A Bermudian fisherman who was pulled out of the Atlantic Ocean has told relatives that he was ?scared? but is ?doing fine?.

George Lambert, 52, and Tristan Codrington, 21, spent two hours in the water 30 miles north-east of Cape Canaveral, Florida, after their 34-foot yacht sank after developing engine trouble last week.

But Mr. Lambert, from Sandys, has contacted relatives to say he is okay but hasn?t revealed if, or when, he is coming back to the Island.

?He said he was doing fine,? said St. Vincent-based girlfriend Brenda Adams, who has a son with Mr. Lambert. ?I have spoken to him and he is okay. I was very worried about him.?

Mr. Lambert left Bermuda five months ago and Ms Adams, who says she hasn?t seen him for three weeks, said she thought he was on his way to stay with her when he ran into trouble.

His ex-wife, Johnett Smith, said she has spoken to him since the dramatic rescue by US Air Force helicopters and he said that the experience ?shook him up? and that he was a ?bit scared?. ?We didn?t really talk about anything else,? she added.

?It was a real brief call, he is not a man who is normally scared by anything but he said he was a bit scared. I didn?t really ask him what he was going to do next. But he told me he was doing fine.?