Aurimas Mockus finally arrived in Australia, but not in the way he imagined it.
Instead of paddling over Crusis, who had rowed in the Pacific for nearly five months as part of his solo mission from San Diego to Brisbane, he arrived at Sydney Port and lively on a 16,000-ton Australian Navy ship.
Without the Tropical Cyclone Alfred, he probably completed a 12,000km journey and rowed across the Pacific solo with only a handful of people.
However, Alfred, who was directly on the Lithuanian row-maker's path, stopped him. A sea of monsters attacks Crusis and rolls over and over again. For three days he couldn't rest or sleep as he fought the giant waves.
“I was like a washing machine cat,” he told reporters at HMAS Kouttaur Naval Base in Potts Point, just east of the CBD in Sydney, after landing on Friday morning from HMAS Shuwls and eventually touching dry land in the ocean for nearly five months.
Even more serious, he said his voice was broken, he knows he was very dead.
As his boat flipped over and over again in the enormous sea, he focused his energy on keeping his promises to his wife and teenagers when he set out on his journey last year.
“[I was] Maybe it's 30 spins, I'm not counting them, maybe even more. Many times [I thought] It could have been the last time,” he said.
“These last three days at the sea… I have to fight for hours and hours. [for] My life… because my boat is sinking. All navigation… stops, I just have a VHF radio, I have a problem with my body. If I lose my heart, I feel if I lose my beliefs [that] I can fight for my life, me [would not be here] Together with you today.
“Now I know… hell… isn't hot, it's actually wet and it's a very strong wind.”
Mox's wife, Sonata Mockbien, was at a naval base in Sydney, waiting to say hello to her husband she had never seen since departing from San Diego on the west coast of the US in mid-October. She flew from Lithuania to Australia on Thursday.
“We were worried, it was too long.”
After walking down the gangway from the ship, Mox fell to his lap in front of his wife, sobbing, and buried his face in his stomach as he hugged and kissed her.
Mockbien said the rowing trip was not the craziest thing her husband has ever done, but it was the “longest crazy” he tried.
She contacted him almost every day throughout the journey and received messages or short calls when she heard he was safe and well. However, communication stopped last week.
“We didn't have any information when he missed all the connections, we were worried, it was too long… we didn't get a message from him,” she said.
Then, around 10pm on Friday, February 28th, Mox activates the emergency SOS beacon, sending signals to satellites that bouncing back to Canberra's 24/7 response centre, leading to a series of actions that ultimately lead to dramatic rescue from the cyclone-covered high seas.
“As you can imagine, finding an object in the middle of our oceans is not a bit of a task,” said Mark Morrow, executive director of responses at the Australian Maritime Safety Agency (AMSA), who coordinated the search for Mox.
In addition to the difficulties, the cyclone produced winds of more than 130 km/h and heavy oceans of more than 9 meters.
“We're usually in a position where we can divert the ship to help us,” said Kevin McEvoy, manager of the AMSA Response Center. However, TC Alfred meant there were no ships in the area. “We didn't have that much luxury.”
Mox was eventually discovered by a Challenger Aircraft.
The AMSA was able to make contact with Mockus and radio on Friday using a Lithuanian translator Mockus had emotionally thanked. The team conducted six flights over three days and maintained contact with him.
Mockus' voice broke when he told him he saw the aircraft for the first time on him.
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“I thought I wasn't alone, but I don't know how he could help.”
HMAS Choules were deployed from Brisbane and Mox was rescued on Monday.
“I don't have any words about this,” Mox said. He said when he asked how he felt when he saw the Royal Australian Navy ships coming to his aid. “Just love.”
Their journey to Sydney was plagued.
The HMAS Choules encountered a 12-meter ocean and were pitched on a 28-degree roll, or a 90-foot roll from one side to the other.
Mox said he had some cuts and bruises from being taken to Hmas Choules and checked by medical staff and then thrown in a savage situation, but nothing serious or life-threatening. He was focused on being levelled.
“When it's sinking, I'm thinking of a sunny bed because for three or four days I spent in the damp waters.”
Highly elevated
The uplifted Darius Degutis, Australia's Ambassador to Lithuania, thanked the Australian government, the Defence Forces and the rescue.
“It's a very special day because we have Olima. We have a saying in Lithuanian, SVEIKAS IR GYVASI live in good health. He lives in good health. ”
Degutis read aloud a letter from the Foreign Minister of Lithuania, thanking Australia for saving his row.
“Lithuania is deeply grateful for your unwavering commitment to saving lives, and we always remember this extraordinary act of solidarity and cooperation,” the letter said.
For now, Mox and his wife will spend some time in Australia before returning to their children in Lithuania.
Mox said he had no regrets about the trip. But to see if he could complete the voyage, he asked if he would try it again, he laughed. “Not yet,” he said.
When asked if she would approve of her trying his husband again, she said it was out of her hands.
“I can't keep him… at home. It's impossible.”
Additional Reports by Daisy Dumas
