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Stranded 15 km offshore in a 2m inflatable boat with a dead motor, two cold and wet men desperately called for help as winds and a 2m swell battered them.
The men, aged 40 and 48, are lucky to be alive after being rescued yesterday morning following a 21-hour ordeal that put them at the mercy of wintry overnight weather off the Wellington coast.
They had gone fishing and diving off the Makara coast about midday Saturday, but the boat's engine failed.
They were pushed further adrift as a southerly blast pushed them north. As night fell, they resorted to eating their diving catch.
At 3.50am yesterday, they finally managed to reach the police by cellphone.
"While our communications people were talking with them on the phone, Vodafone managed to tell us the distance to where they were," said Search and Rescue Sergeant Jo Holden.
"I'm baffled ... I totally don't understand why the call wasn't made earlier.
"If they didn't have a cellphone, if it had been wet or the battery was flat, I'm pretty sure they'd be halfway to New Plymouth.
"They were heading north pretty quickly, and there was no appeasement in the southerly."
Police made radio calls for help as the boat drifted about 15km offshore, somewhere between Makara Beach and Mana Island. The SeaWorks vessel Sea Patrol responded to the calls.
The coastguard and the Westpac rescue helicopter joined the search while the two men - both in wetsuits - battled swells as high as their boat was long.
Sea Patrol located them about 8.45am 11km west of Mana Island, about 20km from where they started at Makara.
One of the men had hypothermia and the other was just cold and miserable.
Both have since recovered and returned home.
"They were very, very lucky," Ms Holden said.
She said the men were short of common sense.
"They saw the helicopter searching for them, and saw Sea Patrol was there, and they tried to light a fire on the boat. Thank God it was raining and [the fire failed].
"They pretty much did everything wrong - no life jackets, no flares, no emergency equipment, no oars or an auxiliary motor. We had no notification they were overdue.
"We're talking about a 2m boat, in swells of 1.5m to 2m, and it was difficult enough to pick up the boat as it was. With a marine search, the area expands all the time.
"They were at the mercy of the sea and the weather conditions.
"Their chances of survival were not good at all."
Ms Holden said the incident was a stark reminder about what to do when going out on the water.
"Take a sea-worthy boat, radio, flares, lifejackets, and tell someone where you're going.
"It's all about preparedness."
