Boat hit rock as skipper tried to fix radar

A boat smashed into a rock in Foveaux Strait at the weekend happened as the captain was trying to fix his navigation aid.

The skipper Gordon Leask and a crewman had to be rescued after the 12m wooden cruiser sailing from Fiordland to Stewart Island struck Gull Rock, north of Stewart Island's Halfmoon Bay, about 7.30pm on Saturday.

Mr Leask, told the Southland Times he had been trying to make the boat's radar work when they veered off course and hit the rock.

"It definitely froze you (when they hit the rock). It was a nice calm night and I was pretty relaxed going through there," Mr Leask said.

"If I didn't have the radar I would have been good as gold."

Mr Leask said the bilge alarm went off after the accident and, when they could not find the leak, he and his crewmate climbed into the dinghy.

Another boat arrived to rescue the pair about five minutes later and a fire pump was used to remove water from the boat as it was towed to Halfmoon Bay.

- NZPA