The man was located by Kawau Rescue at about 5pm, hypothermic, disorientated and floating amongst debris from his vessel. Photo / Coastguard Volunteers onboard Kawau Rescue
The man was located by Kawau Rescue at about 5pm, hypothermic, disorientated and floating amongst debris from his vessel. Photo / Coastguard Volunteers onboard Kawau Rescue
A man has been rescued after being found hypothermic in the waters off Great Barrier Island.
Coastguard were called to the scene yesterday at about 3:45pm, after the panicking man informed his partner that his boat was quickly taking on water.
While he was unable to give specific details of where he was, his partner was able to advise Coastguard Radio that he had been heading to Sandspit from Great Barrier Island in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf.
Coastguard Air Patrol and Kawau Rescue started a search for the man which was difficult due to the large stretch of water and rough sea conditions due to the day's wind.
The man was pulled from the water by Coastguard Volunteers. Photo / Coastguard Volunteers onboard Kawau Rescue
The man was located by Kawau Rescue at about 5pm, hypothermic, disorientated and floating amongst debris from his vessel.
The Coastguard Skipper then called for medical support and the Westpac Rescue Helicopter responded from Auckland.
A paramedic was winched on to the rescue vessell and after an assessment that man was cleared for transport to Sandspit by Kawau Rescue, in a stable condition.
"This is an example of how the unexpected can happen so quickly out on the water", said Mark Leevers, Coastguard Duty Officer. "The man was prepared in that he was wearing his lifejacket and had recently purchased flares and an EPIRB [emergency beacon] from Trade Me as we understand it the previous week."
The incident was a reminder of the importance of carrying appropriate forms of communication, he said.
"The VHF Radio continues to be number one for us as far as communications goes as if we can't hear the person in trouble it makes an efficient search and rescue effort more difficult.
"The area between Great Barrier Island and Sandspit is vast and it's just fortunate that Coastguard Volunteers located him when they did."
While the man had deployed his EPIRB which had activated the Rescue Coordination Centre, the beacon was actually registered to its previous owner with no GPS fitted -- and this required additional time for another pass of the satellite to provide a location, Mr Leever said.
"What was really pleasing to rescuers was that he was wearing a lifejacket," he added. "Coastguard crew believe had he have been there much longer the outcome could have been very different."
