New details have emerged about the daring rescue involving a stricken yacht in the middle of Cyclone Gabrielle - and the 23-year-old woman at the heart of it.
Dramatic photos of the rescue were among the most astonishing images as the cyclone wreaked havoc across much of the North Island.
Now, those behind the rescue have told the full story after John Mellars drifted out to sea when his trimaran’s anchor cable snapped after he grounded in Port Fitzroy, Aotea Great Barrier Island on Monday, February 13.
That night, Navy frigate Te Mana and its 156 crew were deployed to help with the search and rescue mission after the NZ Defence Force declared it was unsafe for helicopters.
At 3am Tuesday, able seaman combat specialist Ashlea Farrar, 23, began her shift - her priority was to find Mellars.
Te Mana received new details about where the vessel was after an emergency locator beacon (Epirb) was activated at 7.30am. Two hours later the Te Mana was able to see Mellars’ yacht 888, 30km northeast of the Poor Knights Islands. But there was no sign of Mellars.
“Everyone was feeling a bit apprehensive and nervous, but we had a definite location and went full speed to get there,” said Farrar, a former gymnast and coach who has been in the Navy for five years. “I could see the CCTV footage around the ship. You could see the yacht had half-sunk, but you couldn’t see if anyone was on board or not. This nice-looking yacht wasn’t nice looking anymore.”
Commanding Officer John McQueen was worried the ship wouldn’t make it in time to rescue Mellars. He was also worried about his crew’s safety.
“We were an hour and a half from the location, and I was worried if we didn’t find him overnight, we might be too late. The conditions where he was located were getting progressively worse in terms - 5m swells, southwesterly winds ... It was very extreme.
“No captain wants to put their crew in danger, but the Epirb went off and he needed to be rescued. I wasn’t going to launch the boat until we confirmed there was a course that was appropriate,” McQueen said.
Farrar didn’t hesitate to join the recovery.
“Ashlea is an exceptional sailor - she was ready and mentally prepared,” McQueen said. “She is a bundle of energy and courage, she has great discipline from her gym days; she is someone you can always count on.”
Five minutes after the trimaran had been located a Northland Rescue Helicopter arrived to assist.
From the sky above, pilot Dan O’Reilly was able to provide additional information to Te Mana and confirm Mellars was alive.
“We got there at 9.30am - it was a challenge in 60-knot winds but 10 minutes later we saw a face peering out at us from the cabin door,” O’Reilly said.
“The yacht looked like a small toy being tossed around in a giant’s bathtub. I don’t recall flying over larger seas, it was like a series of three-storey buildings rolling along. Every time the Te Mana punched into a swell the entire hull would disappear in white water, which is impressive. I was glad I was sitting where I was and not in that washing machine.”
O’Reilly said there was no way to communicate with the yacht. The crew tried to drop a radio to the vessel but was worried if it landed in the sea Mellars would jump in to retrieve it.
But despite the rescue team’s caution, Mellars jumped into the water. O’Reilly believes the man heard the helicopter and assumed he was about to be winched to safety.
At 9.52am Farrar, the bowman, coxswain Leon Rileyand two divers launched a rigid-hull inflatable boat (RHIB).
“It was incredibly windy,” recalls Farrar, “and it was raining sideways. I was belted by the rain. When we were in the water it was like trying to climb these massive waves, but we couldn’t keep up and we weren’t getting anywhere. It was a wall of water. The water on my face was like a high-pressure hose. But my brain doesn’t think of fear in these kinds of jobs. It was something I was prepared to do and trained to do - maybe not in these severe weather conditions, but I would do this again 100 per cent.”
Farrar said she faced fear constantly as a former gymnast. But as she risked her own life to save a stranger she was “mission focused” and her “head was in the game”.
“There is always a new skill that is frightening to you, but you learn to overcome it. As I’ve got older, I thought I can’t let fears stop me from improving and being better.”
It took the RHIB crew four minutes to rescue Mellars, who was cold and confused in the water close to his yacht.
“I’m not sure how relieved he was to see us. He was fragile and I believe he was maybe more concerned about his home rather than himself at that point,” says Farrar.
“I am not angry, s**t happens,” Farrar said. “It was his home, and he was trying to do the right thing to secure it properly, but things didn’t go to plan. I guess I’d like to know someone would help my father or grandfather.”
At 10.07am the RHIB returned to Te Mana with Mellars on board. He took a hot shower, ate hot food, and was given clothes and a new pair of Crocs.
Te Mana sailed back to the Devonport Navy Base, where Mellars was questioned by the Auckland Maritime Police Unit and departed in an ambulance.
Stricken yachtsman John Mellars has launched his own retrieval operation to find his vessel but it has so far proved unsuccessful.
Maritime New Zealand said it had been asked to help and “assisted with drift modelling to assist salvage operations”.
The Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand gave updated drift modelling on March 1 to an aircraft operator Mellars had hired to find his vessel.
“The last sighting was at least a week prior, with the vessel very low in the water, and only the deck and mast showing.”
Mellars is understood to be back on Great Barrier Island after losing his home in the cyclone.
The 78-year-old stood in the Great Barrier Island local body elections last month, winning 46 votes - the lowest number among the four candidates. Laura Caine won with 236 votes. Mellars, who lives alone, used to own a vineyard on the island and was the former chairman of the community board. He has been living on his yacht for the past three years.
Some islanders who spoke to the Herald talked about their frustration at Mellars’ behaviour, as the Navy rescue was the second time authorities had to come to his aid within just a few days.
Only days before the dramatic sea rescue, Mellars had been towed to safety by the Coastguard to Great Barrier Island after his yacht hit rocks. However, he tried to move the boat to a different mooring, getting into difficulty as Cyclone Gabrielle bore down.
“It was the safest place for him to be. But he managed to set off somehow,” the man said.
Locals say after the trimaran’s anchor cable broke, the power supply died in the engine and the rudders broke.
A close friend of Mellars said he made some bad decisions at critical moments.
“John’s boat is a racing boat - it’s a young person’s boat big time. He is a self-made man who is opinionated and bucks the norm. We weren’t surprised it was him, it’s just the sort of thing John would do. I think he had a chance to get off the yacht early on but didn’t take it up. He’s laying low - he’s a bit embarrassed about the whole thing,” the friend said.
When approached by the Herald for comment on the rescue and the lengths authorities went to save him, Mellars said: “I don’t give a rat’s arse about the rescue, and I have nothing to say to you.”
Tere Livingston died after receiving two head knocks within several weeks in 2023.