An adventurous Lithuanian man trying to row a boat from California to Australia was rescued today by the Australian navy after a tropical cyclone blew him off course on Friday.
After more than four months at sea, 44-year-old Aurimas Mockus was only days away (460 miles shy) from Brisbane before 50-mph winds cut his trip short. Once he was thrown off his path, he "activated an emergency beacon," reports NBC News.
Mockus was stranded at sea for three days before rescuers found him and transferred him onto an Australian warship, along with his oars and a few of his personal things. His boat, however, was left at sea. (See footage of the rescue below, supplied by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and posted by Guardian Australia.)
From NBC News:
Aurimas Mockus was taken aboard Royal Australian Navy landing ship HMAS Choules, where he was undergoing a medical assessment, Vice Adm. Justin Jones said in a statement.
The 44-year-old adventurer had been stranded for three days in the Coral Sea about 460 miles east of the Queensland state coastal city of Mackay. He had rowed there in an enclosed boat nonstop from San Diego headed for the Queensland capital, Brisbane. …
The authority sent a plane that made radio contact with Mockus on Saturday. Mockus reported he was "fatigued," the authority said.
The warship is taking Mockus south beyond Brisbane to Sydney in New South Wales, the navy said.
Mockus would have been one of only a few people who have rowed across the Pacific Ocean's 7,500-mile stretch nonstop had he completed his journey.
Previously: Coastguard rescues real dummy from UK sea
