SWANSEA doctor and fisherman, Glen Valaire, said only a fortuitous decision to take a different route back to shore stood between life and death for a lost sailor.
Dr Valaire and his fishing buddy of 40 years, Lee Pitt from Caves Beach, have been hailed heroes after rescuing the Vietnamese national on Friday evening.
The sailor was reported missing from a 234-metre cargo ship, The Double Delight, on Thursday night around 11pm when he allegedly jumped into the ocean wearing a life jacket eight kilometres off Redhead.
He'd spent almost 18 hours in the sea when Dr Valaire and Mr Pitt came across the sailor at around 6.30pm on Friday 6km off Blacksmiths Beach in their 5.5m boat.
"He was just spent," Dr Valaire told the Newcastle Herald on Sunday. "Absolutely exhausted, the poor bloke.
"He was dehydrated, hyperthermic and totally exhausted. He couldn't sit up."
Dr Valaire has worked for the past 25 years as a surgical assistant in the private sector and his medical training kicked in immediately.
"I gave him some water and asked if he spoke English, and he said, 'yes'. He was too spent to even talk to us.
"We asked if there was anyone else in the water because we didn't know that they were looking for someone, so it was even more of a miracle that we bumped into him."
Dr Valaire and Mr Pitt called the police and ambulance and the sailor was taken to the John Hunter Hospital and treated for hyperthermia.
Just how the fishing buddies discovered the lost sailor was pure luck.
Neither of them was aware that Maritime Rescue NSW had launched a sea and aerial search for the missing sailor earlier on Friday.
Dr Valaire and Mr Pitt had set out from Swansea on Friday to fish 20km off the coast at a spot known as "The Farm".
After catching a couple of mahi mahi, the pair decided to head back to shore in the late afternoon due to strengthening wind and current.
It was then Dr Valaire made the pivotal decision to travel 500 metres further north than the route taken on their trip out to The Farm.
"We take turns driving and I was driving home this night, so we decided to go north," Dr Valaire said.
"My mate said if he was driving he would have went to the south side of this cargo ship, which would have been 500m between our routes.
"Just because I went that way it put us in the path of this poor young guy out there floating.
"The sun's setting and the glare of the sunset on the water is straight into your eyes, so you're on the lookout not to hit crab traps or whales.
"So you're always looking and there was a bit of foam and my mate said, 'Glen there's someone in the water'.
"I thought no way. But this guy had enough strength to put one arm up."
Asked if he believed the sailor could have survived a second night at sea, Dr Valaire said he had "lost so much core body temperature."
"I don't think I would have liked to have been out there another night.
"They're so many big sharks out there. We see big sharks out there all the time."
Dr Valaire said the sailor had his wallet and cigarettes strapped to him in a plastic bag.
The Herald understands the Australian Border Force is investigating the incident and whether the sailor jumped overboard with the intention of entering the country illegally.
The Double Delight left Japan in mid-October.
Dr Valaire said the weekend had been "a bit crazy" after his rescue made national television headlines.
However, it's not the first time Dr Valaire has been celebrated for his deeds on the water.
In 2013 the then 46-year-old was part of Australia's tag-team victory at the International Surfing Association World Masters Championship in Ecuador.
The Australian team also featured seven-time women's world champion Layne Beachley.
The father-of-three is also a multi-divisional winner of the Catho Classic, and in June he won the over-55 category of the Surf Master State Titles at Birubi Beach.
