Two fishermen and their dog thrown overboard from their boat and spent hours stranded at sea treading water with a life jacket between them have survived to remember the ordeal.
Stephen Innes, 74, his brother Brian, 76, and three-legged Jack Russell Luna were checking crab pots off Boatswain Point in South Australia when they were hit by a freak wave on Tuesday morning. .
Although the brothers have 120 years of fishing experience between them, they still found themselves in a situation where they had to fight for their lives in cold conditions.
“They flooded us from behind, some people would call it a rogue wave, it seemed to come out of nowhere,” Mr Innes said. nine news.
Both men were wearing life jackets, but when Brian’s didn’t inflate, he had no choice but to grab onto the back of Stephen’s jacket and pull Luna onto his brother’s chest.
“It was very cold, so after a couple of hours or so, you start to get very dramatic chills that get progressively worse,” Stephen said.
They had plans to meet friends around 11am, who raised the alarm after the brothers failed to show up.
A full-scale search began at 2.30pm, with police, SES volunteers and local fishermen joining forces to search for the trio.
Stephen Innes and his best friend Luna (pictured) were checking out crab boats with his brother Brian when a freak wave threw them overboard.
After floating in the water for six hours and Luna being swept away after another wave hit them, they were discovered by a surfer just behind the breaking waves (pictured, a search and rescue team with one of the brothers).
A search and rescue aircraft from Victoria also arrived to assist in the search.
Mr Innes admitted thinking on “three or four occasions, or maybe more” that they were “not going to make it”.
But when strong winds and a current hit shortly after 5pm, the trio approached the shore, but another wave hit them and Luna was swept away by the water.
‘I washed her off my chest and of course I went under the water and choked and kept going and she went… I didn’t know where. I couldn’t see it. “She had just disappeared,” Mr Innes said.
Fortunately, the brothers were eventually discovered by a surfer behind the waves just as a storm was approaching.
The alarm was raised when the brothers were unable to meet their friends around 11 in the morning (search and rescue teams are gathered in the photo).
Miraculously, Luna met them on the beach, having been washed ashore before the brothers were rescued (pictured, a search and rescue team with one of the brothers).
Luna was already there to greet them when the relieved siblings finally reached dry land.
Luna had emerged from the ordeal unscathed: she was in good condition and had no injuries.
Her owner believes she was “probably” swept along the surface of the water and reached the beach “long before” the brothers.
The two fishermen were treated for hypothermia at Kingston Hospital and are now recovering.