Australian sailor Timothy Lindsay Chaddock set foot on land for the first time on Tuesday, after spending months in the Pacific Ocean, following a storm that damaged electronics on his boat.
Shaddock said he was happy to be alive after disembarking on Tuesday in the Mexican city of Manzanillo from the fishing boat that rescued him.
“I feel fine,” Shaddock told reporters. “I thank the captain of the tuna trawler that saved my life. I didn’t expect to survive this ordeal.”
The British newspaper “Daily Mail” quoted Chaddock as saying that the last time he saw land was in April when he sailed from the Sea of Cortez, heading to Polynesia.
The sailor explained that he and his dog Bella survived thanks to their eating of raw fish, and added: “I became very thin thanks to sushi. Fatigue and low energy level is the hardest part of my experience.”
“Despite all the circumstances I went through, I tried to stay positive and enjoy the sea around me. I was trying to find happiness within,” Chaddock continued.
He noted that when a tuna-fishing boat helicopter spotted the Shaddock about 1,200 miles from Earth, it was the first human contact in three months.
And he indicated that the pilot threw him a bottle of water and then flew away, and returned later on a speedboat from Maria Delia.
During his time lost in the ocean, Chaddock suffered no serious illness or injury, and avoided sunburn by hiding under an umbrella on his boat.
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2023-07-19 00:41:23
