TWO boaties were lucky to escape unharmed when their vessel hit a "freak wave" and sank near Moon Island on Sunday.
Lake Macquarie Marine Rescue received a mayday call about 2pm. A four-metre long tinnie had hit a wave just off Swansea Heads and had started taking on water.
Two people in their 20s were onboard, one man and one woman, and neither were wearing their lifejackets.
"It took three to four minutes for the vessel to go down," Marine Rescue Lake Macquarie unit commander Malcolm Druce said.
"They had hit a freak wave and just started sinking. They had life jackets on the boat but unfortunately they were not wearing them."
The unit jumped into action and made it to the incident location within 10 minutes. Luckily a nearby fishing boat had witnessed the vessel being swamped by the incoming wave and managed to pull the two people from the water.
Both were checked over for signs of hypothermia and water inhalation, but were uninjured.
A few hours later Marine Rescue received a second call saying the boat had resurfaced from the depths of the water and was floating near Blacksmiths. The Lake Macquarie unit were able to safely retrieve the damaged vessel and brought it into base at Pelican.
Mr Druce described the incident as unusual but not unexpected.
"Moon Island gets a bit strange at times depending on where the breeze comes from," he said.
"We are grateful to the member of the public who picked them up, as much longer in the water could have seen them washed onto rocks or get hypothermia.
"You have really got to be prepared and remember life jackets float better when you are in them."
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