Shipwrecked Timothy Shaddok aboard the fishing boat that rescued him. Grupomar (Courtesy)
It has been three months since Tim Shaddock, a 54-year-old Australian seaman, and his dog went ashore. He left La Paz (in Baja California Sur) and made his way to French Polynesia. A journey of more than 6,000 kilometers. A storm damaged your boat. Weeks later, a tuna boat found the catamaran adrift in the Pacific Ocean. This Tuesday, after months of eating raw fish and drinking rainwater to survive, Shaddock made landfall again in the port of Manzanillo (Colima). “I feel good, better than I was. The Pacific Ocean is a bit big […] I thought I wouldn’t make it [salir con vida]”Especially after the hurricane,” he commented to the media as he disembarked.
The crew of the tuna vessel María Delia, captained by Óscar Meza, saw a man floating in a damaged boat while they went on their fishing trip and their usual chores. They were in the middle of the Eastern Pacific, in international waters, more than 2,000 kilometers offshore. “I saw the captain and the fishing boat. I can only be grateful. I’m alive and I really thought I wouldn’t be,” he said.
At the time of the rescue, Shaddock was affected by the last three months at sea and was showing signs of dehydration and heat exhaustion (“in an extremely precarious situation,” says the company Grupomar, owner of the tuna vessel). He had neither sufficient provisions nor shelter, ate raw fish and drank rainwater. Accompanied only by his dog Bella, for whom Shaddock had the words upon his arrival: “She is Mexican and her spirit is from this country.”
The Australian sailor already showed his passion for the sea in the first statements when disembarking from the María Delia (“I intend to sail again very soon.” […] “The boat is my life, my country,” he said. Shaddock has stated that he had previously traveled to other parts of the world on his catamaran, the Aloha Toa. In the first images that aired on the channels, the weakened Australian sailor could be seen drinking drinks containing sugar and minerals. “I have a very difficult test behind me at sea. I just need rest and good food because I’ve been at sea alone for a long time,” Shaddock told Australian broadcaster 9News last Sunday. This Tuesday the picture was different. The still disheveled sailor was cheerful upon his arrival (“I’m very fine”).
Shaddock was excited too. “There are many good days and many bad days. I’ve been trying to find happiness within myself. And I found them quite often. I also enjoy being in the water,” he said. The last time he saw land was in the Sea of Cortez (in the Gulf of California), in early May, on a full moon night.
The Grupomar company expressed satisfaction with the event in a statement: “Thanks to the experience of the ship’s crew, he was rescued safe and sound and received the necessary medical care, hydration and food.” It was not the first time that one of Grupomar’s ships rescued a shipwrecked man in sea waters. The company’s president, Antonio Suárez, expressed his pride to the crew of the María Delia. “I am proud of my sailors for their bravery and humanity in successfully rescuing Mr. Shaddock. Their professionalism and commitment to the safety and well-being of others are clear examples of our employees’ ethics. I’m glad we were able to save the life of someone in need,” Suárez commented.
The company notified the various authorities – from the Secretary of the Navy to the Australian Embassy – so that the appropriate procedures could be carried out and the legal protocols initiated to allow the Australian shipwrecked man to return to his home in Sydney.
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