The amazing survival story of a fishing boat that sank at The Peak

Dive instructor and underwater photographer Vanessa Torres Macho took these amazing photos of a 6m Ocean Pro with twin 115hp Mercury outboards found during a dive to the bottom of The Peak in 75m of water.

The Peak is a famous fishing ground 8nm off Maroubra, Sydney. Her photos were posted on Facebook and then shared to the East Coast Tuna and Billfish (Aus) page by another keen diver, Robert Main. It's then that your editor David Lockwood was alerted to this incredible story.

The plate-aluminium boat sank in August 2015. You can see, with the rods still in the holders, this happened in frighteningly quick time.

Here is the story from the boat’s owner Micky Kovakas. It’s certainly contains some lessons for all offshore boaters.

We thank Micky, Robert and Vanessa for the opportunity to share this with our offshore fishing fraternity in the interests of making boating safer.

Now take a read!

HOW A FISHING TRIP TURNED BAD
Keen offshore fisher Micky Kovakas and his mate are lucky to be here today. Micky told us the take-home message from his survival story is the importance of lifejacket accessibility. You should wear one when you are offshore.

You might also need a tissue or two when you read this. There is a happy ending, but it's an emotional account of how fast things can go wrong when fishing offshore. Thanks for sharing Micky.

Micky told us that the one big message from this event was the lack of accessibility of those lifejackets.

When you head out this weekend on your boat, offshore to fish or even just inshore on the bay or harbour, if you do just one safety check, make sure it is having those lifejackets on and/or close at hand. Things can turn bad in the blink of an eye.

Thanks for sharing Micky, Robert, Vanessa and East Coast Tuna and Billfish (Aus) Facebook page. Safe boating.

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Photo Credit: Vanessa Torres Macho