After three months of being adrift at sea, the Australian Timothy Lyndsay Shaddock and his dog Bella set foot on the Mexican coast on Tuesday, after being rescued by a tuna fishing boat in the Pacific Ocean.
"I thought I wasn't going to survive, so thank you very much," the 54-year-old Australian told the press after disembarking from the vessel María Delia, which belongs to the Mexican tuna fishing company Tuny. Tim Shaddock and Bella subsisted on raw fish and rainwater.
Once he had arrived at the port of Manzanillo, in Colima (Mexico), Shaddok emphasized that the crossing "was difficult" with "terrible health". He also admitted that he thought he would die from the possible arrival of a hurricane. "We were very hungry, I didn't think we would make it", he insisted. He had plenty of provisions when he set sail, but he ran out of food. The sailor and his dog had set off in April from the Mexican coastal city of La Paz bound for French Polynesia, some 6,000 kilometers away. After a few weeks, they were left adrift after a strong storm damaged their catamaran, named Aloha Toa, and in addition their communication equipment was destroyed, which prevented Shaddock from issuing an SOS.
Shaddock also related that the first feeling of relief was when the ship of the Grupomar company came to look for him and his pet, since "it was like touching land, arriving home". The last time it had seen land was at the beginning of May, when it left the Sea of Cortez for the Pacific. There was a full moon.
When the tuna fishing boat's helicopter spotted Shaddock's catamaran about 1,200 miles (1,930 km) from land, it was the first sign of humans it had seen in three months, Shaddock said. The pilot threw a drink at him and then flew away, returning later in a speedboat from the María Delia boat, he said. Grupomar, which operates the fishing fleet, did not specify when the rescue took place, but said in a statement that Shaddock and his dog were in a "precarious" condition when they were found, and that the crew of the tuna fishing vessel provided them with medical attention, food and hydration.
"I like being at sea, but when things get difficult you have to survive and when they finally rescue you, you feel like you want to keep living, that's why I'm so grateful", he emphasized. "I feel good. I feel a lot better than I was, I tell you,” a smiling, bearded and thin Shaddock told reporters on the dock in the port city about 337 kilometers west of Mexico City. Shaddock described himself as a quiet man who loves being alone in the ocean. "I really enjoy sailing and I love the people of the sea," he said. The people of the sea unite us all, the ocean is in us; we are the ocean".
"There were many, many, many bad days and many good days," said Shaddock. The energy, the fatigue is the hardest part," he said. He spent time fixing things and stayed positive by diving to "just enjoy being in the water."
"La Bella found me in the middle of Mexico, she is Mexican", he said. I followed him and despite the fact that "I tried to find her a home three times, she continued to follow me to the sea. She is much braver than me, that's for sure." On the tuna fishing boat, Bella charmed everyone right away and didn't want to leave the boat until Shaddock finally landed on Tuesday. At that time, he had already chosen Genaro Rosales, a crewman originally from Mazatlán, to adopt him on the condition that he take good care of the little dog. The surfer will be returning to Australia soon and hopes to see his family.
Antonio Suárez, president of Grupomar, said that this could be the María Delia's last voyage because it is modernizing the company's fleet and the ship is the smallest and is more than 50 years old. "A wonderful farewell, saving lives", said Suárez.
