Australian Timothy Lyndsay Shaddock smiles as he speaks during a welcoming ceremony by Grupo Mar after being rescued from sea and arriving to port in Manzanillo, Mexico, Tuesday, July 18, 2023. After being adrift with his dog for three months, the pair were rescued by the Mexican tuna boat 鈥淢aria Delia,鈥� owned by Grupo Mar, from his incapacitated catamaran in the Pacific Ocean some 1,200 miles from land. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
MANZANILLO, Mexico 鈥� An Australian sailor who was rescued by a Mexican tuna boat after being adrift at sea with his dog for three months said Tuesday that he is grateful to be alive after setting foot on dry land for the first time since their ordeal began.
Timothy Lyndsay Shaddock, 54, disembarked in the Mexican city of Manzanillo after being examined on board the boat that rescued him, the Maria Delia.
鈥淚鈥檓 feeling alright. I鈥檓 feeling a lot better than I was, I tell ya,鈥� Shaddock, smiling, bearded and thin, told reporters on the dock in the port city about 210 miles (337 kilometers) west of Mexico City.
鈥淭o the captain and fishing company that saved my life, I鈥檓 just so grateful. I鈥檓 alive and I didn鈥檛 really think I鈥檇 make it,鈥� Shaddock said, adding that he and his 鈥渁mazing鈥� dog Bella are both doing well.
READ: Australian man and his dog rescued by Mexican tuna boat after drifting 3 months in the Pacific Ocean
Shaddock described himself as a quiet person who loves being alone on the ocean. Asked why he set out in April from Mexico鈥檚 Baja Peninsula to cross the Pacific Ocean to French Polynesia, he was initially at a loss.
鈥淚鈥檓 not sure I have the answer to that, but I very much enjoy sailing and I love the people of the sea,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the people of the sea that make us all come together. The ocean is in us. We are the ocean.鈥�
The Sydney man鈥檚 catamaran set sail from the Mexican city of La Paz but was crippled by bad weather weeks into the journey. He said the last time he saw land was in early May as he sailed out of the Sea of Cortez and into the Pacific. There was a full moon.
Shaddock said he had been well-provisioned, but a storm knocked out his electronics and ability to cook. He and Bella survived on raw fish.
鈥淭here were many, many, many bad days and many good days,鈥� he said.
鈥淭he energy, the fatigue is the hardest part,鈥� he said. He passed the time fixing things and stayed positive by going into the water to 鈥渏ust enjoy being in the water.鈥�
When the tuna boat鈥檚 helicopter spotted Shaddock鈥檚 catamaran about 1,200 miles (1,930 kilometers) from land, it was the first sign of humans he had seen in three months, Shaddock said. The pilot tossed him a drink and then flew away, returning later with a speed boat from the Mar铆a Delia, he said.
READ: Boat with 400 migrants adrift between Greece and Malta, support service says
Grupomar, which operates the fishing fleet, didn鈥檛 specify when the rescue occurred. But it said in a statement that Shaddock and his dog were in a 鈥減recarious鈥� state when found, lacking provisions and shelter, and that the tuna boat鈥檚 crew gave them medical attention, food and hydration.
Shaddock said the tuna boat became his land and that Bella was an immediate hit with the crew. He also explained how he and the dog met.
鈥淏ella sort of found me in the middle of Mexico. She鈥檚 Mexican,鈥� he said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 the spirit of the middle of the country and she wouldn鈥檛 let me go. I tried to find a home for her three times and she just kept following me onto the water. She鈥檚 a lot braver than I am, that鈥檚 for sure.鈥�
Perhaps for that reason, Bella did not leave the boat until Shaddock had driven away Tuesday. He had already chosen Genaro Rosales, a crew member from Mazatlan, to adopt her on the condition that he would take good care of the dog.
Shaddock said he鈥檒l be returning to Australia soon and that he鈥檚 looking forward to seeing his family.
There have been other stories of extreme ocean survival, but they do not all end happily.
READ: Man says he ate birds, turtles in 13 months adrift
In 2016, a Colombian fisherman was rescued after spending two months adrift in the Pacific Ocean. Three of his crewmates died. He was rescued by a merchant ship more than 2,000 miles (3.220 kilometers) southeast of Hawaii. He and the others had been fishing off Colombia鈥檚 coast when their skiff鈥檚 motor failed, leaving them adrift.
In 2014, a Salvadoran fisherman washed ashore on the tiny Pacific atoll of Ebon in the Marshall Islands after drifting at sea for 13 months. Jose Salvador Alvarenga left Mexico for a day of shark fishing in December 2012. He said he survived on fish, birds and turtles before his boat washed ashore 5,500 miles (8,850 kilometers) away.
In other cases, boats are found, but without survivors or are lost entirely.
More than 20,000 migrants have died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe since 2014, according to the International Organization for Migration.
READ: Fisherman rescued after 2 days, 11.5 hours adrift on capsized boat
Antonio Suarez, Grupomar鈥檚 president, said Tuesday that this could be the Mar铆a Delia鈥檚 final trip because he is modernizing the company鈥檚 fleet and the boat is its smallest and is more than 50 years old.
If so, it would be a 鈥渕arvelous farewell, saving human lives,鈥� Suarez said.