The family of the fisherman whose boat was taken by two young Irishmen at Holyhead port in north Wales said they were "devastated" that the men were released without charge yesterday.
The two men took the 30ft fishing trawler, Le Bon Heur, on Saturday evening after they missed the ferry to Dublin.
They planned to sail the 67-mile journey across the Irish Sea but lacked sufficient maritime experience.
After going around in circles for some time, they ran into difficulty. Ray Steadman, spokesman for Holyhead lifeboat station, said the lifeboat was launched at 11pm in response to a Mayday call from the vessel.
Local coastguard teams joined the search and an RAF helicopter was also launched.
The men were unable to give their location, but the coastguard service estimated their position and the RAF helicopter located them after about 20 minutes.
Their position was 12 miles off the coast of Anglesey, not far from where they had originally set out, several hours earlier.
"Apparently they thought they were off the coast of Ireland," Mr Steadman said. "They were totally disoriented and absolutely worried sick."
The men were brought back into Holyhead port at about 2.30am where the police were waiting.
Mr Steadman said the men were extremely lucky to have emerged unscathed as they had been travelling in total darkness in a busy area used by ferry traffic and cargo ships.
Neither man was wearing a life jacket when they were rescued.
"They were very lucky. It was a beautiful, flat, calm night and that worked in their favour too," he said.
They were interviewed by North Wales Police and released with a caution.
However, they were rearrested on Sunday afternoon after there were allegations the trawler was damaged.
They were released without charge yesterday afternoon.
The boat is owned by local fisherman and father-of-two Paul Jones.
He had been planning to go fishing at 2am on Sunday but got a call at midnight to say the boat had been stolen.
His wife Debbie said they were extremely upset by the incident as they had spent almost £40,000 on the boat and claimed it was now out of action.
"The best scenario is that it will cost £1,000 to fix. The worst scenario is £10,000. And the engine is not covered by the insurance," she said.
"The best scenario is that he will lose one week's work.
"The worst scenario is that it could be out for six weeks," Ms Jones said.
This is the busiest time of the year for Mr Jones, she added.
She said the boat loan was taken out on the mortgage and was a major investment for the family.
Ms Jones said they were amazed that the two men were released with a caution.
"It's devastating to hear that they have been released without charge," Ms Jones said.
"I am very upset. I think we would feel a bit better about the whole thing if the people who did this could be punished."
The cost of mobilising the RAF helicopter, lifeboats and coastguard teams was estimated at about £25,000 yesterday.
The Irish Times was unable to contact the men's families yesterday.
A newspaper quoted the mother of one of the men as saying the incident was out of character for the pair.
