Australian seaman Tim Shaddock, who survived two months in the Pacific with an “amazing” dog, speaks out

The Australian, who spent over two months lost at sea with his dog when his storm-damaged boat drifted more than 1,000 miles from shore, spoke out as he set foot on shore for the first time on Tuesday.

Tim Shaddock, 51, who was rescued from a Mexican tuna boat with his dog Bella over the weekend, said he is doing much better than a week ago.

“I feel a lot better than I was,” Shaddock told reporters as he disembarked the boat at a port in Manzanilla, a town about 210 miles west of Mexico City.

Shaddock’s journey began in April when the resident of Sydney, Australia, departed from La Paz, Mexico and attempted to sail across the Pacific to French Polynesia.

However, Shaddock’s catamaran was damaged by a storm about a month into the voyage.

Among the casualties of the storm were the boat’s electronics, which turned the white ship into an expensive raft.

Shaddock was saved when a helicopter spotted his boat 1,200 miles offshore and alerted a lifeboat, the Maria Delia.

“What do you tell the captain and that fishing company that saved my life? I’m just so thankful I’m alive. I really didn’t think I would make it,” Shaddock said.

Shaddock said he suffers from fatigue and spends his time swimming in the water and fixing things on board the boat.

“I’m feeling really good, I’ve been struggling for a while, you know, my health was pretty bad, I was pretty hungry and I didn’t think I’d weather the storm, but I’m doing really well now,” he added .

Shaddock was able to survive on the supplies he had already packed for the voyage as well as the fish he had caught.

“I’ve fished a lot,” said Shaddock. “I took a lot of stuff, too much provisions, I mean I lost my cooking skills along the way, so there was a lot of tuna sushi, but it was enough. I’m still very skinny, when I got here to the fishing boat I just ate so much.”

The Australian’s journey was made easier with the help of his stowaway dog ​​Bella, whom he adopted after the two met in Mexico prior to the trip.

“She’s great, this dog is different, I’m a little biased, but yeah,” Shaddock said. “Bella seemed to have found me in the middle of Mexico, she’s Mexican, she’s the spirit of the middle of the country and she didn’t want to let me go.

“I tried maybe three times to find her a home and she just kept following me into the water. She is a beautiful animal and I am just grateful that she is alive.

“She’s a lot braver than me, that’s for sure.”

Grupomar, the owner of the boat that rescued Shaddock, said the Maria Delia is likely to be retired but made a “beautiful farewell that saved lives”.

While he still loves being alone at sea, Shaddock doesn’t see sailing anytime soon and is looking forward to returning to Australia in the coming weeks.

“I’ll always be in the water, I don’t know how far out in the sea I’ll be, I just love nature.”

As for Bella, Shaddock left the dog with Genaro Rosales, a crew member on the Maria Delia, who took the dog in on the condition that the pooch be well cared for, according to the AP.

When photos of his rescue first surfaced, Shaddock was compared to Tom Hanks’ character Chuck Noland in the film Cast Away, who appeared emaciated, dirty and with a unkempt beard.

Although his appearance isn’t what it was before his trip, Shaddock’s health is said to be stable and showing “normal vital signs,” the doctor who examined him on the boat told 9News.