Raw fish and rainwater: Sailor and his dog survive 3 months adrift in Pacific | CBC News

An Australian sailor who had been adrift at sea with his dog for three months has been rescued by a Mexican tuna boat in international waters, the fishing vessel’s owner said Monday.

Timothy Lyndsay Shaddock, 54, was aboard his incapacitated catamaran Aloha Toa in the Pacific Ocean about 1,900 kilometres from land when the crew of the boat from the Grupomar fleet spotted them, the company said in a statement.

The company said Shaddock and his dog, Bella, were in a “precarious” state when found, lacking provisions and shelter. The tuna boat’s crew gave them medical attention, food and hydration, it said.

Grupomar did not provide specific details on what day Shaddock was rescued or when he had started his voyage.

Due in port Tuesday

The tuna boat, captained by Oscar Meza Oregon, was expected to arrive in the Pacific coast port of Manzanillo, Mexico, on Tuesday with Shaddock and Bella.

Antonio Suarez Gutierrez, Grupomar’s founder and president, said he was proud of his crew, praising them for their humanity in saving the life of someone in trouble.

Shaddock told Australia’s Nine News television that he and his dog had survived on raw fish and rainwater after a storm damaged his vessel and wiped out its electronics.

“I’ve been through a very difficult ordeal at sea and I’m just needing rest and good food because I’ve been alone at sea a long time,” a thin and bearded Shaddock said in video broadcast by Nine on Sunday night Australian time.

“Otherwise, I’m in very good health,” Shaddock added.

The Sydney resident and his dog had sailed from the Mexican city of La Paz, in the state of Baja California Sur, for French Polynesia in April, but the voyage ended within weeks, Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported.

In photographs of the rescue provided by Grupomar to The Associated Press, a smiling, bearded and thin Shaddock is seen with a blood pressure cuff around his arm, holding a box of pain medication inside the fishing boat’s cabin. In others, Bella is stretched out on the deck. The catamaran floated nearby without a visible sail.