KEY POINTS:
A home-built catamaran on its maiden voyage was destroyed in 15 minutes when it was sucked into a rip yesterday.
Wellington couple Dean Ryder and Mary Akatea were rescued by a Bluebridge ferry after their boat, which was also their home, broke in half in Cook Strait around 7am.
They set off from Island Bay around 6am and were around five kilometres off the south coast when they were sucked into the notorious Karori Rip where the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean meet.
"It was just like a washing machine," Ms Akatea told the Dominion Post.
"We saw the rip ahead then suddenly we were in the middle of it."
They sent out a mayday call about 7.20am and the ferry, which had just departed from Picton with 400 passengers aboard, made a detour and picked them up within 20 minutes.
The 32-foot Serene, which the couple spent two years building, was uninsured but he was just happy to be alive, Mr Ryder told the newspaper.
He said said they spent about $40,000 building the boat, which was valued at $70,000.
The boat broke up near the Cook Strait cable, which supplies electricity to the North Island, and there was a risk that it could have caused millions of dollars in damage if it sunk.
It was towed to Titahi Bay yesterday afternoon.
- NZPA
