An Australian castaway rescued from certain death was interrupted when he tried to explain why he was forced to give up his dog-sailing mate after the two were miraculously found adrift nearly 2,000km from land.
Timothy Lyndsay Shaddock, 54, was being interviewed on the Today Show Thursday morning when asked why he decided to leave his dog Bella with a crew member of the Marie Delia, the tuna trawler that rescued them.
“Yeah, well, look, I…Bella eventually came with me, but I had crazy visions that it was just the helicopter that was here to get me…” Mr. Shaddock began to explain.
But his unclear explanation was cut short when the program moved to a press conference with New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins about the Auckland shooting.
Mr. Shaddock and Bella had spent three months wandering the Pacific together, eating raw fish and drinking rainwater before being returned to the Mexican town of Manzanillo.
But when they reached land, it was believed their union came to an end due to Australia’s notorious animal importation rules.
People are only allowed to bring animals to Australia that come from approved countries, which Mexico is not, and also if they are medically fit to gain weight.
Timothy Lyndsay Shaddock, 54, has revealed he left his dog Bella with a crew member of the Marie Delia, a tuna trawler that rescued them
The two had spent three months together on the Pacific, eating raw fish and drinking rainwater before being rescued by the Marie Delia, a tuna trawler.
However, when they reached land, their union came to an end due to Australia’s notorious animal import regulations, which are among the strictest in the world.
Australia has one of the strictest animal import laws in the world, and the process involves several hurdles that don’t come cheap.
If Mr. Shaddock had chosen to defy the odds again and tried to bring Bella home, she probably would have had to stay temporarily in an approved country before going down under.
Along with the cost of finding someone to care for her in a temporary location, Bella would then be required to get vaccines, microchipped and quarantined.
Instead, Bella will spend the rest of her days next to Genaro Rosales, a member of the Marie Delia who, according to Mr. Shaddock, instantly fell in love with Bella.
Mr. Rosales promised Mr. Shaddock that he would take care of Bella and take good care of her.
Bella will spend the rest of her days next to Genaro Rosales, a member of the Marie Delia who took an instant liking to Bella, according to Mr Shaddock
Mr. Shaddock and Bella returned to land after being examined aboard the boat that rescued him, saying he is thankful to be alive.
‘I’m feeling good. I feel a lot better than I was, I tell you,” Shaddock, smiling, bearded and thin, told reporters on the wharf in the port city about 210 miles west of Mexico City.
“I am immensely grateful to the captain and fishing company that saved my life. I’m alive and I didn’t really think I’d make it,” said Shaddock, adding that he and his “wonderful” dog, Bella, are doing well.
Shaddock described himself as a quiet person who likes to be alone on the ocean. When asked why he left Mexico’s Baja Peninsula in April to cross the Pacific Ocean to French Polynesia, he was initially clueless.
“I’m not sure I have the answer to that, but I really like sailing and I like the people of the sea,” he said. ‘It is the people of the sea who ensure that we all come together. The ocean is within us. We are the ocean.’
The Sydney man’s catamaran departed from the Mexican city of La Paz but was crippled by bad weather weeks into the trip. He said the last time he saw land was in early May when he left the Sea of Cortez and headed into the Pacific Ocean. There was a full moon.
Shaddock said he was well supplied, but a storm knocked out his electronics and cooking ability. He and Bella survived on raw fish.
“There were many, many, many bad days and many good days,” he said.
“The energy, the fatigue is the hardest part,” he said. He passed the time fixing things and stayed positive by getting in the water to “just enjoy being in the water.”
When the tuna boat helicopter spotted Shaddock’s catamaran about 1,200 miles from land, it was the first sign of humans he’d seen in three months, Shaddock said. The pilot threw him a drink and then flew off, returning later on a speedboat from the María Delia, he said.
Grupomar, which manages the fishing fleet, did not specify when the rescue took place. But it said in a statement that Shaddock and his dog were in a “precarious” condition when they were found, without facilities and shelter, and that the tuna boat crew was providing them with medical attention, food and hydration.
Shaddock said the tuna boat became his land and Bella was an instant hit with the crew. He also explained how he and the dog met.
Mr Shaddock’s catamaran (pictured) departed from the Mexican city of La Paz but was crippled by bad weather weeks into the trip
It said the couple lacked provisions and shelter and the tuna boat crew gave them medical care, food and hydration (pictured, Mr. Shaddock and Bella on the tuna ship)
“Bella found me more or less in the middle of Mexico. She’s Mexican,” he said. “She’s the spirit of the middle of the country and she wouldn’t let me go. I tried to find her a home three times and she kept following me out onto the water. She’s a lot braver than I am, that’s for sure.’
In moving scenes, Bella did not leave the boat until Shaddock had driven away.
He had already chosen Genaro Rosales, a crew member from Mazatlan, to adopt her on the condition that he take good care of the dog.
Shaddock said he will be returning to Australia soon and is looking forward to seeing his family.