boats from being a teenager. A supplier to Lindo's supermarkets and the HarbourFront restaurant on Front Street in Hamilton among others, he said not only had fishing provided him with a good living, but it was his greatest love. "Once I get back, I will probably just go out fishing with my brother for a while, until I find another boat of my own,"said Mr. Lambe.

"If I got back on Saturday and someone said they had seen the Altair off the coast, and I was asked to go and salvage it, I would go. I would do it again. The Altair is not jinxed.

"Fishing is the life that I chose. I could stay on land and work behind a desk all day, but that's not me. For me, fishing is about being free on the ocean. The ocean does not scare me."

Mr. Lambe said that after being rescued at sea twice now - once in 1997 when he was among a group of tourists going to the US, when he was picked up and taken to the Caribbean, and now this time - he does believe that perhaps he has managed to stay alive because of a hidden purpose in life. However, he said he was not a naturally lucky person, and, if anything, had always found that, of his friends and family, he would always draw the short straw.

On his latest scrape with death, he put his fortunate escape down to his high level of fitness, ability to stay calm, a small bottle of Red Devil energy drink he was able to salvage from his boat before it sank, a few prayers, and a load of luck. "A few prayers, a bottle of Red Devil energy drink, and it paid off," said Mr. Lambe.

"I wasn't religious before this, but I have to admit that I turned to religion after the boat went down. I said prayers throughout.

Mr. Lambe also spent time at a chapel on board the USNS Comfort where he felt able to shed some tears.

"I do feel as though I'm here for something else, but I know that where I want to be is fishing, and I know if I stop fishing and do something else, it won't work.

"I won't feel comfortable, and the two guys that I left out there - they are not going to like it very much. Fishing is my life and that's why I survived."