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A West Australian man has described the moment he surfaced after a morning of diving to find his boat had disappeared, leaving him stranded in the ocean and far from shore.<\/p>\n
Ryan Chapman and a friend had anchored off Mindarie, a popular coastal destination in Perth\u2019s northern suburbs, to go diving and fishing at the weekend.<\/p>\n
Chapman told this masthead the pair had intended to have a deckhand aboard to monitor the boat while they were in the water, but another friend was unable to join them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe weather was good so we just decided to send it anyway,\u201d Chapman said.<\/p>\n
He said the pair periodically surfaced to check on the anchored boat and had no cause for concern.<\/p>\n
However, when Chapman came up for air after about an hour in the water, he realised what had happened.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came up, and the boat was gone,\u201d he said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t see it at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chapman said his first thought was that the boat had sunk.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest, the first thing going through my head was the boat\u2019s and my co-owner is going to kill me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
![\"Perth](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768292475_862_2762ca30bb282e8fd3ebfb13f58ed8f4606560c95af37bc6c441e0cf5c8b64b1.jpeg\")
Perth fisher Ryan Chapman surfaced from a diving expedition near Quinns Rocks to discover his boat had come loose and drifted away.Instagram\/@ryanchapman___<\/p>\n
Chapman and his friend spotted a nearby fishing boat, which was about a kilometre from their position.<\/p>\n
He said it took them about an hour to swim towards it, with the pair splashing and yelling to attract attention.<\/p>\n
Rescuer Tahnee Forster said they soon noticed Chapman in distress and motored out to meet him.<\/p>\n
She said it took them a moment to find Chapman\u2019s companion.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Ryan mentioned his] friend, and the first thing that clocked in our heads was, \u2018oh OK, there\u2019s somebody else out there\u2019,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen when we saw him and it was just relief \u2013 we just had a bit of a joke around after that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The men eventually found their boat about two kilometres from where they had last been diving, and Chapman said he believed it was likely a knot that came loose on his anchor and the boat had been pulled by the current.<\/p>\n
Undeterred by the ordeal, Chapman said they didn\u2019t go home straight away and kept fishing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe couldn\u2019t go home empty-handed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
When asked her message for the pair, Forster joked they owed her a pint.<\/p>\n
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