The Mummified Body Of A German Adventurer Is Found Inside A Drifting Yacht In The Philippines

01 Mar, 2016 by Scott McKay

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A very unusual story, if a bit tragic.

We’ve all got to go sometimes, though. There might be worse ways than this.

The mystery of the mummified body of a German adventurer who was found dead on his yacht off the coast of the Philippines has taken a new twist after a haunting note and photos were uncovered.

Manfred Fritz Bajorat, 59, whose body was discovered by two fishermen, wrote a thirty-two word memorium to his beloved wife Claudia, who died from cancer aged 53 on May 2 2010.

‘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,’ it read.

These tragic final words were discovered on a forum for sailors on the Internet called kaktusguenther.de.

Mr Bajorat’s body was found sitting near to the radio telephone as if he was trying one last desperate Mayday call to save himself when he died.

Christopher Rivas, 23, a resident of P-4 Poblacion, in Barobo, was fishing together with a friend nearly 40 miles from the coast when he spotted the yacht, painted white and whose sail was broken from afar.

The 40-foot long yacht, named SAYO, had been cruising around the world for the past 20 years.

Inside the cabin, much of which was underwater, were found photo albums apparently showing his wife, family and friends, and clothes and tins of food were strewn all around.

It is unclear how long Manfred, who has been identified thanks to paperwork on board, has been dead or what killed him – although authorities believe there was no foul play involved.

Essentially, it appears that Mr. Bajorat’s voyages consumed his life and his wife left him because she’d had enough of ocean yachting. Alone, he died at some indeterminate point of some indeterminate natural causes, and the salt in the sea air combined with the heat to mummify his body where he sat at the captain’s desk.

And the yacht floated aimlessly without a captain until it drifted close to the shore near the town of Barobo in the southeastern part of the Philippines.