Two men are lucky to be alive after their boat was picked up by a wave and capsized as they attempted to enter the Patea River mouth in Taranaki this afternoon.
Senior Police Search and Rescue co-ordinator Andrew Ross said the two men in their 40s had gone out fishing at 10am and were expected back at 2pm when their boat capsized.
"The guys were coming back through the bar and the engine failed, they went sideways and rolled and they both got thrown out of the boat," South Taranaki coastguard spokesman Gary Darnell told APNZ.
Two surfers came to the men's rescue; one man was placed onto a board and lifted onto the mole, and the other was placed on the other board and taken to a small cove south of the river.
The Ohawe Coastguard picked the man up from the cove and the rescue helicopter lifted the other man off the mole.
