One man is dead and another is recovering from head injuries and hypothermia after a boating accident near Kairakau Beach, in Central Hawke's Bay, yesterday.
The 50-year-old drowned when the open aluminium boat he and another man, 52, were in was swamped with water 100m from shore at
Te Apiti, about 1km north of Kairakau Beach.
Police said it was a tragedy that could have been avoided had the two Hastings men been wearing the life jackets that were in the boat with them.
Sergeant Ross Gilbert, of Central Hawke's Bay, said the men had gone out about 4pm to pull in a set net, and while in the bay the boat was swamped by a wave 100m from shore.
The pair were thrown into the water, which Mr Gilbert said was "rough", and the man drowned attempting to make it back to shore.
"They were in the water for about 20 minutes," Mr Gilbert said.
"Neither man was wearing lifejackets but they were in the boat."
A third man who was in the party but had stayed on shore, attempted to rescue the pair with a surfboard but couldn't reach them.
"The whole circumstance (comes after) a highly publicised campaign from Water Safety New Zealand," Mr Gilbert said.
"There's not much use having them in the boat but not wearing them.
"Things happen very quickly and there's no time to put them on."
The Lowe Rescue Helicopter was called out and lifted the dead man from a rocky area below a cliff. The helicopter pilot said the swells were "reasonably big" at the time.
Water Safety New Zealand general manager Matt Claridge said incidents like this one were a timely reminder for boaties to stay vigilant at the end of the season. "There's a lot of variables that can come in with boating, and there can be a lot of complacency - that's endemic with New Zealand society and the way New Zealand indulges in recreational pursuits," Mr Claridge said.
"When it comes to the crunch it's a bit of 'she'll be right'."
He said legislation required boats to carry enough life jackets for all on board, but not that they be worn.
- HAWKES BAY TODAY
