The Lithuanian rower rescued by the Australian navy from stormy seas off Queensland has arrived in Sydney.
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00:00Arius Motskos spent four days lost at sea before he could see any sign of life and when
00:09he first heard and saw that plane and tools which came and rescued him, he said it was
00:15a moment of such excitement.
00:18The 44-year-old was attempting to row from San Diego to Brisbane when he was caught in
00:22the path of what was then a Category 1 system.
00:26After leaving last September, he was only three days off making it to his final destination.
00:32His wife Sonata said she knew something was wrong when he stopped checking in for their
00:37daily chats.
00:38He missed, when he missed all the connections, we did not have any information.
00:44That's why, yes, we, everyone around, we are worried because it was too long time not getting
00:50the message from him.
00:52What she didn't know was his boat had gone completely offline, but thankfully his emergency
00:57beacon was activated.
00:59He then had the agonising wait before the Australian Navy came to his rescue.
01:05This last three days, what I spent in my boat in this ocean, I think for me it's like new
01:17my life because I must be anytimes, any hours fight for my life because my boat are sinking
01:28and then the old navigation, all stuff's going off.
01:33He did say he wanted to originally finish in Sydney, but this wasn't really the way
01:38he had dreamed it up.
01:40And while Arias' ultimate goal to make it to Brisbane was not fulfilled, he is just
01:45glad to be on dry land and in one piece with his wife.