A 24-year-old Australian man was rescued after clinging naked to his capsized boat in an attempt to break the record for the youngest person to row solo across the Pacific. Tom Robinson was reaching Vanuatu when a wave capsized his boat, ending his 15-month, 9,782-mile trek across the world's largest ocean, as per a report in People Magazine. He was rescued by a cruise ship on Friday, October 6 after he sent a distress signal through his satellite phone on Thursday night.
He added that the cabin hatch on his boat was open when a "rogue wave came out of nowhere and turned the boat upside down." He said, "Instantly I had to swim out from the flooded cabin and climb on top of the hull. I didn't have any clothes on when the wave hit the boat - I usually row naked because it stops chafing. So I was sitting in the cabin with no clothes on and then all of a sudden I'm upside down," he told the New Zealand Herald.
The Australian added that he was "holding on to dear life" and the water was too cold. "It was really cold and I tied myself onto the boat - and that really helped me because waves were breaking over the boat constantly and I was just sort of holding on for dear life," he added.
The rower had already sent out a distress call to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority when a French navy aircraft discovered him late on Thursday. It made touch with the P&O's Pacific Explorer, a cruise ship carrying 2,000 guests on a nine-day roundtrip voyage from Auckland, and the ship took a 124-mile detour to save Mr Robinson. The rower, who was sunburned and dehydrated, then ascended naked on a rope ladder that had been slid down the side of the cruise liner.
He thanked the cruise ship and told the outlet "I feel really bad that I had to interrupt a cruise, I really do. And it is a real shame that my life was in danger and I had to put other people's lives out of their way to come and save me. I'm not proud of that at all and I'd rather it not be like that."
Mr Robinson then flew to his home in Brisbane after 18 months where he was reunited with his parents. He hopes to write a book about his experience and complete his voyage.
