Anytime the media got hold of him it was usually to do with the latest shark he’d caught.
This day he got the call from someone with news there was a major incident developing off-shore involving people in the sea.
It was October 19 about 9.30 am 1995 and the fisherman was having a coffee with his crew member after pulling the boat back on to his property on Marine Parade.
The long-time Coastal resident was told by a neighbour a hot air balloon had passed overhead but the basket appeared to be slightly behind rather than underneath like it was being dragged sideways and was now in the water.
45-year-old North Beach local Tim Sintes had just been chatting to his crewmate about the sudden southerly weather change not looking great and grateful and they were not still out there.
Suddenly, he and Marc Ellingford were frantically trying to re-hook the 14-foot (just over 4 metres) aluminium craft to his tractor.
A whole lot of decisions, great deal of skill and some luck that morning saved a few lives…
The first challenge was realising there was little petrol left in the outboard engine and being a two stroke required an oil and petrol mix, but no time for measuring containers to get the right balance, just quick guesswork and hope it would not stall once in the water.
The second was trying to figure exactly where the balloon had gone down, and it turned out to be further north up Waimairi Beach adjacent to Bottle Lake Forest.
The next was trying to avoid the breakers whipped up by the violent squall and being tipped over from broadside impacts but somehow managing to emerge unscathed through each swell.
The situation made more precarious by an engine at full throttle so the speed increased the likelihood of a capsize as the boat was often airborne and landing in troughs.
On arriving at the scene there were heads bobbing in the water and it was a matter of grabbing the ones looking to be alive first.
Sintes skill driving expertise meant despite difficulties reaching a hand each sweep of the boat, managed it every time whilst battling to maintain control midst surging waves and 30 knot wind.
While he piloted the boat, his younger crew mate Marc was using adrenalin charged superhuman strength to haul very heavy people weighed down by waterlogged winter clothing over the edge of the boat.
Tim while steering, hanging off the opposite side to keep the balance.
One survivor disappeared beneath the surface of the water to be caught by the fingertips and with no ability to help herself on board, somehow dragged to safety.
Sintes realised he still had to get back to shore carrying seven people in a boat awash with sea water with a maximum capacity of four, thinking the last thing he needed was to be tipped over and hurl these traumatised people back into the freezing water.
The passengers were encouraged to huddle, and Ellingford keeping them comfortable.
On the second 200 metre return trip rescued the pilot clinging to the upturned basket, got him back to the increasing number of helpers on the beach and braved the conditions a third time to look for anyone else.
For his troubles Sintes in his traditional attire of tee shirt and shorts got hyperthermia and later thought if he had stopped to gather more clothes one more life might have been lost.
There were three fatalities because of the ‘Up Up and Away’ hot balloon company scenic flight tragedy, one sadly had been pulled from the water later died, but six pulled into the boat made it and two other bodies were eventually washed ashore.
The dead included a Japanese tour guide, a recently married Japanese man on a honeymoon (his wife survived) and a tourist from Taiwan.
Tim Sintes and Marc Ellingford got a lot of awards including a Royal Humane Society Merit and plenty of overseas attention.
One of the most bizarre outcomes was being drawn into a Discovery documentary by a Canadian company who re-enacted the story by added a whole new dimension of drama intimating the presence of icebergs and location in a cold challenging part of the world.
Since that time Tim Sintes continues his “I’ll never die wondering approach to life” having been a long serving Community Board member, featured in numerous gardening mags with he and wife Jans creation of a massive Southshore seaside garden.
He plants above the Southshore high tide fringe to enhance the dunes and advises on how natural responses to the anticipated sea-level rise can work on many coastlines.
The 70 plus year old continues to surf paddle board, surf and has taken up wing foiling, and recovering from a serious eye injury, yet when asked about any clippings on his part on the hot air balloon disaster he could not initially find them (not seem them for years) and relied on wife Jan to dig them out.
On reflection he says the incident probably affected him more than he cared to admit and believe his life-long link with the ocean through fishing and surfing was a big factor in pulling off the rescues with his crewmate.
Sintes says he has had many shark encounters and still has some scary jaws on the wall of his garage, but the fear of failure with human life at risk on that October 1995 day 26 years ago and participating in the Japanese families grieving ceremony, will never go away.
Tim Sintes a coastal community hero.