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A man rowed in darkness through gale-force winds and 3-metre swells to get help after the 100-tonne fishing boat he was on hit rocks and started taking on water in southern Doubtless Bay yesterday.
Two remaining men were winched to safety by the Northland Electricity Helicopter shortly before the boat sank about 7am in one of three rescues during a storm which battered Northland.
The vessel got into trouble at 3.30am after its engine failed, but the group could also not be rescued until later because of the rough conditions.
In the second rescue at 8.45am, GPS technology is being credited with saving the lives of a Whitianga couple, Allan and Lorraine Hooper, whose 7m yacht smashed against rocks. They were also winched to safety by the rescue helicopter. They suffered minor scratches and cold after sitting on a rock ledge, having escaped the vessel in a dingy. The couple, wearing life jackets, were found on rocks off Urupukapuka Island in the Bay of Islands after sending a text message to a family member in Tauranga, who alerted emergency services about 11.40pm on Monday.
Conditions were too rough for Coastguard rescuers to reach them until about 8.45am yesterday.
Rescue helicopter chief pilot Pete Turnbull said if he had not had $144,000 worth of GPS technology to guide him through the area in the rough conditions, the pair might have died of hypothermia.
He said the technology was installed about five years ago in 12 locations around Northland so the helicopter could fly in conditions which restricted visibility.
And at 9am, two people on a 15m ketch were aided by a passing boat when their mast broke, capsizing them near the Cavalli Islands. The ketch righted, and was guided into Whangaroa Harbour by the other vessel.
