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A man is lucky to be alive after being pulled from the waters off Sandspit by Coastguard volunteers on Sunday.
About mid-afternoon on Sunday, Coastguard’s Northern Region Operations Centre received a call from a woman whose partner had called her panicking that his boat was quickly taking on water.
He was unable to give specific location details, other than the fact that he had left Great Barrier Island and was heading to Sandspit.
Kawau Rescue and Coastguard Air Patrol started a search, which was made difficult by the large stretch of water to cover and the windy conditions.
But an hour later, Kawau Rescue located the man floating amongst the debris of his vessel, which was then just above the waterline.
He was suffering hypothermia and was disorientated so Coastguard called in medical support. The Westpac Rescue Helicopter responded from Auckland and a paramedic was winched onto the rescue vessel. After an assessment was made, the man was transported by Kawau Rescue to Sandspit.
“This is an example of how the unexpected can happen so quickly out on the water,” Coastguard duty officer Mark Leevers says. “The man was prepared in that he was wearing his lifejacket and had recently purchased flares and an EPIRB.”
“Although he had deployed his EPIRB, which activated the Rescue Coordination Centre, the beacon was registered to its previous owner and was not GPS fitted so required additional time for another pass of the satellite to provide a location.”
Mr Leevers says the episode provides an important reminder for boaties to ensure that they register their EPRIB or Personal Locator Beacon and carry appropriate means of communication before they hit the water this summer.
“What was really pleasing to rescuers was that he was wearing a lifejacket. Coastguard crew believe that had he been there much longer the outcome could have been very different.”
