A young rower gunning to become the youngest person to row across the Pacific Ocean is now just happy he's still alive after he was rescued, naked, from the hull of his upturned boat.
A cruise ship went 200 kilometres out of its way to pick him up near Vanuatu after a rogue wave tipped his boat on Thursday night.
Tom Robinson was happy to be back on dry land in Auckland this morning, after the most terrifying 14 hours perched on the hull of his flipped rowboat.
"There was a lot of adrenaline and a sense that 'oh my god, my worst nightmare has come true'," he said.
He'd been nearing the end of his mission to row across the Pacific and was sitting in what he thought was calm water near Vanuatu, thinking about dinner, when a massive wave came from nowhere and upended his boat.
"There was half an hour of desperation and doubt, and then I made this decision, that I have to stay strong," he said.
Robinson spent an entire night, 14 hours, clinging to his boat while being battered by huge waves. But he'd managed to activate one of his three EPERBS and a jet from New Calendonia eventually honed in on his position.
Finally, Robinson saw the ginormous Pacific Explorer coming towards him with hundreds of her passengers waving wildly, and he knew he was saved.
"I was so happy, I was so excited, I was so relieved!" he said.
But as he climbed the rescue ladder, he did have one concern.
"Often when I'm rowing, I'm rowing in the nude because chafe is a real issue and no clothes makes it a lot easier," he said.
And he was now stuck that way, because his clothes had sunk.
"As I made my way up the ladder, I got halfway up to the door, I said 'I've got no clothes on' and the people gave me towels and things like that," Robinson said.
"Some of these Kiwi guys are really funny, and so now they're calling me Tiny Tom! Can you believe it?"
Robinson is now something of a rockstar among his fellow passengers, even though the Pacific Explorer had to skip an island to rescue him.
"A life is more important than me touching sand," passenger Daphne Armstrong said.
The 24-year-old had already spent a year and three months trying to become the youngest person to row across the Pacific Ocean, so what's the chance Robinson will resume his mission?
"Maybe over 50 percent," he said. "Yeah, maybe 51."
But for now, wearing clothes donated by kind passengers - he's safely back in Australia with his very relieved mum and dad.
