Dramatic sea rescue

A THREE-YEAR-OLD girl rescued unconscious and seriously ill yesterday morning after floating two hours with her father in freezing seas off the Wairarapa coast was by late afternoon sitting up and hugging her mum.
Westpac Rescue paramedic Keith Frewen said the girl was winched aboard the helicopter unconscious and suffering from hypothermia and was airlifted to Wellington Hospital in a serious condition.
"Once she was aboard we kept her warm and monitored and she was starting to wake up as we arrived at the hospital," he said.
"She had improved dramatically by about 4pm and when I went to check on her she was sitting up and talking and hugging her mum."
The girl and her father, 40, were winched to safety from the deck of the Ngawi fishing vessel Stryker, captained by Brett Churcher.
Mr Frewen said the crew had provided a change of dry clothes for the pair and the father was uninjured and healthy when paramedics arrived at the scene.
Search co-ordinator Murray Nix said the pair was seen the previous night setting the net about 50 metres from the open mouth of Lake Onoke.
The lake had been opened about 11am on Tuesday morning, leaving a strong current that one Lake Ferry resident described as "like pulling the plug out of a bath tub."
Yesterday morning the pair had gone out again to retrieve the net, watched by some Lake Ferry residents who were concerned for their safety
"It's a bit ridiculous to set a net in front of the open mouth," Mr Nix said.
"Quite a few of the locals were expecting something to happen."
Palliser Marine Radio Co-ordinator Keith Allen said he received a mayday call about 7.30am after people at Lake Ferry saw the boat being swept away, and he then sent out a call on the emergency channel 4 to all fishing boats in the area.
"They were lucky they were seen going out," Mr Allen said. If they hadn't been seen, the situation would have been completely different."
About five boats responded, and the first to arrive on the scene was the Stryker, who found the upturned boat about an hour later.
The Stryker's captain, Brett Churcher, said as they pulled in the net, still wrapped around the propeller, he expected to find two people wrapped up in it.
The boat was found about 1km offshore.
Half an hour later the man and his daughter were found, after almost 2 hours in the ocean.
Mr Churcher said even with four experienced fishermen it was hard to spot the missing boaters.
"They were both lucky," Mr Churcher said.
"Another ten minutes and I think they might have been gone."
Mr Churcher said the crew thought they had been looking for two men.
"I expected two guys," Mr Churcher said. "When the little girl was picked up it changed everything, you know."
Mr Churcher said there had not been much showing of the
"We pulled them up, and got blankets on them and stripped their clothes off.
"He wasn't too bad. He still had his wits about him. The little girl was going in and out of consciousness."
A Lake Ferry resident said there should be signs warning people not to fish near the mouth when it was open.
On a lake, the man said, instead of waves there were troughs of water, which a boat could get trapped in and capsize. With a northwest wind, like yesterday, the situation could become even worse.