Aussie fishermen survive 20 hours in icy water

SYDNEY (AAP) - 26.04. 2011 - Four fishermen who survived 20 hours in freezing water off the Tasmanian coast looked to the Anzacs for inspiration after their boat capsized.
Josh Morse, Jacob Forde, Jaryd Coombe, all 20, and Baden Cooper, 21, issued a mayday call when their fishing trip off Bruny Island went awry on Monday morning.
Their 6.4-metre aluminium runabout capsized and started to sink, leaving the four holding on to the overturned hull until they were spotted by the police helicopter at about 7.15am (AEST) on Tuesday.
They were taken to hospital and treated for hypothermia, but all were released later on Tuesday.
Mr Morse, a law student, said they faced a delicate balancing act trying to keep their vessel afloat.
"The boat still had an air pocket up in the hull, and without that we wouldn't be here today," he told reporters.
"We tried to balance that and the air would shift so we had to keep moving it.
"We didn't know what to do so we decided to stay with the boat."
Mr Morse said the foursome, who all live in the Kingston area south of Hobart, battled to keep their spirits up through the night.
"We tried to keep pushing the positives," he said.
"We had a bit of chat about the Anzacs for inspiration."
Inspector Doug Rossiter said the men were in good spirits when they were rescued.
"They are very tired, but relieved, very happy, very appreciative of the search and rescue people who winched them out," he said.
Insp Rossiter said the men would've been well served by keeping an emergency beacon on board.
"We do know at this stage that they didn't have an EPIRB or distress beacon in their possession," he said.
"We're quite confident that if they did and activated it around 10 yesterday morning, they wouldn't have spent the night in the cold because we would've found them quite quickly."