Warning: Graphic image
A mummified adventurer found aboard a ghost yacht had penned a final message to his dead wife recalling their 30-year romance.
Manfred Fritz Bajorat was found by two fishermen at the weekend, 40 miles from the coast of the Philippines, in the Pacific Ocean, in a cabin strewn with photo albums, clothes and tins of food.
The 59-year-old was discovered hunched over a desk near the radio telephone of his 40ft yacht, Sayo, as if making a final mayday call. Dry ocean winds, hot temperatures and the salty air had helped preserve Bajorat's body, which was the colour of ash.
Next to the decomposing sailor's body was a pile of family photographs, and a letter addressed to Bajorat's late wife, Claudia, who died of cancer in 2010 - two years after the pair split up.
The mummified body of German adventurer Manfred Fritz Bajorat was found aboard a yacht which had been drifting around the world
According to the Mirror, the note read: "Thirty years we're been together on the same path. Then the power of the demons was stronger than the will to live.
"You're gone. May your soul find its peace. Your Manfred."
Pictures released by police show Bajorat had enjoyed a happy family life full of travel to locations including Paris, Luxembourg and "a weekend in Kirchhundem".
The mast of Bajorat's yacht was broken and much of the cabin was underwater, but what killed the skipper is unclear, though experts believe his position at the desk suggests his death was unexpected.
Police are trying to retrace Bajorat's last voyages and contact people he may have met or spoken to, to pinpoint when he died. The last recorded sighting of the boat was in 2009.
Bajorat had written a final note to his wife Claudia who died of cancer in 2010
In 2009, in Mallorca, Bajorat met another world sailer called Dieter who told Germany's BILD newspaper: "He was a very experienced sailor. I don't believe he would have sailed into a storm.
"I believe the mast broke after Manfred was already dead."
Bajorat, experts believe, probably died unexpectedly
Bajorat body was taken for an autopsy in Butuan City and his yacht was towed for a police inspection into the port of Barobo.
Police spokeswoman Goldie Lou Siega in the Philippines said: "We have no evidence of a second person aboard and no weapon was found on the yacht."
Dr Mark Benecke, a forensic criminologist in the city of Cologne, told BILD: "The way he is sitting seems to indicate that death was unexpected, perhaps from a heart attack."
The German embassy in Manila is working with local officials to trace Bajorat's family in Germany.
It is believed he has a daughter called Nina who works as the captain of a freight vessel.
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