The two holiday-makers had travelled to Darwin from Victoria, and had gone to Leaders Creek boat ramp near Gunn Point, about 38km northwest of Darwin, to go crabbing.
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“Noel made people feel welcome”.
The club said Mr Ramage was fighting cancer at the time of his death.
‘They tried to climb back on the boat and it further capsized and that’s when his mate was caught underneath it and drowned, ‘ Ian Badham, Director of CareFlight NT told AAP on Tuesday.
The survivor threw spanners and spark plugs at approaching crocodiles and was trapped in muddy mangroves before being rescued and taken to hospital suffering shock.
The man finally managed to get the boat to the mangroves, but became stranded in the mud as his three-hour encounter with the beasts continued, according to a statement by CareFlight, a medical rescue charity.
The fisherman said he smashed one of the crocodiles on its head with a spanner as he dragged himself to safety during the three-hour ordeal.
A group of other crabbers heard the man’s shouts and rescued him and managed to retrieve the drowned man’s body.
He was airlifted to a hospital and released after receiving treatment for dehydration and exposure.
“Having said that, it is still a highly weird situation and extremely unlikely”.
Britton also said Northern Territory authorities needed to remind people which boats were safe to take out into crocodile-infested waters.
Past year at a coronial inquest into the death of Bill Scott, NT coroner Greg Cavanagh noted witnesses seeing a bow wave in the water which destabilised Mr Scott as he stood inside the small boat, causing him to stumble before he was attacked and dragged overboard.
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The inquest found there should be warnings about the increased risk of crocodiles attacking boats, particularly smaller vessels, as crocodiles can reach up to six metres in length, twice as long as a small tinny.
