West Australians Kim Rodriguez and his mate Jason Resuggan consider themselves to be passionate fishermen. They love nothing better than getting out into the wilderness regions of North Western Australia to spend a few days of serious barramundi fishing.
In late April, the duo embarked on a fishing adventure to the remote Lyne River area of the Kimberley’s, some 50 kilometres north of Wyndham.
After an afternoon of successful fishing the duo were camping on a rock ledge above where their boat was moored but woke next morning to find their boat capsized with just the hull visible above the water.
“Basically the boat had broken its mooring during the night, and it must have hit a rock then tipped over,” Mr Resuggan said.
Fortunately, the experienced fishermen had prepared well for the trip, carrying a GME EPIRB, flares and plenty of food and water.
At 7am the decision was made to activate their GME MT600 EPIRB.
The emergency signal was received by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) in Canberra and a Kimberley Air Tours (KAT) aircraft en route to Berkley River Lodge was redirected to the signal location to locate the men.
The KAT aircraft sighted the capsized vessel and the stranded fishermen and shortly after a Kununurra based Helicopter was then tasked by AMSA as the rescue asset, picking up the two men and returning them safely to Kununurra airport by 11.15am.
The appreciative pair expressed their gratitude to all those involved in their recovery adding they were thankful they had been so well prepared, carrying plenty of supplies, a registered EPIRB and flares – which they credit for their rescue.