Mackay men rescued after boat sinks 18km from shore

Three fishermen whose boat sank 18km off Mackay’s coast made the desperate decision to swim to shore, thoughts of sharks never far from their minds, as hopes of a rescue faded.

A Mackay fisherman whose boat sank 18km from shore at dusk has recalled the desperate decision to swim amid fears they wouldn’t be rescued.

Ryan Taylor, 33, and brothers Sean and Mitch Cook had spent Friday fishing near an island off Mackay’s coast and were returning with a hefty haul in the Esky when their boat experienced “fuel drama”.

Mr Taylor, who only bought the 16-foot centre console boat at Christmas and was on his third trip out to sea on it, said they stopped about 5pm to fix the line.

They were about 18km north of Mackay.

But a rogue wave in choppy seas as the trio was about to head off again became their great undoing, sinking the vessel and leaving the mates with no option but to make a desperate swim to shore.

“We were out fishing, had been out all day, and everything was as per normal and then sort of come unstuck,” Mr Taylor said.

RACQ CQ Rescue crew with Ryan Taylor, Mitch Cook and Sean Cook after their dramatic rescue off the Mackay coast on Friday when the trio's boat sank about 18km from shore. Pictures: RACQ CQ Rescue

“As we went to take off (after fixing the fuel issue, a wave came over the back end of the boat.

“That was it. It was finished.”

The boat was hit by another couple of waves and began taking on water quickly, partially sinking with only an air pocket holding it above sea level.

Mr Taylor had to dive into the partially sunk boat to get the EPIRB and activate it.

Then wait.

RACQ CQ Rescue crew with Ryan Taylor, Mitch Cook and Sean Cook after their dramatic rescue off the Mackay coast on Friday when the trio's boat sank about 18km from shore. Pictures: RACQ CQ Rescue

With no way of knowing if the distress beacon had registered, though seeing it switch on, Mr Taylor and the Cook brothers grabbed what they could to stay afloat, including the Esky filled with fish.

Eventually, the Esky was let go and they strung together two jerry cans and a dive float, and held on.

Then waited.

As the sun continued dipping, the trio made the call to start swimming to shore towards the Seabreeze Tavern lights beyond the Mackay Harbour.

“We had hopes and dreams, we didn’t want to sit out there all night,” Mr Taylor said.

“Once we activated the EPIRB we sat there for about half an hour.”

The dramatic rescue as seen from Dolphin Heads. Ryan Taylor, 33, and brothers Sean and Mitch Cook had spent Friday fishing near an island off Mackay'€™s coast and were returning with a hefty haul in the Esky when their boat experienced '€œfuel drama'€. Picture: Louise Smith

With a continuous check on any boats coming from the harbour, Mr Taylor said their initial hope of a rescue faded when no vessel headed their way.

“We saw the EPIRB was on but we could see the harbour and no-one was coming,” he said.

“I said, it’s not an EPIRB, it’s a no-PIRB.”

They made a desperate decision - start swimming to shore.

“We made the decision to leave the boat because once the tide turned, we would be carried out to sea,” he said.

“It probably wasn’t the brightest idea at the time.”

The dramatic rescue as seen from Dolphin Heads. Ryan Taylor, 33, and brothers Sean and Mitch Cook had spent Friday fishing near an island off Mackay'€™s coast and were returning with a hefty haul in the Esky when their boat experienced '€œfuel drama'€. Picture: Louise Smith

The trio started swimming, making it about a kilometre with the EPIRB tracking their effort.

Mr Taylor said his rescuers told him they were zigzagging and would have made landfall by the morning.

The thought of sharks as dusk set in was never far from their minds.

“Don’t kick anything,” was a recurring thought as they clung on.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority alerted RACQ CQ Rescue in Mackay which deployed a crew to rescue the fishermen.

The rescue service tracked the men through the EPIRB, and lowered down crew fitting each of the men with a vest before winching them into the chopper.

All three returned to the Mackay Airport base, uninjured but exhausted.

Mr Taylor said he was grateful to the crew.

RACQ CQ Rescue crew with Ryan Taylor, Mitch Cook and Sean Cook after their dramatic rescue off the Mackay coast on Friday when the trio's boat sank about 18km from shore. Pictures: RACQ CQ Rescue

“You read about it, watch YouTube and videos, but it’s one of those things you think will never happen to you,” he said.

“I honestly worshipped them yesterday.

“A big thanks and muchly appreciated to the VMR and the CQ Rescue - it would have been a long night without them.”

When VMR tried to recover Mr Taylor’s boat it sank to the seabed after an air pocket which had initially been holding it partially afloat released.

He said he was yet to figure out if it was to be salvaged or become another dive wreck off Mackay’s coast.

As for the Esky of fish: “Someone picked up a good haul.”