Tim Shaddock and his dog Bella survived for three months adrift by eating raw fish and drinking rain water. Photos: Screenshot//9News
An Australian sailor has been found after spending two months lost at sea with his dog.
Tim Shaddock, who is 51, left from La Pax, Mexico for French Polynesia in April. His dog Bella was along for the ride, but soon after they began their journey, they were hit by a storm that damaged their catamaran and rendered them helpless. For the next two months, they drifted helplessly in the Pacific.
This week, however, a helicopter spotted them and they were soon rescued by a tuna trawler that was in the area. When a doctor examined Shaddock, he found that both he and his dog were in fine health, albeit a little on the skinny side. Shaddock and Bella survived the ordeal by catching rain water and eating raw fish.
“I have been through a very difficult ordeal at sea,” he told 9News. “I’m just needing rest and good food because I have been alone at sea a long time. Otherwise I’m in very good health.”
Shaddock and Bella are now being taken back to Mexico, where Shaddock will undergo a few tests to ensure that nothing is seriously wrong. He’ll have to monitor his food intake in the coming weeks, since he was severely rationing the food he was able to catch. He sheltered under a canopy during the day to protect himself from the sun.
“It’s a combination of luck and skill,” professor Mike Tipton, an ocean survival expert, told Weekend Today. “And also knowing for example, as Tim did, that during the heat of the day you need to protect yourself because the last thing you want when you’re in danger of becoming dehydrated is to be sweating.”
Not only did Shaddock ensure he survived the ordeal, but he kept Bella in fine shape, too. And that, according to Tipton, was helpful.
“He had companionship. Once you’ve got enough food and water, then I think the dog has an advantage,” Tipton said. “Your survival time is as long as you can keep collecting water, getting occasional food and doing things that help you stay positive.”
Shaddock and Bella are expected to make full recoveries.
