The fisherman whose boat sunk after a collision with the Falmouth Ocean Aqua Cab believes he is lucky to be alive.

Simon Opie, from Penryn, told the Packet that he could not understand why neither him, nor his passenger Darren, were not seriously hurt or killed - although Darren did sustain broken ribs and an injured leg.

Mr Opie said: "Neither me or my mate should be here - we should be dead. My boat's cut in half."

Part of his 15ft oyster marine punt, a Cygnus fibreglass boat called the Nelly-Anne, is now being stored at Mylor Creek and the other part he carries around in his van.

"I've got the bow of the boat in the back of my van. He (the aqua cab) went straight through us. He took both seats out and the top of the engine off," he added.

Mr Opie claimed that he had put his torch on to warn the aqua cab they were there.

"Admittedly it was within seconds of when we saw them. He came at us too fast - I just didn't have time. I've got no navigation lights. You don't have navigation lights on a dinghy," he said.

As reported in last week's Packet, the accident occurred at around 10.15pm on Friday, August 12, in the St Mawes harbour boundary, south of Castle Point.

It was the same spot where Benjamin Cochrane, from St Mawes, died in a boating accident just a few weeks previously.

On the Friday Mr Opie and his friend had been to watch the fireworks in Falmouth, which marked an end to Falmouth Week. On their return they decided to try a spot of late-night fishing in the waters around St Mawes, when they were in collision with the aqua cab that was returning to Mylor after a call out to St Mawes.

Following the collision, Alec Jordan, owner of the Ocean Aqua Cab, released a statement saying that the driver of the cab had taken "immediate evasive action" after seeing a small dinghy in the water a short distance away from them. Carrick harbourmaster Captain Andy Brigden said that he had now completed an investigation into the collision, but could not release specific details until both parties had been informed.

More generally, however, he believed that attitudes needed to change, following a major increase in powerboats on the waters.

"I think the times have changed now. Something needs to be done," he said.

Capt Brigden added that there were two major issues - navigation lights and determining a safe speed - that needed to be addressed in the near future, to prevent further accidents occurring.