Deja vu for rescued, rescuers in Tapotupotu

Bay Rescue II, the Bay of Islands Coastguard vessel, was one of two involved in rescues off Northland's east coast overnight Tuesday/Wednesday.

Two men were rescued from rocks under a cliff west of Tapotupotu on Saturday night. And this time their rescuers knew where to look - they had been there before.

Eighteen-year-old Nathaniel Maafu, from Kaitaia, was one of two divers rescued in the same location in March, a Far North Surf Rescue IRB crew braving extremely rough conditions, and potentially risking their lives.

Mr Maafu and his 28-year-old uncle, Gilbert Yukich, from Awanui, returned on Saturday to retrieve a snorkel and a pair of flippers that had been left behind, in a 12-foot aluminium boat with a far from reliable outboard.

According to police the pair launched the boat at Tapotupotu, the motor "conking out" 30 metres offshore, with a 20-knot offshore wind, but they got it going again, and almost got to the rocks on their second attempt.

Wearing shorts and singlets, with no life jackets (left on the trailer), paddles or means of communication, they dragged the boat to the rocks, and, when darkness fell, prepared for a cold night under the overturned boat.

The alarm was raised by family members at 6.30pm, by which time the pair were three hours overdue.

Meanwhile both men fell asleep, and did not notice two boats that were looking for them, and slept through the first pass of a rescue helicopter.

They woke in time for the second pass, however, and managed to attract the crew's attention, thanks to their heat-tracking goggles.

They were winched aboard the helicopter, leaving behind more property than they had set out to retrieve. They were cold but did not want medical assistance when they were delivered to family members in the carpark at Cape Reinga.

Rescue helicopter pilot Steve Couchman said it had been a difficult rescue, in pitch dark and in the lee of cliffs, with downdrafts pushing the helicopter around. An unimpressed emergency service spokesman said the rescue had represented a novel way of spending $15,000.

Northland police Search and Rescue co-ordinator Senior Sergeant Cliff Metcalfe said police would be investigating whether the two men would be charged.