Two men have been rescued by emergency services after spending an hour in the ocean off Nambucca Heads, on the New South Wales Mid North Coast.
The men, aged 40 and 70, were about six nautical miles from shore, fishing, when the hull split on their 5.4 metre aluminium boat.
The pair called for help, leading to Marine Rescue NSW being alerted just after 10:00am.
Several rescue vessels searched for the two men, including Marine Rescue from Trial Bay, Nambucca Heads and Coffs Harbour, as well as the NSW Police vessel Fearless and the Westpac Rescue Helicopter.
Both men were wearing life jackets and personal locator beacons, which directed the rescue crews to their location in the water.
Marine Rescue Trial Bay skipper Peter Holyfield said the pair were lucky to be found so quickly.
"[The boat] went down really fast," he said.
"They had drifted quite a long way [from the boat], a couple of kilometres.
Mr Holyfield said conditions were deteriorating during the search, with the wind picking up.
"It's hard to spot people in that sort of situation," he said.
Mr Holyfield said the older man was treated by NSW Ambulance for shock when he got back to shore at South West Rocks.
He neither man was injured, but both were taken to Kempsey District Hospital for further assessment.
