A man has suffered a nasty gash from a boat propeller after falling out of a vessel at Muriwai Beach this afternoon.
The man, in his 20s, had taken out a mini thundercat inflatable vessel with two others when the accident happened about 1.45pm.
A spokesman for the Muriwai Volunteer Lifeguard Service said the victim had suffered "quite a deep cut'' from his upper thigh to his abdomen.
"They were taking a small inflatable out and they managed to flip it.
"[The cut] was deep and it was large. It cut through the abdominal.''
The spokesman said the vessel did not have a prop guard - which could have prevented the accident.
An ambulance and rescue helicopter service was called to the scene.
The man was in a stable condition when he was airlifted to North Shore Hospital for treatment.