EastPack Rescue skipper Andy McRae with the two rescued boaties.
EastPack Rescue skipper Andy McRae with the two rescued boaties.
Each year, Maketū Coastguard runs a day-long course that includes guidance on crossing the Kaituna Bar.
Fisherman Simon, who declined to give his surname, says after being rescued from an overturned boat on the bar last week, he will do his best to attend the next course.
Simon and a friend were crossing the bar last Tuesday after an evening's fishing at Motiti Island.
They missed the channel and hit the bar with the next wave, rolling the 4.5m boat.
Maketū Coastguard received the emergency call saying two people were in the water just before 9pm. A group fishing on the nearby groyne had raised the alarm.
Six volunteers responded and the rescue boat EastPack Rescue was launched, but not before Coastguard president Shane Beech had already set out on a jetski.
Shane found the two men in the water and took them to shore.
The crew from EastPack Rescue did a medical evaluation, wrapped the two men in blankets because of the risk of hypothermia and took them back to Coastguard headquarters where paramedics and police were waiting.
The volunteers then went back to the upturned boat and were able to roll it over, bail it out and tow it back to shore.
All the gear was lost and the outboard motor was wrecked.
Maketu Coastguard president Shane Beech, left, with EastPack Rescue skipper Andy McRae.
Simon has navigated the bar a number of times previously, but says he was caught out on this occasion.
''I've crossed it probably a handful of times,'' he says, ''not a huge number but it wasn't my first time.''
He says a combination of it being dark and getting caught off guard by a wave was the error.
''That was a stupid mistake, not staying on the back of the wave as we came over the river bar. We hit the sand and the next wave hit the boat side on and rolled it upside down."
He says in hindsight he left things too late.
''We should have come back over the bar an hour earlier to have more water on the bar and visibility to see the channel."
He says he and his friend owe a debt of thanks to not only the Coastguard volunteers, but also the fishers who raised the alarm.
"We are amazed and stoked how quick the response was from the Maketū Coastguard unit and how professional they were in saving us."
Simon is from Tauranga and his friend is from Rotorua and they decided to leave from the Kaituna as it is a central point for them to meet, and is close to the fishing grounds they were heading to.
Simon says if the crossing had gone smoothly, he would have thought no more about it, but now he feels he would benefit from the guidance on crossing the bar offered by Maketū Coastguard.
''If I'd not had an issue last week I wouldn't have thought about it again, but it just goes to show you, something like that just changes your mindset.''
The pair had all the right safety gear on board, including a radio and lifejackets.
EastPack rescue skipper Andy McRae says the boaties were fortunate.
''They were two very lucky boaties, that we were able to bring back and get them home safely that night."
Shane says it was lucky the unit has some strong volunteers who liked the challenge of removing the boat that would otherwise have become a navigational hazard.
