Perth fisher Ryan Chapman surfaced from a diving expedition near Quinns Rocks to discover his boat had come loose and drifted away.Credit: Instagram/@ryanchapman___
Chapman and his friend spotted a nearby fishing boat, which was about a kilometre from their position.
He said it took them about an hour to swim towards it, with the pair splashing and yelling to attract attention.
Rescuer Tahnee Forster said they soon noticed Chapman in distress and motored out to meet him.
She said it took them a moment to find Chapman’s companion.
“[Ryan mentioned his] friend, and the first thing that clocked in our heads was, ‘oh OK, there’s somebody else out there’,” she said.
“Then when we saw him and it was just relief – we just had a bit of a joke around after that.”
The men eventually found their boat about two kilometres from where they had last been diving, and Chapman said he believed it was likely a knot that came loose on his anchor and the boat had been pulled by the current.
Undeterred by the ordeal, Chapman said they didn’t go home straight away and kept fishing.
“We couldn’t go home empty-handed,” he said.
