Pounded sailor certain he'd die

By SASKIA KONYNENBURG AS 12-metre waves smashed over his up-turned yacht off the Northland coast, Steve Crawford feared he was down to two options - and both ended in death.
"I was incapacitated by fear. I thought I'd either be swept out to sea and drown alone or get trapped in the cabin and go down with the boat."
But instead the Wellington artist, who'd been sailing from Auckland to Cape Brett, was airlifted off his stricken yacht on Saturday evening, 20 nautical miles north-east of the Poor Knights.
An experienced yachtsman, Mr Crawford had taken many safety measures, but his 6m keel yacht Vitamin Sea was not prepared for the extreme 50-knot winds.
"The sails were up and the boat was just going for it. We were flying down each wave and there was only so much I could handle sitting on deck. I decided the best thing to do was let down the sails and let the boat relax into the weather."
Before the boat could recover, a wave smashed into the side flipping it over and leaving Mr Crawford hanging upside down in the water-filled cockpit.
"When the boat turned upright I was in shock. I'd cut my head and there was blood everywhere.
"I couldn't see out of one of my eyes because blood was pouring over it. I was completely in shock."
Mr Crawford made it into the cabin and lay down on his bed.
Suddenly a second wave slammed into the boat flipping it over and filling the cabin with water.
"All my belongings were piled on top of me and I was trapped under the water. It was terrifying. I realised this was really serious."
The Rescue Coordination Centre NZ has praised Mr Crawford for his back-up plan which he was forced to use as his radio was now full of water.
He raised the alarm by setting off two Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons which he attached to himself and the boat.
The Northpower Electricity Rescue Helicopter was mobilised, but Mr Crawford said the wait for help seemed like an eternity.
"The boat kept rolling upside down and I was convinced I'd be swept away to sea. I prepared an emergency kit of fresh water and flares and put on my thermal clothes."
St John paramedic Mark Going, acting as winch operator, described the waves as ``harrowing' and said the yacht was "bobbing up and down like a cork" in the massive swells.
The team decided it was too dangerous to send one of their own into the water so lowered down a harness and winched Mr Crawford to safety.
"He was okay but very shocked and anxious about what was happening. There were waves breaking over the yacht as we were lowering the harness," Mr Going said.
Amazingly, after the rescue, the unmanned yacht made its way to Matauri Bay, beaching itself undamaged in soft sands. A tracking device showed the boat travelling at around five knots past Cape Brett and into the Bay of Islands, before heading back out to sea.
"I'm thrilled it survived without a scratch. It travelled all the way along the rocky coastline and chose to land on a nice sandy beach. It's very bizarre," Mr Crawford said. Around 50 people gathered and watched as the yacht beached itself. Locals donned wetsuits and rushed into the water to check no one was on board.
"It was a bit like the Marie Celeste - a bit eerie but amazing to watch it coming in,' said eye-witness Ian Dorward.
"People were worried there might be a body inside, someone might have had a heart attack or there might be parts of a corpse. When we learned what had happened we were amazed. If it had come ashore anywhere else it would be demolished."
Despite the petrifying experience, Mr Crawford hasn't been put off. He said the experience has changed his life and he now plans to become a volunteer coastguard when he returns to Wellington.