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Five fishermen on a day out from Gulf Harbour to Kawau Island had a lucky escape when their six-metre boat capsized in rough seas on Saturday, February 12.
Despite all five being thrown into a heavy swell, the skipper managed to swim back under the upturned boat, find a distress call device and activate the alarm.
Kawau Volunteer Coastguard arrived on the scene soon afterwards and plucked three men out of the water, one from the overturned boat hull and another from nearby rocks. They were all taken to a waiting ambulance at Sandspit wharf and three of them were taken to hospital with suspected hypothermia.
Coastguard skipper Luke McCarthy said if they hadn’t been wearing lifejackets and had an SOS device, it could have been a very different result.
“They were very, very lucky,” he said. “It the conditions out there weren’t good, not good at all – it was pretty bumpy, especially round the other side of Kawau.”
The boat tipped over after being swamped by large waves when the men dropped anchor. The vessel’s skipper managed to stay with the boat and climbed on to its hull, but his mates were swept away in heavy seas. He then had to swim back underneath the boat to find an InReach SOS device, swim out again and activate it to raise the alarm.
The NZ Rescue Coordination Centre alerted Coastguard after receiving the SOS signal and the Kawau crew were sent investigate just after 11am.
Within 20 minutes, Luke McCarthy and his crew had found the boat, rescued one angler on the upturned hull, another on rocks 700 metres away and the other three cold, exhausted men from the water.
He said he wasn’t sure why the men thought a day’s fishing was a good idea when there were two-metre waves, 25-knot winds and a cyclone forecast, but said at least they had the right kit.
“They were well prepared, all wearing lifejackets and that’s what saved them. They also had a device to activate and the skipper did a fantastic job in helping us locate his mates,” he said.
“This rescue had an extremely good outcome and my crew were ecstatic with the result.”
He said the incident was a timely reminder of what every boatie should do in case of emergency.
“Lifejackets – take them and wear them. Tell someone where you’re going. Take two forms of waterproof communication and keep one on you, just in case. And if you’re in any doubt about the weather, don’t go,” McCarthy said.
Coastguard’s full boating preparation checklist is available at www.boatiesbestmate.nz
