The rescue of a diver in Cook Strait shows the importance of a plan and calling for help quickly, the boat's skipper Rob Hewitt says.
The man was found three hours after he had been due to return to his boat from a dive on on Wellington's south coast.
Police,Coastguard and a rescue helicopter searched for the man after the alert was raised at 4.30pm on Sunday, and the Maritime Rescue Centre plotted drift patterns to help locate him.
He was found about 7pm and despite being in the water for so long he was uninjured.
The boat's skipper Rob Hewitt himself survived a three-day ordeal in 2006 when he was given up for dead after being caught in a rip off the the Kāpiti Coast.
As the days went on searchers were losing hope - but after drifting for 75 hours between Mana and Kāpiti Island, enduring cold and dehydration, he was found.
Hewitt said there were three divers in the water off Wellington on Sunday and he and one other person in the boat.
Two divers surfaced with their kina catch by Devil's Gate at Red Rocks, but Hewitt said they didn't know if the third had surfaced or was still under the water. All the divers had a float and 'safety sausages' - inflatable surface maker buoys.
They spent about 10 minutes going out a bit further to search, and then made a mayday call.
Rob Hewitt, centre, the day after his sea ordeal ended on February 8, 2006, pictured with fiancee Rangi Ngatai and brother Norm Hewitt. Photo / RNZ
"He surfaced and he got caught in a current," Hewitt said. "They found him about five, six nautical miles [10-11km] from the exit point we'd discussed.
"The biggest thing is we just couldn't see where he was, and that's when we had to make the decision to [make] a mayday call."
The diver did all the right things, Hewitt said.
"He didn't panic, he ditched his weights out, he ditched his gear, and I think it was about 45 minutes into it, he inflated his safety sausage." He was also attached to a red float.
"When we spoke to him he said he came about 150m from us trying to call out but the wind was blowing in the opposite direction we were picking up the other divers, and then he just got caught ... and he just went out."
All three had had finished their open water dive course, and they'd done a dive plan for the trip, Hewitt said.
"It's just a testament to following procedures and protocols and cultural kaupapa"
Before heading out they offered a karakia.
"We made sure we had all the safety equipment, had our personal flotation devices, but then we put on our spiritual lifejacket, and we had a karakia.
"As New Zealanders we need to be in that space, on the right wavelength."
The most important message from the rescue is to call for help quickly, and not to hold off, Hewitt said.
"I think some fellas may try and hold off because they don't want to be judged."
They tried calling for help on the VHF radio but couldn't get through - they must have been in a dark spot, Hewitt said - so they used the cellphone they had on board as a backup.
'Now I know what my family went through'
Apart from making sure all on board kept a good look out, and asking himself if the diver would he have the fortitude to follow procedures, the biggest thing on his mind was the man's wife and son.
