Pair hauled out of Wairarapa sea

Two lucky men were saved after they were swept out to sea from Ocean Beach at the weekend.

Life Flight responded to the incident about 11am on Saturday, with a Wellington Free Ambulance paramedic on board the Westpac Rescue Helicopter.

The men had been in a boat which capsized and were being swept out to sea but had a marine radio with them.

In the water, they called the helicopter on their portable radio and were able to direct it towards their location as it approached the search area. Both men were wearing wetsuits and were clinging to debris from their boat.

A rescue swimmer was lowered into the sea and then accompanied each man, one after the other, as they were winched into the helicopter.

The helicopter landed on nearby Ocean Beach, where the paramedic assessed them.

"Good safety equipment - including a portable radio and wetsuits - certainly helped these guys," said Life Flight crewman Julian Burn.

"The nearest boat was still quite a way out, so these guys were pretty lucky we got there as quickly as we did," he said.

The Upper Hutt men were slightly hypothermic but did not need to spend any time in hospital.