It wasn't a lot of fun being in that water for about 14 hours, but I would still like to give it another go

Simon Chalk

The men were just two days into an ocean rowing expedition to Africa that was expected to take up to 70 days and cover 5,000 miles.

Soon after leaving Australia they ran into stormy seas, and later said they were hit by something - possibly a whale - which overturned them.

They sent out a distress signal late on Friday saying they were battling four metre high seas, and winds blowing to 30 knots.

Click here to see the vessel's route

The Australian Search and Rescue service spotted them after a long aerial search, and the merchant ship Bulk Africa was diverted to pick them up.

Rescue

The duo were picked up from the ship an hour later by an Australian air force helicopter, and were flown back to the town of Geraldton.

Mr Chalk told reporters in Geraldton later that despite the ordeal, he was keen to mount a second attempt on the tough crossing.

There were a couple of occasions last night when I thought this was it

Bill Greaves

"It wasn't a lot of fun being in that water for about 14 hours, but I would still like to give it another go," he said.

Mr Greaves said he was happy to be alive and uninjured.

"There were a couple of occasions last night when I thought this was it. But it's not.. and we're happy to be here."

Mr Chalk has previously rowed across the Atlantic, while Mr Greaves was making his first long-haul rowing attempt.

The British duo had set off on Wednesday from Kalbarri, 370 miles north of the state capital Perth, in their 23ft boat.

They were trying to beat the 64-day record set in 1931 by Sweden's Anders Svedlund, the only other person to row the Australia-Africa route.

The duo had planned to row from Australia across the Indian Ocean to Reunion Island, a French territory east of Madagascar, but ran into rough seas.

The two men were trying to reach Reunion Island