3.00pm
Three fishermen survived a freezing night on a small island in the Hauraki Gulf last night after their boat was swamped and sank.
The men spent the night on the island east of Waiheke Island until they flagged down a passing boat in daylight and were rescued.
The three men, all in
their mid 20s, left Kawakawa Bay at the top of the Firth of Thames about 8pm on a fishing trip to Waiheke Island.
Coastguard duty officer Dean Lawrence said conditions were "miserable" and a wind warning was in force when the men left.
He said the 4.5m boat was believed to have been swamped by a wave and sank, taking with it lifejackets and communications gear.
"They were lucky they got ashore."
He said Tarahiki Island, where the men spent the night, was "basically a lump of rock".
"It is a very inhospitable rock. It rises straight out of the sea and there is no real landing point there at all."
Mr Lawrence said the three were virtually clinging to the side of the rock until they were rescued today.
He said an aircraft was about to take off, the police helicopter Eagle was refuelling and the police launch Deodar was heading to the area when news of the rescue came through.
"Just in the nick of time they curtailed a rather expensive search," Mr Lawrence said.
- NZPA
