A man has been saved after spending nearly 24 hours in the water at sea off Whangamatā, using the reflection from his wristwatch to signal for help.

And, one of the fishermen who rescued him has revealed the man’s first words as he was rescued: “Glad to see you”.

The man set off on a solo fishing trip on January 2 aboard his 40-foot (12m) boat, with plans to return the following day, Whangamatā Police Sergeant Will Hamilton said.

But the trip turned to near tragedy near the Alderman Islands when the man fell overboard after hooking what he suspected was a marlin. He was about 30 nautical miles or 55km off the North Island.

Unable to catch the idling boat as it drifted out of reach, the man tried to swim to the Alderman Islands, but was dragged away by the currents, Hamilton said.

“He endured a cold night in the ocean, too exhausted to keep swimming.”

During his time in the water, even a shark came to “have a sniff”, before leaving.

The man’s fate took a miraculous turn about 2pm the following day, when three fishermen near Mayor Island noticed an unusual reflection on the water.

When they investigated, they found the man in the water, who had been desperately trying to get their attention by reflecting the sun off his watch.

The rescuers plucked him from the water, immediately alerted police and set course for Whangamatā Marina.

The fishermen were in a boat near Tuhua/Mayor Island when they spotted something unusual and decided to investigate. Photo / Andy Belcher 

Max White, the skipper of the boat that came to the man’s rescue, said he and his friends were out near Mayor Island for a day of game fishing.

“One of my mates saw a glimmer of what ended up being his watch.”

The group headed over to investigate and as they got closer, White told his friends he thought it was “a human” floating in the water.

“I don’t think they believed me,” he said. “It’s not something you expect to see 10 miles off the back of Mayor Island.”

He said it was “a bit silly” but the first thing he asked the man was whether he was alright.

“I guess in those circumstances you’re probably not alright.”

He recalled the man’s first words to him as being something along the lines of “glad to see you”.

The group worked quickly to get him out of the water and wrap him in as many warm things as they could find.

“He was super cold, severely dehydrated.”

They gave him some water and cranberry juice and headed straight back to Whangamatā. As the man started sharing his story, the group were surprised to hear he had been in the water “since yesterday” and had drifted a long way from the Alderman Islands.

“He was able to recall his story. It was a bit eye-opening for us.

“He recalled I guess his night in terms of being circled by a shark for a while there. He had been awake for nearly two days, I guess you don’t want to be sleeping if you’re trying to keep yourself afloat.”

White said after a day’s fishing “you always expect to come home expecting to talk about the fish that you saw and the fish that you caught”.

To be able to go home and tell his family he had helped rescue a man from the water was a whole new situation

Hamilton added of the rescue: “It is an absolute miracle the fisherman is still alive after the ordeal”.

“Without the quick actions of the three gentlemen that retrieved him, this certainly would have had a tragic outcome.”

The man was hypothermic and exhausted when he was returned to land, where a St John ambulance crew was waiting to treat him.

“The boaties did an absolute stellar job and without a doubt saved this man’s life.”

In a note to police, the man said he wanted to go on record to thank “Mike, Tyler and James” for rescuing him, along with all the emergency services involved.

It’s not known where the man’s boat has ended up.

The man suspected he had hooked a marlin right before falling overboard. 

The Rescue Co-ordination Centre has been advised of the last-known direction, fuel on board and speed, so navigation warnings can be issued.

Boaties are asked to report any sightings of empty powered vessels.

“Few stories end the way this one did, and police cannot thank the eagle-eyed trio enough for making the call to investigate something that looked out of the ordinary,” Hamilton said.

“The boat may be missing, but the fisherman still has his watch.”

White said people should make sure to tell others where they were going and when to expect them back, and should make sure they had the necessary gear and it was accessible to them.

”Freak accidents do happen.”

White was thankful his friends had seen the reflection from the man’s watch and decided to investigate.

They had all thought about the “what ifs”, but were glad they had gone to check.

”We were just the right boat at the right time.”