Boaties ‘lucky to be alive’ after night-time capsize 20km off Cape Brett

The men were brought back to shore by the Bay of Islands Coastguard vessel Bay Rescue II. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Four men are lucky to see in 2023 after their small boat capsized at night more than 20km off Cape Brett.

The boaties, none of whom were wearing lifejackets, spent about an hour and a half in the water clinging to the upturned hull of their 5.5m Surtees.

Bay of Islands Coastguard president Phil Snowdon said the men activated an emergency locator beacon about 8.35pm on Friday.

The signal was picked up by the Rescue Coordination Centre in Wellington which alerted the Doves Bay-based Coastguard unit.

A private vessel called The Beast, which was moored near Whangaruru, heard the mayday call on marine radio and sent two IRBs.

The Coastguard boat, Bay Rescue II, took about an hour to reach the capsized vessel 11 nautical miles (just over 20km) off Cape Brett.

The IRBs arrived about 10 minutes earlier with their crew managing to get all four men out of the water.

“That was no mean feat,” Snowdon said.

They were then transferred to the Coastguard vessel and taken to Waitangi jetty where they were given a medical check. The sea was warm so they were not suffering from hypothermia.

The cause of the capsize was not entirely clear but it was thought all four had rushed to an aft quarter of the vessel at the same time.

It happened so quickly they had no time to retrieve their Epirb (emergency position-indicating radio beacon). One of the men had to dive under the boat to find and activate it.

No one was wearing a lifejacket, Snowdon said.

“Given the state of the sea and the state of the crew they are very lucky to be alive. It’s a timely reminder that people in small craft — particularly under 6m — need to wear personal flotation devices. It’s also a reminder that excessive alcohol and boating do not mix, especially at night.”

While small boats went out much further during the day in settled conditions, 11 nautical miles was a long way out to sea at night.

The incident occurred more than 20km from Cape Brett, off Northland’s east coast. Photo / Peter de Graaf

The Northland harbourmaster had been notified of the boating hazard posed by the upturned vessel.

Nine out of 10 boating deaths occurred in small craft through capsize or sinking, Snowdon said.

It was the second night in a row the volunteers had been out until late.

After towing a boat from Oke Bay, near Rāwhiti, on Thursday night the crew returned to Doves Bay at 2.30am on Friday.

Friday night’s crew consisted of newly qualified Coastguard skippers Rafe Tollemache and Blair Stanley and crewman Conrad Pieterse.