Fisherman recalls harrowing ordeal after he, his brother and three-legged dog Luna miraculously survived six hours at sea
Two fishermen and their dog who were thrown overboard from their boat and left stranded at sea for hours treading water with one life jacket between them have all survived and are recalling the terrifying ordeal.
Stephen Innes, 74, his brother Brian 76, and three-legged Jack Russell Luna, were checking cray pots at Boatswain Point in South Australia when they were hit by a freak wave on Tuesday morning.
Although the brothers have a combined 120 years of fishing experience, they still found themselves in a situation where they had to fight for their lives in cold conditions.
“We were swamped 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 failed to inflate, he had no choice but to hold on to the back of Stephen’s jacket and place Luna on his brother’s chest.
“It was particularly cold, so after about a couple of hours you get very dramatic chills that get worse and worse,” Stephen said.
They had plans to meet friends around 11 a.m., who raised the alarm after the brothers failed to show up.
A large-scale search operation was underway 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 the cray pots with brother Brian when a freak wave threw them overboard
After treading water for six hours and Luna being swept away after another wave hit them, they were spotted by a surfer right behind the crashing waves (photo by a search and rescue crew with one of the brothers)
A search and rescue aircraft from Victoria also arrived to assist in the search.
Mr Innes admitted that he thought ‘three or four times, or maybe more’ that they ‘weren’t going to make it’.
But when strong winds and currents struck just after 5pm, the trio were brought closer to 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 and gagged and moved on and she was gone… I didn’t know where. I couldn’t see her. She just disappeared,” Mr Innes said.
Fortunately, the brothers were eventually spotted by a surfer behind the surf just as a storm was approaching.
The alarm was raised when the brothers failed to meet their friends around 11am (search and rescue crews photo collected)
Miraculously, Luna greeted them on the beach after they washed up before the brothers were rescued (photo from a search and rescue team with one of the brothers)
Luna was already there to greet them when the relieved brothers finally reached dry land.
Luna had emerged from the ordeal unscathed; she was in good condition and had no injuries.
Her owner thinks she ‘probably’ washed up along the surface of the water and arrived on the beach ‘much earlier’ than the brothers.
The two fishermen were treated at Kingston Hospital for hypothermia and are now recovering.