Fisherman refuels drifting catamaran

The Positive II drifts off the coast, waiting for assistance from Castlepoint fishermen. PHOTO SUPPLIED

A Castlepoint fisherman has bailed out two men stranded at sea.

Dean Hatchard, owner of the crayboat Ventura, was called by the occupants of the Positive II seeking help after the boat, which was headed from Picton to Napier, ran out of fuel on Monday morning.

Mr Hatchard got a phone call at about 8am, after the boat, a 40ft cougar catamaran, ran into trouble 14.5km off Akitio.

The pair on board had contacted several other fishermen, but Mr Hatchard was the only one in the area available to come to their aid.

Mr Hatchard, although keen to get out and check his craypots, said "something had to be done", and so made the trip to help out, towing the stranded boat closer to Akitio.

"We just wanted to go out there and get them in closer before the wind got up."

"You can't just let someone drift like that. Something needs to be done [and] sometimes you do the good Samaritan thing.

"It's just the sort of job you've got to do when someone is in need."

The men on board, who were very pleased to see the Ventura, were just lucky the conditions were good, Mr Hatchard said.

"They were very appreciative to everybody who helped out."

The two men on board the Positive II were unsure how to check the fuel tank of the boat and had made a poor estimation of how much fuel would be required, Mr Hatchard said.

Once at Akitio, another boat, the Anikiwa, was dispatched to refuel the boat, which took on about 400 litres of fuel, before resuming its journey.

Picton police Sergeant Chris Payne said it was understood the boat, which had been used for part-time fishing charters in Picton, was the subject of a long-running civil dispute and may have been relocated to Napier by those with a "vested interest".

Unless the boat had clearly been stolen, police would not be pursuing the matter, he said.