'I don't want to die': How fishing trip off Coalcliff took a terrifying turn

The keen fisherman was in his happy place, hoping to snag a shark during a weekend fishing competition off Coalcliff, when his boat took on water and started sinking just before 1pm on Saturday, April 27.

James' lifelong friend Stuart Perry and their mate's 14-year-old son Logan Banek were trapped inside as the boat threatened to plunge to the bottom of the sea.

Still sporting bruises from the rescue, James retold the story of the terrifying incident from the Westpac Rescue Helicopter base in La Peruse, Sydney where he returned on Monday, April 29 to say thank you to his rescuers.

"I was on top of the boat looking through the windscreen at both Stuart and Logan trapped inside the boat in an air pocket under the glass," James said.

"I'd finished a mayday call, I yelled at them 'you need to get out, you need to get out'. They got caught when the boat rolled within about 10 seconds."

The boat turned upright in the water, with only the bow above the surface.

"I've been spearfishing all my life and I can hold my breath and swim really well with open water so I dove back down and I grabbed hold of the first person that I could find in the cabin. Then I went back in and grabbed Logan and pulled him down as well," James said.

They might have been out of the boat, but the risk was far from over.

They were 20 nautical miles (37 kilometres) out to sea and bobbing around in an ocean full of bait and blood they'd chucked in to the water to lure sharks to their boat.

Sharks are plentiful here, tigers, bronze whalers (copper shark), great whites and mako are among the catches James has made in this area previously.

"Logan was just saying 'I don't wanna die, I don't want to die' and I had to calm him down and then think, OK, I've got four hours worth of daylight left, we're this many Ks offshore, there are people coming to us, but it'll be a couple of hours before we are found by water," James said.

Suddenly Stuart remembered his mobile phone tucked securely away in a waterproof pouch in his pocket and luckily for the trio it was still working so they called triple-0.

As they waited for help James grabbed a now-floating beanbag that had been in the boat and gave it to Logan to sit on.

Then, he swam around collecting every bright coloured thing he could find among the debris, bait and blood and he tied it to the bow of their boat so they'd be more visible to rescuers.

NSW Police Marine Command, Marine Rescue NSW and the Westpac Rescue Helicopter were all deployed to the coordinates James provided.

It took 25 minutes for the helicopter to reach them and air crews praised the fishermen for doing "everything right".

"You could see the orange [lifejackets] from the sky and they stayed close to the [boat] location and that made it easier to find them," Westpac Rescue Helicopter general manager Shane Daw said.

"They called for help early, they all had lifejackets and on they stayed together."

A 40-year veteran on the rescue helicopter, Tony Waller, was working the winch that lowered Kiama paramedic Jake Cleal-Cook down for the rescue.

"When it's a nautical rescue you've got to act quickly," Mr Waller said. "Winching is the most dangerous thing you can do, you're low and slow and if you have a failure you're in the drink too."

Once Jake reached the sea, James pushed Logan forward to be winched first.

"Keep your hands by your side, don't reach up," Jake told the teen as he hooked him up.

After Logan was safely in the helicopter Jake returned to save Stuart, while James swam to a nearby boat that had come to assist.

The chance to catch sharks during a weekend competition, organised by Port Hacking Game Fishing Club, was too good to refuse for the trio from Newcastle.

James loved the tag and release competition last year. He was organised and had all the safety gear.

He purchased his 20-year old boat, The Huntress, in December 2023, but on Sunday the bilge pump started "spitting out more water than what it normally would".

James moved the boat forward and the water rushed to the back of the boat shorting out all the electronics. By the time he'd made a mayday call the back corner of the boat was under water.

It all happened so quickly he didn't get a chance to grab his EPIRB (emergency position indicating radio beacon) before the boat sank.

He might still be a teen but Logan has won countless awards for catching marlin during game fishing trips and he was keen for the new experience of shark fishing.

James has worked in the Hunter's coal mines for decades, he's a high voltage electrical supervisor and judge for the mine rescue competition, while Stuart is a fireman.

Logan's mum Alison Banek said she is grateful her son was with two people who are calm under pressure and have dealt with many emergencies during their working life.

"I think James was worried about how I'd react, but as a mum I went up and hugged him and I said 'thank you so much for what you have done for may family'," she said.