A lone Canadian yachtsman has been rescued from wild weather in the Southern Ocean by a Panama-registered ship.
Paul Lim, 62, was picked up by a bulk carrier after his yacht's engine broke free of its mounting and threatened to hole the 9.5-metre vessel.
Lim battled nine-metre waves and 90-knot winds and said he's lucky a long out-of-date battery still powered his emergency beacon when he struck trouble.
The Australian Maritime Rescue Authority (AMSA) had a plane overhead within hours of receiving his beacon signal at 10am (WST) on Monday when his yacht was about 250km southwest of Cape Leeuwin, Western Australia.
The bulk carrier, the Kohju, arrived and got him aboard early on Tuesday after a tricky, six-hour operation in rough seas.
Mr Lim told ABC Radio from the Kohju that he was totally surprised at the fast rescue response once he activated his emergency radio beacon) from his yacht Kekuli.
"I thought when I switched it on, maybe in a couple of days I might get a response if I'm lucky.
"A friend had given me it in Chile and the expiry date on the battery was actually 2002, so there was no guarantee it was going to work," Mr Lim said.
"It was kind of a desperate effort trying to avoid a catastrophe."
The yachtsman said he had to make a call about the risk of the loose engine going through the hull and decided against trying to make it to Fremantle or Albany "because one roll ... and I would have drowned".
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