Tributes for ‘adventurous’ fishing mates Paul Eckert and Alan Bottrill after Port Lincoln tragedy

Alan Bottrill’s wife has told of the devastation over her husband’s fateful boat trip alongside good friend Paul Eckert, after spending more than a decade on the sea together.

Intrepid grandfathers Paul Eckert and Alan Bottrill had been fishing together for more than a decade – and showed no signs of slowing.

But on Monday, their final adventure turned to tragedy.

Paul and Mr Bottrill were on a fateful trip near Spilsby Island off Port Lincoln with Mr Eckert’s two sons, Danny and Tom, and grandson, when a freak wave capsized their boat.

World-renowned professor Danny, 44, was found with his 12-year-old son in the early hours of Tuesday morning, clinging to a reef after struggling for 12 hours in freezing waters.

The bodies of Paul, 73, Tom, 40, and Mr Bottrill, 71, were discovered hours later.

In the space of just days, two families’ lives have been overturned by unthinkable tragedy – but in the waves of grief, loved ones have remembered the lives of the “adventurers” lost at sea.

Alan Bottrill (left) and Paul Eckert were adventurous fishing mates before their fateful final trip off Port Lincoln. Picture: Supplied

In a statement released on Wednesday, Upper Sturt grandfather Mr Bottrill’s wife Pamela and children Rónán and Amélie said he had twice battled cancer and “never” thought he would have been killed doing the thing he loved.

“Alan was 71 years old and still very much an adventurer who loved fishing, golfing and travelling with friends and family,” they said in the statement.

“He leaves behind a wife, two children and two grandchildren who will miss him very much.”

Mrs Bottrill revealed to The Advertiser that her husband and a “number of different friends and family” had been holidaying at Coffin Bay “enjoying fishing and other activities together” in the area.

“On the day of the accident a group of friends had gone fishing in calm seas off Port Lincoln … just another day with family and friends enjoying time together,” she said.

“It is unimaginable that this tragedy could have occurred.”

Alan Bottrill had been holidaying at Coffin Bay “enjoying fishing and other activities”. Picture: Supplied

She said his boat was a privately owned, “beautifully equipped and maintained” 6.2 metre Cruisecraft.

“Alan had a lifelong love of fishing and was very experienced in both boating and fishing. “Our understanding is that there was a ‘freak’ wave that didn’t allow time to activate normal safety procedures.

“We have no information about what actually happened.”

It was Mr Bottrill’s passion for the water that brought him and Paul together, with the duo becoming fast friends while working together within SA Health – Paul in the service development team at Glenside Hospital, and Mr Bottrill within the department.

Former colleague Kylie Peterson said Paul was the “kind of man whose stories and zest for life you’d be envious of”, remembering the 73-year-old as an “all-round good guy”.

Ms Peterson, who worked with the pair between 2006-2008, said the “extremely adventurous” duo would regularly go on fishing trips together and regale the office with stories of their catches.

“They were close friends who shared a passion for fishing and lived life to the fullest,” Ms Peterson said.

“You’d want to live vicariously through them – Paul in particular. He was the kind of person you’d sit down and listen to and go: ‘Gosh, I would love to have that spirit of adventure’.”

Ms Peterson said she knew a freak accident must have been involved when she learned of the pair’s deaths, describing Paul and Mr Bottrill as far from reckless.

“They were good people and they weren’t silly people – sometimes with boating accidents you hear: ‘Oh, this person didn’t do this or should’ve done that’, but that wasn’t them at all,” she said.

“It’s just a tragedy.”

Professor Danny Eckert, 44, was found clinging to a reef alongside his 12-year-old son after the freak tragedy.

Danny’s brother Tom’s body was discovered in waters off Port Lincoln on Tuesday. Picture: 7NEWS

Professor Danny Eckert, head of Flinders University’s world-leading sleep clinic, recently made headlines for his work in the field, with an eight-week study he led made into a three-part SBS documentary, Sleep Revolution, with British TV presenter Dr Michael Mosley.

The Torrens Park dad is at the height of his career, named director of the Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health (AISH) in 2019.

Flinders University Vice Chancellor Professor Colin Stirling said the university community extended “our love and support to him, his family, friends, and close colleagues”, revealing that the 44-year-old was still recovering in hospital on Wednesday.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with them all,” Mr Stirling said.

The location where the boat capsized near Spilsby Island.

“At this time, our primary focus is on supporting Professor Eckert and his loved ones with any assistance they need.

“Our care extends to friends and colleagues within our university community, who are understandably distressed by this news.”

In a Facebook post announcing his appointment, AISH wrote that Professor Eckert had “dreamed of becoming a competitive cyclist, which led him to his first degree in sports science”.

Despite being offered a position at the South Australian Sports Institute, the 44-year-old keen cyclist followed the medical research path, applying at AISH as a research assistant.

“I decided to give this sleep science thing a try,” he said at the time of his career journey thus far.

“Although exercise and sleep are on either end of the human performance spectrum, both are periods in which the human body is most vulnerable and most interesting.”

After completing his PhD in sleep and respiratory physiology at Adelaide Uni, Professor Eckert spent six years at the Harvard Medical School in Boston, before obtaining a position as a principal research scientist at Neuroscience Research Australia in Sydney, where he worked for seven years.