Duo's all night adventure upon raging floodwaters

Robert Baldwin and Leon Beautrais kept all-night vigil on board The Adventurer and yesterday morning received hot breakfast via a pulley system. PHOTO/STUARTMUNRO 161013WCSMFLOOD30

It was a long and cold Tuesday night at the mercy of the Whanganui River for Robert "Baldy" Baldwin and Leon Beautrais on board The Adventurer, tied to the city marina.

The two men decided to stay aboard overnight to keep the vessel safe in raging floodwaters.

There was no sleep on the all-night vigil as the two looked into the darkness at the churning water.

Mr Baldwin's boat is moored between Owen Rush's Fat Cat and the catamaran Tabby Cat, and he was concerned the weight of the water could snap the ropes and send his vessel into Tabby Cat.

"The worst thing would have been logs getting tangled in the ropes," he said.

"I was confident they would hold, but we would have had to get rid of the logs as quick as we could."

Mr Baldwin said he would have started the motor and slipped downstream and in behind Tabby Cat, then would then have steered the Adventurer upriver and on to the submerged grass beside the boardwalk.

Mr Baldwin's wife Trixie visited at 7.30am with hot food but could not get out to the boat. When she returned at 11am, a couple were already there with food donated by Butcharts Bakery and two thermos flasks from the Gonville Hospice shop.

They set up a pulley system to transfer the food to the boat.