However, Belben's copter got back just in time, and in a jiffy, Mathers was in the water.

"He goes down in a rescue harness, and we put him down about 50 to 75 feet from the raft, then move in. You won't want to put a lot of rotor wash on them right away, because that will drown 'em. You drop down away from them, then move in. And I was concerned that if Jason got off the hook, we'd have trouble getting him back on, so we put him in the water, and he stayed attached to the cable, because he's part of my crew -- the last guy I want to leave behind.

"So he swam to them, and we put down a basket, and we got them in the basket and got them in. When Jason came back on board, he was absolutely drained. And when we were pulling the guys up, it was a weird mood. You would imagine a scene where everybody is high-fiving everybody else, but it wasn't. It was very solemn and reflective."

All three survivors were in the copter by 4:30 a.m., and Belben headed straight to Columbia, South Carolina, where the three fishermen were delivered to the University of South Carolina's hospital.

Years later, Belben said that rescue was a perfect example of how things are supposed to work when a boat gets in trouble.

"It's silly to go offshore without an EPIRB, a radio and flares," he said. "I've never gone fishing without them, and I harp on that all the time when I talk to guys. A 406 EPIRB gives off the GPS (Global Positioning Sensor) coordinates when it's activated. It uses latitude and longitude, and it's very accurate.

"The other thing is, people need to register their EPIRB. If they do, it's very valuable, because the signal gives us a lot of information. Before we go out, we know whether we're going to a sailing ship, a fishing boat or an 800-foot container ship. It gives us the boat's name, the contact numbers for the owner, and when it goes off, the Coast Guard will immediately call the person it's registered to and make sure the boat's out there, so we can find out whether there are two people on board or 10 -- or if it's in a garage and a kid has set it off. You wouldn't believe how many times that happens."

Belben said that any fisherman who spends any amount of time in the ocean should carry an EPIRB, a radio, flares, life jackets and warm clothing.

"If you have an EPIRB, a radio and flares, with the exception of hypothermia getting you, you will get pulled up by the Coast Guard," he said. "The EPIRB gets us to you, and the flares will help us pinpoint you once we get there. But you can't imagine how many guys go out in inclement weather without any way to keep warm. Guys will do stupid, stupid things -- trying to defy the odds."