Sailor rescued after 3 months at sea

Hi All,

you have most likely seen the news story of Tim and his dog, stranded in the pacific for 3 months before finally being rescued by a fishing trawler.

However, there are a number of things in this story I don't understand that hoping others might be able to help with.

1. Why wouldn't he have an epirb? Could a lightning hit destroy it?
2. The only picture of the boat I have seen seemed to still have rigging and sails, it might be an earlier picture but all the news articles say he lost his electronics and no mention of lost of mast, so what do you think prevented him from just sailing back East, even without electronics it's pretty easy to hit South America.
3. if you were making a crossing, especially into the pacific where food can be expensive from Mexico, a lot of sailors stock up on cheap essentials, so why would he have had no food for 3 months, I wouldn't expect him to have 3 months full food, but he must have had something at least at the start.

I'm not trying to poke holes in the blokes story, I just put this down to news articles only reporting the basics and don't care about the finer details. Anyone have any more info on what happened?

The video of him being rescued by the fishermen, shows a mast intact and a front sail on hanks. I saw no boom.
Perhaps he used an electronic shut-off valve for gas cooking, but to me that is dumb.

To me, the story doesn't make sense. It's a sailing boat after all. Compasses and electronics can be put in a Faraday cage (saucepan), and an ocean-going yacht should have enough tools, spares and a capable captain for most emergencies

Select to expand quote

FabulousPhill said..
The video of him being rescued by the fishermen, shows a mast intact and a front sail on hanks. I saw no boom.
Perhaps he used an electronic shut-off valve for gas cooking, but to me that is dumb.

To me, the story doesn't make sense. It's a sailing boat after all. Compasses and electronics can be put in a Faraday cage (saucepan), and an ocean-going yacht should have enough tools, spares and a capable captain for most emergencies

Thanks this summarises my point more clearly, he was doing an ocean crossing, a very large ocean crossing, not a day sail, so you would expect to have a bit more equipment.

The other part was if he was just adrift, there is a strong westerly current, and after 3 months adrift he would of clocked up 3000-5000kms due west, which doesn't align to him only being 2000kms offshore, so was he trying to tack upwind against the currents, or getting caught in the doldrums and making very little headway? I could understand why you wouldn't want to aim for French polynesia without charts, even if you were to find it you would have a strong chance of coming across an empty island and striking a reef. Only to make his situation worse. That's why I am curious if the sailing element here more so. Im not trying to judge his abilities or character, but there is definitely more elements to this story than what has been reported on which I am curious of.

This is one of those embarrassing stories that is best read on Sailing Anarchy!

"During an interview, he told a Nine News reporter in an interview that he had been in communication with his family throughout his time at sea, via his Garmin inReach." WTactualF !

forums.sailinganarchy.com/threads/australian-saved-after-3-months-at-sea.242925/

One brief news report that I saw reported that his family said he had a history of 'eccentricity'. 'Nuf said.

I like wharram designs, not sure why, I think its the simplicity and the self sufficiency that brings.