Sailor who survived 2 months lost at sea with his dog gives up faithful pooch to man who rescued pair
The Australian man who spent over two months lost at sea with his dog parted ways with the faithful pooch when he returned to shore Tuesday.
Tim Shaddock, 51, was rescued by a Mexican tuna boat over the weekend alongside his dog, Bella, whom he had met in Mexico before the disastrous voyage saw his boat drift over 1,000 miles in the Pacific Ocean following a storm.
“She’s amazing, that dog is something else, I’m a bit biased but yeah,” Shaddock said. “Bella seemed to have found me in the middle of Mexico, she’s Mexican, she is the spirit of the middle of the country and she wouldn’t let me go.
“I tried to find a home for her maybe three times and she just kept following me out into the water. She’s a beautiful animal and I’m just grateful she’s alive.
“She’s a lot more braver than I am, that’s for sure.”
Shaddock later gave Bella to a crew member of the Maria Delia, the ship that rescued the pair, on the condition that the dog would receive good care.
Shaddock’s journey started in April when the Sydney, Australia, resident set off from La Paz, Mexico, and attempted to sail across the Pacific Ocean to French Polynesia.
However, Shaddock’s catamaran was damaged by a storm approximately a month into the voyage.
The boat’s electronics system was among the storm’s victims, turning the white vessel into just an expensive raft.
Shaddock was saved when a helicopter spotted his boat 1,200 miles offshore and alerted the Maria Delia.
“To the captain and this fishing company that saved my life, I mean, what do you say? I’m just so grateful, I’m alive. I really didn’t think I’d make it,” Shaddock said.
Shaddock said he suffered from fatigue and passed his time swimming in the water and fixing things aboard the boat.
“I feel really good, I’ve been struggling, you know the health was pretty bad for a while, I was pretty hungry and I didn’t think I would make it through the storm, but now I’m doing really good,” he added.
Shaddock was able to survive on the supplies he had already packed for the trip along with fish he caught.
“I did a lot of fishing,” Shaddock said. “I took a lot of stuff with me, too, good provisions, I mean I lost my cooking along the way so there was a lot of tuna sushi, but it was enough. I’m still very skinny, by the time I came here to the fishing boat I was just eating so much food.”
Grupomar, the owner of the boat that saved Shaddock, said the Maria Delia was likely headed for retirement but that it gotten a “marvelous farewell, saving human lives.”
Even though he still loves being alone out on the ocean, Shaddock doesn’t see himself sailing anytime soon and is looking forward to going back home to Australia in the coming weeks.
“I’ll always be in the water, I don’t know how far out in the ocean again I’ll be, I just love nature.”
When photos of his rescue first surfaced, Shaddock was compared to Tom Hanks’ character Chuck Noland in the film “Cast Away,” emerging looking emaciated, dirty and sporting an unkempt beard.
Although his appearance isn’t what it was prior to his voyage, Shaddock’s health is said to be stable with “normal vital signs,” the doctor who examined him on the boat told 9News.
With Post wires
