Brothers Brian and Stephen Innes reveal inside what went wrong and their miracle rescue

With one of two lifejackets failing to inflate, and their dog’s claws threatening to pierce the other, here’s how two boaties and their pup survived seven hours in icy waters.

• Freak waves and one-and-a-half life jackets

Twenty-four hours after being rescued from the sea, Brian Innes still cannot believe his luck.

“Of all the things that could have worked against us, we were very, very lucky,” he said.

Brian, 76, and brother Stephen, 74, said nothing about the waters off Boatswain Point, near Robe, caused the experienced fishermen to worry.

But after setting off on Brian’s boat on Tuesday morning to check their craypots, they capsized two kilometres from shore, with Stephen’s three-legged Jack Russell, Luna, on board as well.

Brothers Brian and Stephen Innes, and seafaring dog Luna. Picture: Jacqui Bateman

Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) rescue pictures from the Robe Fisherman incident yesterday. Picture : Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA)

They spent the next seven hours in freezing cold waters, and it was only when they a missed a coffee date with a neighbour that locals raised the alarm at 2.30pm.

“There were no swells, the water was dead flat ­– I’m still in shock,” Brian said.

“We were coming away from the direction of the waves, and suddenly we were in the water, just like that.

“I’m very cautious, and everyone around here is very aware of the hazards about how these things can happen – but I still can’t believe it got us like that.”

The brothers surfaced only a few feet from each other, but with Brian’s lifejacket failing to inflate and Luna swimming in circles, he had to think fast.

“We managed to get together, and once I had the support of his lifejacket, I could blow mine up manually,” Brian said.

“With that one lifejacket, if Luna had pierced the plastic, just that one thing meant things would have gone completely different.”

With Luna lying on Stephen’s chest, and Brian holding on for dear life, the brothers got to work as rescue boats and aircraft were mobilised.

Rescued Fishermen Brian and Stephen Innes are loaded into the choppe . Picture: Donna Isaacson

“We were making progress getting back to shore, but it was pretty slow,” Stephen said.

“The idea was to paddle as long as we needed to, but then as we got closer and closer, the tide started pushing us southward, so we ended up doing twice as much distance as we would have had to.”

They finally arrived near Guichen Bay just before 6pm, as a rescuer paddled out to bring in Stephen, while the tide brought in Brian and Luna.

“All this time I was thinking how good it would finally be to get to shore and feel your feet on solid ground again,” Brian said.

“But I was knackered. There was no way I was going to stand up.”

Ambulance crews then took them to an awaiting helicopter, which rushed them to the local hospital.

“Everyone was just so helpful ­– every single one of them was just brilliant,” Stephen said.

“If it wasn’t for the boat being capsized, I would go out tomorrow morning.”

Their safe rescue back to shore has gripped the tight-knit town of about 40 people, who launched into action to help find the brothers.

Stephen Innes and his three-legged dog Luna were in the water for seven hours after their boat capsized off Boatswain Point on Limestone Coast, SA. Picture: 7 NEWS

Among them was Donna Isaacson who about at 2pm Tuesday set out with her husband to check their own craypots.

It was her husband’s birthday on Tuesday, and the pair had planned to check their pots and go out to dinner that night.

“We noticed Brian’s ute was there – which was nothing unusual – but we couldn’t see his boat when we set out,” Ms Isaacson said.

“When we came in, Brian’s next door neighbour Elaine came running up saying Brian had left at 9.30am and wasn’t back yet, they were meant to have coffee.

“I said, ‘that’s not right – something’s happened to them’.”

Her call to triple-0 sparked the massive search and rescue that drew in locals and authorities.

“It looked calm from the shore but it was the sort of day that the swell could rare up and you had to keep an eye on things,” Ms Isaacson, a professional marine scale fisher, said.

“You had to keep an eye on things. Boatswain Point is a place where the sea is a little bit unpredictable so you have to keep watching what you’re doing.

“There can always be that wave that pops up.”

Scene shots of the rescue of two fisherman from off the coast of Robe . Picture: 7NEWS

Just 30 minutes before the men were spotted by a local boatie who joined the search, Luna had been swept from Stephen and managed to paddle back to shore where she waited for the men.

Luckily, the sea had turned slightly warmer, and Ms Isaacson said it was about 18 degrees when she was on the water in the early afternoon.

It is usually about 16 degrees or below.

Ms Isaacson said Brian and Stephen were both known to always carry life jackets.

“They always wear their life jackets so that made me think there would be some sign of them,” she said.

“It was a very happy moment when they got to shore.”

She described the police and rescue crews involved in the search all smiling and celebrating when the brothers were safely back on shore.

“They were totally exhausted,” she said.

“The Water Ops people, the manager from Adelaide, got (the local boaties’) numbers and was in contact with them, telling them where to go.

“We had boats out there but they (the brothers) could have drifted out in an opposite direction, or the wind changed and floated them back in.”

She described it as a local effort, with the best outcome.

“It’s a lot rougher out there today,” she said.

“It’s really rocking in today.”