Rescued Lithuanian rower Aurimas Mockus and wife Sonata Mockuviene kissed after arriving at Garden Island. Photo: ABC News/Sally-Anne Young
Lithuanian rower Aurimas Mockus was brought to his knees, as he held his wife for the first time, since being rescued from the treacherous seas caused by Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
With visible cuts and bruises, the 44-year-old said he felt like he was in a washing machine, while he waited for someone to find him.
"I spent that time wet in my boat rolling around," he said. "I rolled maybe 30 times, maybe more.
"The last three days in my boat, I was fighting for my life, because my boat was sinking and all navigation was going off.
"I only had VHF radio [and] I had a lot of problems with my body."
Mockus was attempting to row from San Diego to Brisbane, when he was caught in the path of the system off the Queensland coast.
He sent out a distress signal last week amid winds of up to 100kph and seas of between 5-7 metres.
Authorities made radio contact with him the next day, about 740km east of Mackay.
"When I saw the plane go over, I thought, 'I am not alone', but also I thought, 'Will they even be able to see me?'" he recalled on Friday, after arriving at Garden Island, Sydney.
Mockus came to shore via the Royal Australian Navy ship HMAS Choules, which picked him up from the Coral Sea last Sunday.
Navy sailors rescued the solo rowboat adventurer. Photo: Royal Australian Navy/CPOIS Helen Frank
Agonising wait for family and friends
Mockus started the 12,000km journey in September and was due to arrive in Brisbane early next week, but his plans were cut short, when he was caught in the wrath of Cyclone Alfred.
After almost six months apart, wife Sonata Mockuviene knew something was wrong, when she did not receive a daily update from her husband.
"When we saw on the map that the cyclone was getting bigger and going his way, we thought he might be in trouble," she said.
Mockuviene then had to endure an agonising wait for 3-4 days, before she could finally feel relief, after a phone call late at night from Australia with just four simple words: "Your husband is alive."
She said: "It was a good message and after that, everything was under control.
"I told my children I am going to Australia to bring your father home."
Difficult rescue on high seas
HMAS Choules Commander Arron Convery told reporters at Sydney's Garden Island naval base that, while rescue conditions were not ideal, his crew were "filled with elation" after Mockus' rescue.
"The ship's company will now catch up on some much needed sleep," he said.
AMSA executive director of response Mark Morrow, who oversaw the operation, said it was "no small task finding an object that small in the middle of our oceans".
"Because Aurimas had his personal location beacon switched on, we were able to find him after two days of searching," he said.
While Mockus was thankful to be out of what he called "a time in hell", he has also made a plea for anyone who finds his abandoned boat to contact him, so he can be reunited with it once more.
"A reward is guaranteed," he wrote on Instagram. "Thank you for your assistance!"
- ABC
