Fisher in toy boat rescued

The folly of putting to sea in an inadequate craft - even in a harbour - was clearly illustrated during a rescue made by the Auckland Airport Emergency Services’ (AES) hovercraft recently.

At around 12.15pm on Sunday, August 9, the AES received a report of a fisherman in trouble ‘somewhere west’ of the airport, located on the south-eastern shores of the Manukau Harbour.

The man, who had limited English, made the call on his cellphone before it ran out of battery, and was unable to give any description of the type of boat or area he was in.

Five minutes after receiving the call, the airport hovercraft was sent out in the choppy conditions, managing to locate the man at around 1.00pm as he drifted towards the even rougher waters of the harbour entrance.

The man had little or no control over his direction, and was in a state of mild hyperthermia in his ‘boat’, which turned out was little more than a child’s ‘inflatable plastic toy’.

Once back on land, he was given a thorough medical check by ambulance officers and transferred to Middlemore Hospital for treatment.

Dave Ewen, the AES duty manager on the day, says from his organisation’s perspective there were two notable points about this rescue.

“The first was the professional ability of airport emergency services to locate and rescue him very quickly using the hovercraft, with very little information to work with in terms of location,” Dave says.

“The second was the complete unsuitability of the craft the fisherman took to sea. As you can see, it is a very small, toy-like, inflatable boat, with only one working oar, no motor, no distress beacon and virtually no emergency equipment at all on board.”

Dave says that while professional emergency services – such as the ones at Auckland Airport – are always there to help, it is critically important for recreational fishermen to be prepared and have the right equipment with them.

“At the bare minimum you need at least one or two methods of attracting attention, and it helps to be able to give clear directions when in trouble.

“As for attempting to head out in such a craft on exposed waters, such as the Manukau Harbour, it defies logic and common sense.”– Grant Dixon

- © Fairfax NZ News