Four boaties had a lucky escape when two other vessels saw their boat capsize in the Hauraki Gulf today.
Coastguard spokesman Mike Buddle said the two other boats rushed to help when they saw the four boaties in the water. Each boat picked up two people, all believed to be adults.
All four were wearing lifejackets and Buddle said "I don't believe they were in the water very long".
He said one of the rescue boats called the Coastguard at 9.52am. Coastguard North Shore and Auckland Coastguard's Lion Foundation Rescue both arrived within 20 minutes.
Buddle said the boat that capsized was a 5.5-metre aluminium Surtees power boat. It is not yet known why it capsized.
"We are just glad that they were wearing lifejackets," he said.
"It's important to wear them at all times out on the water in case the unexpected happens. It can be very hard to get a lifejacket on when you're already in trouble in the water."
The boaties were lucky the incident happened in mid-summer at a spot, about halfway between Waiheke and Tiritiri Matangi, where there are a lot of boats around at this time of year.
"The Noises is a pretty popular boating spot so there are a lot of boats out there," Buddle said.
He said the boat was righted and the Lion Foundation Rescue craft towed it back to Takapuna.