Freezing fishermen caught at sea for 19 hours, rescued near Warneet
Two fishermen caught at sea off Warneet on the Mornington Peninsula were close to death from when they were plucked from three-metre swells by search and rescue volunteers.
South East
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A PAIR of lucky fishermen were minutes from death when the Coast Guard plucked them from a raging storm off Warneet.
Western Port Flotilla captain Jeremy West said Marine Search and Rescue volunteers received an “almost incoherent” call about 7am on December 2.
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“They were saying, ‘Help us. This is an emergency’,” Mr West told the Leader.
The two men who made the call had been out fishing in their half-cab boat for 19 hours when the weather turned. As the rain and 3m swell lashed their boat, the men, aged in their 30s, gradually fell into hypothermia.
Luckily the Hastings Marine Search and Rescue unit had recently received a new rescue vessel, equipping them for just the sort of mission they had to carry out on that stormy Saturday morning.
“We actually wouldn’t have been able to render the service we did without that boat,” Mr West said.
“When we got to [the men] they were absolutely drenched and well into advanced stages of hypothermia.
“One of them couldn’t communicate at all. He was shutting down. The other was able to talk enough to tell us what happened.”
When they got the rescued fishermen to shore, a paramedic told Mr West that one of the men was only 30 minutes away from dying of cold.
The man spent two days recuperating at Frankston Hospital.
The second fisherman was permitted to go home but ended up calling an ambulance when his health began to deteriorate and was taken to Frankston Hospital to be treated for hypothermia.
Mr West warned boating enthusiasts to always be wary of hypothermia, even in summer.
“These guys were about to die from hypothermia. In summer,” he said.
Victoria’s Marine Search and Rescue units are currently recruiting volunteers to join their team. No previous experience is required but you must be over the age of 16 to apply. Email MSAR.Office@emv.vic.gov.au or contact your local unit directly.
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