The wife of one of the men who died after a boat capsized near Port Lincoln on Monday has paid tribute to “an amazing husband, father, and best friend to so many”.

Tom Eckert, his father Paul, and 71 year-old Alan Leslie Bottrill died when their boat was swamped by a wave off South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula on Monday afternoon.

Their bodies were retrieved from the water on Tuesday.

In a statement released on Thursday, Mr Eckert’s wife, Tess, expressed her grief.

“His [Tom’s] pride and joy were his two boys aged four and six, we can’t express in words how much he will be missed. He would have fought so hard to get back to us.

“We love him endlessly.

“We can’t describe how much the boys will miss their Grandpapa Paul, who was a huge part in our lives and was also loved by so many.”

Paul Eckert (from left), Tom and Danny Eckert were on a fishing boat that overturned near Port Lincoln on March 25, 2024.(Facebook)

Mrs Eckert thanked the emergency services, volunteers and general public who helped in the search.

“There are so many to thank and we don’t want to miss anyone but thank you. Without your help we could have lost so much more,” said Mrs Eckert.

“To the Bottrill family, who are close family friends, we send you all the love and support as you are going through the same grief as we are.

A composite image of the victims of the Spilsby Island boat tragedy, Alan Bottrill, Tom Eckert and Paul Eckert.(Supplied/Facebook)

“Moving forward, we ask for sensitivity and privacy at this time and chance to grieve in private.”

Two survivors — a 44-year-old man and a 13-year-old boy, both from Adelaide — were found on a reef and winched to safety in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

SA Police’s Superintendent Paul Bahr told ABC Eyre Peninsula the duo who survived had to contend with a 1.5-metre swell as they clung to the reef.

“Because they were at a reef, they would have had the odd breaker breaking onto that reef so I think it would have been pretty daunting,” he said.

Two people were rescued after the boat capsized. (ABC News)

Superintendent Bahr said the involvement of local fishing vessels in the search had been “critical”.

“Port Lincoln is remote from the rest of the state and so we are very self-reliant. We are reliant on the goodwill of volunteers to help us and we are fortunate that we have such a large fishing fleet here.”

He said a report would be prepared for the coroner.

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