A 23-year-old Tasmanian man is lucky to be alive after diving into the sea to fetch his fishing rod off Mallacoota on Sunday morning.
The man had been drift fishing alone on a six metre aluminum half cabin boat, about five to six kilometres offshore from Bastion Point when his fishing rod dropped overboard just after 7am.
The man dived into the water to retrieve it and when he surfaced the boat, which wasn’t anchored in the 60-metre deep waters, had drifted away.
As he desperately tried to catch up with the moving boat, he realised it was an impossible task and reached into his pocket to retrieve his phone.
Miraculously, he was able to dial 000 and the caravan park in Mallacoota, where he was staying, to raise the alarm.