Were it not for a passing sightseeing boat, True Blue, Marcus believes he might not be here to tell the tale of how fun turned to fear as his kite took on a life of its own, lifting him up and dumping him repeatedly in the increasingly choppy sea.

It was Tuesday, January 12 when Marcus and his friend, Darin Lovitt, set off for the beach.

Both men are keen on water sports and had taken kite surfing lessons before their holiday.

Marcus said they sat on the beach for about an hour going through the safety checks before venturing into the water.

Marcus said: “I wanted to take advantage of Merimbula’s gorgeous beach. The winds were near perfect, not too strong for us beginners. We took our time and didn’t go out together.

“I was just practising and didn’t take the board out because I wasn’t confident and just did some body surfing. I started to let the kite lift me out of the water and have some fun.”

He landed quite hard, setting off one of the kite’s safety triggers, attached to the body harness by four lines.

As it is designed to do, the kite deflated and Marcus was tied by just one line.

He found the control bar and got his lines reattached but before he could gather his wits, the kite took off.

In the process of reattaching the lines became tangled around the harness hook and Marcus’s left arm but failed to activate the safety triggers.

The kite then launched him out of the water.

They call it tea-bagging because you get lifted up and dunked into the ocean just as though you were a tea bag in a cup, Marcus explained.

“Suddenly I was lifted up about 20 feet, it seemed terrifyingly high, I had no control and then I would get dumped.

“I didn’t want to loosen the lines on the harness before sorting out the line wrapped around my arm. I was worried that the rope would cut through my arm.”