The pair are winched to safety by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter. Photo / Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust
The pair are winched to safety by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter. Photo / Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust
Two men have been pulled from the ocean after their boat sank off the Coromandel coast.
The Westpac Rescue Helicopter 3 was alerted around 10.30am Wednesday after a distress beacon had been set off near Shoe Island off Tairua.
Air crew officer Tinny Cannell said they had "a little bitof weather to deal with" as they headed down the coast.
"As we tracked out toward Shoe Island we managed to pick up the distress beacon and about 10 seconds later we saw there was an upturned vessel in the water."
The two men were rescued off the coast of Tairua. Photo / Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust
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Two people were rescued off the coast of Tairua. Photo / NZME
"It sounds like they had a wave they weren't expecting. There was the odd big wave out there yesterday but sounded like a particularly big one swamped that vessel."
Cannell said the salvage operation was ongoing as of Wednesday afternoon.