“The boat’s upturned and I’m sitting on the bow of the boat and water’s washing over me and I’m gathering my stuff together and I’m thinking ‘if this thing sinks, what have I got that can float?’” So he grabbed his Esky cooler.
The former lifeguard, swimmer and water polo player was carrying a large EPIRB, which lasts for hundreds of hours, and a smaller one which is encoded with Mr Smock’s information – so when it was activated they knew at Australian Maritime Safety Authority in Canberra and were able to contact the next of kin.
MEOSAR provided a 47-minute time advantage in detection of the registered beacon and providing a location.
“People leave their vessels and you can’t do that. That’s the easiest thing for them to find. So until it actually sinks you need to stay there,” he said.
His cooler blew away but he soon heard the helicopter arriving, and he says the safety beacons he was carrying helped save his life.
For the fisherman, it was a reversal of roles. “I was always the one in the water saving others,” he said.
Read more here:
http://www.standard.net.au/story/4502903/fisherman-thanks-heroes-for-sea-rescue/