An Australian sailor rescued by a Mexican tuna boat after being adrift at sea with his dog for three months has revealed he did not think he would “make it”.
Timothy Shaddock, 54, revealed details of his incredible survival after he and Bella disembarked in the Mexican port city of Manzanillo from the fishing boat that rescued them.
He told reporters on Tuesday: “I’m feeling alright. I’m feeling a lot better than I was, I tell you.
“To the captain and fishing company that saved my life, I’m just so grateful. I’m alive and I didn’t really think I’d make it,” Shaddock said, adding that he and his “amazing” dog are both doing well now and he still loves the ocean.
The Sydney man’s catamaran was crippled by bad weather weeks after it set sail in April from the Mexican city of La Paz for French Polynesia, reported The Daily Telegraph, a Sydney newspaper.
Mr Shaddock told Australia’s Nine News television he and his dog had survived on raw fish and rain water after a storm damaged his vessel and wiped out its electronics.
“I’ve been through a very difficult ordeal at sea and I’m just needing rest and good food because I’ve been alone at sea a long time,” a thin and bearded Shaddock said in video broadcast by Nine on Sunday night Australian time.
“Otherwise, I’m in very good health,” Mr Shaddock added.
The tuna boat spotted Mr Shaddock’s boat about 1,200 miles (1,930 kilometers) from land, Grupomar, which operates the fishing fleet, said in a statement.
It didn’t specify when the rescue occurred, but said Mr Shaddock and his dog were in a “precarious” state when found, lacking provisions and shelter, and that the tuna boat’s crew gave them medical attention, food and hydration.
Antonio Suárez Gutiérrez, Grupomar’s founder and president, said he was proud of his boat’s captain, Oscar Meza Oregón, and crew, praising them for their humanity in saving the life of someone in trouble.
