Ill-equipped boatie spends night in water

A Coastguard vessel. Photo / file

The Coastguard and police are unimpressed with an ill-equipped boatie rescued today after going missing in a small boat.

The man went missing off Kawakawa Bay near Clevedon and two members of the public found the man in the sea, treading water at about 6am. They returned him to Kawakawa Bay in their boat.

Police and the Coastguard said the man had no radio, no lights and was not wearing a lifejacket.

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The man was taken to Middlemore Hospital where he is recovering after his rescue. The dinghy he was in has not been found.

He left Kawakawa Bay yesterday, then phoned a friend to report engine difficulties.

"On his last contact, which was late yesterday evening, [he] advised that he had engine trouble and required assistance," said Mark Leevers, Coastguard Northern Region duty officer.

"Certainly this does highlight the need to carry two forms of communication that work," Mr Leevers said. "This person appears to have been in the water for quite some time, and unable to alert anybody to his situation."

Mr Leevers said a VHF radio would have resolved the situation "in a matter of minutes" rather than hours the man spent at sea in a very small boat.

Northern Police Communications were displeased, saying the man was an example of someone "going out with no lifejacket, no communications, no lights and wasting police time by going out in a little dinghy."

There was no indication alcohol was involved.

The Coastguard deployed three boats with volunteer crews and a Cessna 182 air patrol plane to search for the man. Police sent the Maritime Unit to look for the man.