Beer Cooler Becomes A Real Life-saver After Aussie Fishermen's Boat Sinks

[mrmoshe]

Beer cooler becomes a real life-saver after Aussie fishermen's boat sinks

IN AUSTRALIA, where the lager served at the barbie must always be ice-cold, it is hardly surprising that the coolbox has become something of a cultural icon.

But now three Aussies have more reason than most to celebrate the ubiquitous Esky beer cooler, after they used it as an impromptu liferaft when their boat sank off the Queensland coast during a fishing trip.

The trio held on to the large box of the cooler and used the lid to act like a sail in order to reach the shore as currents threatened to drag them out into the Pacific Ocean.

Garry Fleming, the skipper of the £30,000 boat, explained how it sank within seconds, taking with it the crew's flares, emergency positioning beacon and satellite navigation system.

He and the two others on board then clung on to the Esky - the Australian market's leading brand, which has also become used to describe all coolers - and held up the lid to catch the wind, driving them towards the beach.

The exhausted fishermen eventually reached dry land, where they were rescued by passers-by.

Mr Fleming, from Townsville, Queensland, said: "For the past 30 years that I've gone out to sea, I've always had a big Esky in the boat.

"My thought has always been, 'If anything goes wrong, there will be the box to hold on to'. And on Saturday night, it happened."

In total, the three men spent 12 hours in the water - most of it in darkness - after their boat sank about two miles south-east of Rattlesnake Island, which lies off the coast of Queensland, near Townsville.

However, they realised they were unlikely to reach the island and that trying to get there risked being carried out into the ocean, so they headed for a beach further away.

Mr Fleming said: "Even though Rattlesnake Island was closer, I knew if we missed it due to the currents, we would be lost for ever at sea. We lined up the lights on Bushland Beach and that's where we were taken."

When they made landfall in their unusual vessel, they were met by two local girls who raised the alarm.

Mr Fleming said there would never be a better feeling than the moment he reached dry land.

"That first touch of sand on my left foot, on my big toe, I will never ever forget," he said. "It's getting married, it's watching babies being born - that feeling under my big toe is there for ever."

He had to be dragged up the beach by his two fisherman friends, named in local reports only as Grant and Brendan, after his legs gave out.

"Brendan - tenacity of the bloke was unbelievable," he said. "Grant was the calm one. They're true heroes, those blokes, and without them, I don't think I'd be here because they gave me strength.

"Brendan's wife has just had a baby girl a month ago and I had just met Grant's wife and his three young boys.

"All I could think of was that these blokes needed to get back to their babies."

Local forecasters said the men were fortunate as on the night they were at sea, there had been the smallest tide of the month, with perfect winds and currents to help them get to the shore of Bushland Beach.

Attempts were being made to salvage Mr Fleming's boat but he said he was already thinking of a new vessel, which he said would be named Survivor.

The Esky disappeared from the beach as they were being rescued and Mr Fleming is appealing for anyone who finds the life-saving coolbox to return it to him.

[Bruce the Postie]

Lucky,Lucky Bastard's!!!!!