Boat becomes wedged during low tide

The Grey River. Photo / Mark Mitchell

A fishing boat that became wedged on a narrow strip of rocks in the middle of the Grey River overnight was floated off safely on the high tide late this morning.

Frank Benzie was heading out to sea in wooden-hulled Seafury about 1am, when it was blown onto the half-tide rockwall, directly opposite the entrance to the Blaketown Lagoon.

"I was heading out, a bigger boat was coming in, I spun around to give the other boat more room and a gust of wind pushed my boat up on to the rocks," he said this morning from the stranded vessel.

"There would have been plenty of room if I hadn't turned, but I thought I was doing the right thing. If it hadn't been so windy it would have been okay (but) there was a squall at the wrong time. I've got no one else to blame but myself," he said.

Mr Benzie said today's mishap was the worst experience in his 21 years of fishing out of the Greymouth port.

The Seafury had returned from a fishing expedition about midnight to collect more fish crates, and had turned around to resume inshore trawling when the grounding happened.

Speaking before the rescue attempt, he said he hoped to get it off the rocks without causing any damage.

"We will have the slipway ready, just in case. It's easier to get up on the rocks than get off," he quipped.

Port manager Ian Haussmann, using the harbour boat, helped nudge the stricken boat off the rockwall about 11.30am. It was returned intact to its moorings at the Blaketown Fishermen's Wharf.

- The Greymouth Star