"I felt a big hit. The boat collided with me," Garven said.
He then pushed his head out of the water and yelled for help.
At the same time Auckland boatie, Carl Allan Whiteman, was looking into the water to see what he had hit.
Whiteman told Maritime NZ he was an inexperienced skipper with no formal qualification and it was only the second or third time he had taken the new boat on the water. He had spotted Garven's orange buoy, but had thought it was a crayfish pot so did not slow down or change direction.
Whiteman, who was on the boat with another adult and two children, turned around and helped Garven into the boat before rushing him back to the wharf.
"I didn't know how bad the injuries were. I could have died," Garven said.
"I'm really lucky to be alive because if it would have hit me another little bit, I wouldn't be talking to you right now and the propeller would have really got me."
The boat was met by Police and an ambulance which rushed him to North Shore Hospital. During the ride he called Kebble whose phone had been charging and who had missed his six earlier attempts to tell her he was fine.
By 12pm that same night he was in the operating theatre having his wetsuit cut from him and getting two metal plates installed in his broken and gashed arm.
He had 14 stitches in his arm and a further eight at the back of his head to mend gaping wounds left from when the boat had struck him.
The self-employed arborist only spent two days in hospital, but his recovery took a year.
The man who was used to hauling large trees around was now only able to lift the weight of a light shopping bag.
After realising just how long his recovery was likely to take, Garven was forced to close down his business which left both him and Kebble, who also worked for the company, without jobs.
The couple were struggling to make ends meet on the minimum amount Garven was receiving from ACC due to being self-employed and resorted to renting out their own house and going house sitting.
Garven returned to work at the beginning of the year working for someone else and Kebbell is retraining.
Kebbell said the accident had been life changing for them both.
"It turns your life upside down."
The couple said today's sentencing provided closure, but they hoped both boaties would learn an important lesson and that was to look out for divers and spear fisherman.
"Really look out for divers and diving flags. Get some training, have awareness, go slow around weed lines," Garven said.
Garven was eventually allowed back in the water after a year and said both he and Kebbell now felt safer when he was spearfishing with a mate.
Whiteman was sentenced at North Shore District Court on Monday and was ordered to pay $17,500 in reparation after seriously injuring Garven.
He had earlier pleaded guilty to one charge under the Maritime Transport Act of causing unnecessary danger or risk to any other person.
Auckland boatie ordered to pay $17,500 after running over diver in water
