How fishermen Paul Maher and John Lynch kept their cool and stayed alive after a night at sea Paul Maher and John Lynch are rescued off Ballina / Picture: Channel 7 Source: Supplied THE drinks stayed cold and the blokes stayed alive - who could ask for a happier ending to a fishing trip gone awry? Paul Maher and John Lynch spent a night in the ocean clinging to a large Esky - and survived to tell the tale. Celebrating his 26th birthday yesterday with a bad sunburn but no other injuries, Mr Maher was left only to rue the loss of his boat and gear, which was not insured. And perhaps the fact his wife has apparently banned any further fishing trips. A Ballina tackle shop owner said Mr Maher called in yesterday with his wife and young child to buy new sunglasses after his old pair went down with his 5.5m half-cabin boat on Friday afternoon. Paul Maher and John Lynch are rescued off Ballina / Picture: Channel 9 Source: Supplied Mr Maher had managed to make a mayday call but was unable to reach his emergency beacon before the boat sank. Searchers were unable to find the pair before nightfall, leaving Mr Maher and Mr Lynch - who were both wearing lifejackets - clinging to the Esky overnight. Where the rescue was made. By the time they were found just after sunrise on Saturday, they had drifted more than 20km. The tackle shop owner said Mr Maher was "a bit red but apart from that he was fine." "He was just upset because he'd lost his boat and all his gear and none of it was insured," he said. We talked a bit about it. He said he had phoned his wife and said he was on his way home and then all of sudden he's noticed the boat was back-heavy ... he's lifted the hatch and it was full of water. The bilge pump didn't work and that was it. He said they'd got a bit cold at midnight and started to shiver a fair bit but he was pretty upbeat about it all. He's a lucky boy because if it was winter he wouldn't have been with us today. His wife told me he won't be going again. Mr Lynch told the shop owner that he had only just had the boat re-fibreglassed, although it wasn't clear whether that was part of the problem. NSW Police marine search and rescue co-ordinator Sergeant Paul Farquharson said the partly submerged boat was spotted drifting off the coast yesterday but would not be salvaged due to the sea conditions. The sunken boat off Ballina / Picture: Channel 9 Source: Supplied Sgt Farquharson said the pair had their Esky and the lifejackets they were wearing to thank for their lives - adding that while both men were fit and competent swimmers, few people could stay afloat unassisted for 15 hours. "If someone doesn't have a lifejacket on, their bodily functions just start to fail and they literally can't keep themselves afloat," he said. The water temperature, estimated to have been 23C off Ballina on Friday night, also played a part, particularly given both men were wearing summer clothes that provided little insulation.