'Thank Heaven we made it' - chilly bin survivors

Tauranga fishermen Jason Yorke and Lyndon Enright managed to save their catch of the day when their boat sank at sea and they swam three hours to shore. Photo / George Novak

Two Tauranga men who used a chilly bin to help them swim 2km to shore when their dinghy sank off Papamoa Beach say thoughts of their partners and young children got them through the ordeal.

Jason Yorke and Lyndon Enright, both 39 and from Tauranga, swam for about three hours before they reached land, celebrating with "a big man hug", a hot shower and a beer.

They were both wearing life jackets when their 3m aluminium dinghy was swamped by a wave while fishing off Papamoa Beach about 8.30pm.

"'It was a little bit surreal. It hasn't hit home that it actually happened last night," Mr Yorke said yesterday.

He said the ordeal was the "scariest night of my life" and he could hardly move because he had never swum for three hours before.

"Just as we ... pulled anchor and headed to shore at 8.30pm we sort of rode a wave into another which ... breached the boat and [it] forced it to capsize.

"Then Lindi ... tried to get his phone out of the waterproof bag, but it wasn't that waterproof. We only had one other option and that was to start swimming."

The pair "grabbed the last floating thing", their chilly bin full of snapper, and began swimming.

"It was a bit of survival instinct," Mr Yorke said.

Both men say they would have been in trouble if they had not been wearing lifejackets.

"Me and Lindi kept our cool." Mr Yorke has spent time working on super yachts, while Mr Enright works as a commercial fisherman.

They fought against an outgoing tide but an onshore wind helped their progress.

"We just supported each other throughout the whole swim," Mr Yorke said.

"As I said to Lindi after the first half hour, 'are we going to make this?' But he said the thought had not entered his mind - 'I'm going to keep swimming until my feet hit the shore'."

"After that there was no doubt in our minds."

Mr Yorke said their "beautiful partners" and children - both have 5-month-old babies, and Mr Enright also has a 4-year-old son - had kept them going as they swam to shore in the darkness.

Their babies were born just weeks apart, Mr Enright said.

"Those things stick with you the whole time, and that's the driving force," he said.

Mr Yorke said they were overcome with emotion when they finally made it to shore.

Neither Mr Yorke nor Mr Enright could stand for two to three minutes because "our legs were jelly".

"You ... take this for granted, even standing on solid ground for granted. Thanks to high heaven we made it," Mr Yorke said.

"It was just an amazing experience."

Senior Sergeant Glenn Saunders said the men's survival was the best outcome of a bad situation.

"The wearing of life jackets by these two men certainly avoided a tragedy, vindicating the safe boating message of wearing life jackets at all times."

Sea conditions at the time were slight to moderate, police said.

Although cold after their time in the water, neither man required medical attention and they were both looking forward to a hot shower.