Yacht's mast brings lines down at camp

A holidaymaker driving through Kaiteriteri Beach Motor Camp with a yacht's mast up hit 11,000 volt power lines, cutting power to some people in Kaiteriteri and Marahau for four hours yesterday.

The falling lines narrowly missed a camper, who was shaken by the close call.

A Network Tasman spokesman said the power cut happened at 10.22am and affected 655 customers. Many of them had power back on by midday and it was restored to the rest by 2.20pm.

However, one Kaiteriteri bach owner, who did not want to be named, told The Nelson Mail her family was still without power at 3pm.

The woman said it was the second time in about 15 years that a boat mast had hit overhead lines at the camp. Worried at the potential for injury or death, she said the lines should be underground.

A camper from Ashburton said his wife was sitting outside their campervan when the live wires fell between her and a car. The lines fell about one metre from her and she was "pretty shaken", said the man, who did not want to be named either.

The couple had been holidaying annually at the camp for 10 years and "we've never had anything like this happen before".

Camp office manager Jenny Guild said the cut had not been too disruptive and people had just adapted.

No-one was injured and yesterday afternoon camp staff had not managed to catch up with the man who was towing the yacht, Mrs Guild said. Bringing a yacht into the camp with its mast up was a big "no-no", she said.

Motueka Volunteer Fire Brigade chief fire officer Mike Riddell said the brigade attended the incident and kept people away from the lines. A car roof was "scorched" and the brigade had to check a house that was smoking, he said. The house was not damaged.

The Network Tasman spokesman said the company had a policy to put power lines underground and was initially working through urban areas. He said more rural areas such as Kaiteriteri were not top of the list for the work.