Two Far North boat rescues in 24 hours

An Auckland family needed to be rescued after rowing too far off Cable Bay in the Far North yesterday afternoon.

Police said two adults and two children got into difficulty after rowing about one kilometre offshore.

One of the adults phoned a friend when they realised they couldn't return to shore. The family was towed to safety by a member of the public, in the second water rescue incident in 24 hours.

On Thursday night, two teenagers were forced to swim for their lives when the dinghy they were in overturned near the Cavalli Islands.

Senior Constable Kent Gilmore of Kerikeri police said two boys aged 15 and 17 set out about 11am for a day of fishing in a 3m boat.

Family members became worried when they had not returned by 7pm and contacted police.

Mr Gilmore said the boys were located scrambling onto rocks at the islands' Horseshoe Bay about 9.45pm.

They told police their dinghy had overturned about 3pm and, although they had been able get back into the boat, they were unable to restart the engine. The two teenagers then decided to swim about 1.5km to shore.

Mr Gilmore said the boys had been extremely lucky given the windy conditions on Thursday.

"I would say they were pretty foolhardy considering the amount of wind there was," he said.

- NORTHERN ADVOCATE (Whangarei)