Rescue boat skipper forced to make a tough decision

File photo / Bay of Plenty Times

A rescue boat skipper made one of the toughest decisions of his life today as he tried to rescue two boaties from the boiling surf at Kawhia on the North Island's west coast.

The two boaties were clinging to each other in the 2.5m surf at the entrance to Kawhia Harbour after their boat took a big hit and capsized as they headed out on a fishing trip. Another boat with two people aboard overturned at the same time.

The boaties were panicking and desperate to be rescued but Mr Hawkes said rather than risk more lives he gunned his 8.6m boat, Hawkeye, away from the men and left them in the surf.

They were rescued by another boat but Mr Hawkes, who later rescued one of the people from the other boat which capsized, said it was a tough decision to make but he had no choice.

"We tried to pick them up but we couldn't because they were hanging on to one another. We couldn't lift two at a time into the boat and they wouldn't let go of one another. We had to leave them behind because we had a big wave coming up behind us and we had to get out of it.

"If we had stayed we would have got tipped over ourselves. We had to get out. We had to leave them. We were no use to anyone if we were upside down," Mr Hawkes told NZPA.

"They were pretty cut up and had a bit of blood and stuff on them.

"It wasn't easy (to leave them)."

One boatie was trapped under his overturned vessel but managed to find his way out and be rescued.

Rescue authorities said all four people on the two boats were lucky to be alive and could have drowned had it not been for other boats which answered the call for help.

The two boats capsized about the same time as they headed out on fishing trips and other boats raised the alarm. In the large surf rescuers put themselves and their boats at risk to rescue the four, said Kat Andrews from the Auckland Coastguard, which co-ordinated the rescue.

Both boats had logged trip reports and had done everything right, and the response by rescue boats was ``fantastic''.

Mr Hawkes said all four people were wearing inflatable lifejackets, which helped them stay afloat, but one of the two men they tried to rescue but had to leave was a big man - about 120kg - and they threw him extra flotation as they left.

Two of the four were hurt and taken to hospital, although their injuries were not thought to be serious.

Both boats were recovered intact but damaged by another boat, Margaret J, a support vessel for the Taharoa ironsands depot a short distance down the coast.

- NZPA