Australian sailor John Deer swims 17km after falling off his boat near Panama

An Australian sailor has survived a 17km swim for his life through shark-infested waters after falling out of his boat while fishing.

John Deer was stranded alone with no life-jacket off the coast of Panama in an area known to locals as ‘shark point’ on Wednesday night.

Mr Deer, from Victoria, sold everything he owned in 2019 to sail around the world on the adventure of a lifetime. 

Towards the end of what was a 30 hour trip from Columbia to Panama, he fell off the back of his boat while it was on autopilot with both sails up and the motor running. 

Mr Deer had just caught a small tuna and as he took it off the line and redeployed the lure he lost balance and slipped off the back of the boat.

John Deer (pictured) set off in 2019 to sail around the world and now finds himself without a boat and just the clothes on his back but with an incredible story to tell

‘I just remember hitting the water and as I saw my boat sail off I just thought, this is it, I’m done, I’m going to die,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.

‘It happened so quick. I put my foot in the wrong place and suddenly I am in the water watching my boat sail away and completely helpless.

‘I don’t know if it was panic as much as denial in the beginning. I just started screaming “no, no no!”.’

After realising he had no other option but to swim for his life, Mr Deer started towards land with only about an hour of sunlight left.

He said his survival instincts kicked in and he remembered a trick to figure out which piece of land was the closest. 

‘You can tell which part of the land is closest by what appears darkest,’ he said.

‘So while I could see my boat going in one direction I knew that the land to my side was closer.

‘I knew I went overboard at about 5pm so daylight was limited. I memorised the shape of the mountains and then after the sun went down I just followed the darkest part.’

The remains of Mr Deer’s boat after it was recovered some distance from where he fell off it near Panama

Mr Deer started alternating breaststroke and survival stroke as he headed towards land.  

Because he was moving so slowly he started to wonder if he was making any progress. 

‘I didn’t know if or how I would get there and I was trying not to be put off the task at hand and just kept reminding myself I could do it,’ he said.

‘I kept telling myself out loud, I’m getting closer, I’ve got this, I can do this. I was just being positive to keep my mind strong.’

However, as night fell Mr Deer felt something bite his foot, setting him off into a wild panic. 

‘Fearing it was a shark I went into a frenzy. I started screaming, kicking and punching in every direction to scare it off,’ he said.

‘I just knew I had limited energy, I was getting so tired so I decided to keep swimming.

‘I soon realised it was fish that were nibbling at me. They just wouldn’t leave me alone, they were about the size of my forearm and just kept biting my body and legs. I have bite and scratch marks all over my legs from them.’

Police later told him the spot where he fell off the boat was known locally as ‘shark point’ due to the predators often spotted there. 

A GoFundMe page has been set up for Mr Deer to help him get money to return to Australia and restart his life again after selling everything to purchase his boat

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Mr Deer got his emotions under control and tried to get an idea of his progress by using another trick of holding his arm out in front of him to measure how far the land appeared. 

‘I held my arm out and the land fully covered my hand at first,’ he said.

‘I checked again at what I thought was about an hour later and I could see a bit of the mountain on either side of my hand. 

‘Then next time I checked I saw about 30 per cent of land either side of my hand and I started to think I can do this, I can do this.’

Mr Deer then recalled the moment he finally reached some rocks and knew he had made it.

‘When I got to the rocks I was so relieved but then I almost slipped and thought OK I need to just lay here for a bit, imagine going out like that after managing to make it to shore,’ he said.  

‘I got up on these sharp jagged rocks and laid my shirt down to lay on. As the adrenaline stopped my body completely shut down. 

‘I passed out and I woke up every hour or so as the rocks were so sharp but I was just so exhausted.

‘At first light I found a log and made a signal flag. The first boat I tried to signal didn’t hear me, the second waved and then kept going but then third time lucky and the boat stopped. 

‘They gave me a ride and took me back to civilisation.’

Mr Deer is stuck in Panama City (pictured) with only the clothes on his back and ‘not even with some damn thongs’. He said he needs an emergency passport to get back to Australia

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Once back to shore, Mr Deer said the police questioned him as they had located the boat underwater and thought he was done for. 

Mr Deer is stuck in Panama City with only the clothes on his back and ‘not even with some damn thongs’. He said he needs  an emergency passport to get back to Australia. 

While he is disappointed all his belongings are gone and he has nothing to go home to as he sold everything before he set sailed, he still in high spirits and thankful to be alive. 

‘I have literally lost everything I had. I only have my T-shirt and pants, that is it,’ he said.

‘I am basically an undocumented immigrant and I just need to get to Panama City and get an emergency passport and try to get home to start with a fresh slate and reinvent myself.’

Mr Deer said he wouldn’t rule out sailing again, as there was still a part of him that loved being on the water and exploring the world.

A GoFundMe page has been set up by his friend with the hope of providing Mr Deer with funds to return to Australia.

‘People think my life is amazing but it feels mundane to me. This is the first time it feels like I have a crazy story to tell,’ he said.

Mr Deer said it felt ‘eerie’ looking at the remains of his boat bobbing in rocky water but it just reminded him how lucky he was to still be alive. 

‘As an Aussie, you have to love a story where you beat the odds and that is what I did,’ he said.