Source: Radio New Zealand
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A Northland man who took his small boat into dangerous seas to rescue a yacht skipper says the conditions were “pretty hairy” and that his own vessel could easily have capsize too.
The police were called to the incident near Elizabeth Reef at around 5:10pm on Tuesday.
Coastguard National Operations Centre confirmed it received reports from members of the public about the capsized yacht.
A spokesperson said the person onboard was assisted by a nearby vessel, so Coastguard Tutukaka was not required to launch.
That nearby vessel belonged to Gordon Pengelly.
Pengelly was on his deck on Tuesday afternoon when he noticed a catamaran sailing past Elizabeth Reef in rough weather.
“It was so windy and rough I was thinking, ‘What are they doing out there?'” he said.
“It went down and back up and down again, and on the third time it didn’t come back up. I thought, ‘Oh, there’s something wrong there.'”
Pengelly, who said he was a confident boatie and longtime lifeguard, launched his boat and took his neighbour Dale with him.
Malcolm Pullman
“I told him this is going to be pretty hairy,” he said. “I’m a long-term lifeguard from the west coast at Muriwai and I know my limitations. If it got too dangerous, I wouldn’t push it.”
The pair alerted Coastguard to what they were doing and kept in touch along the way.
About two to three kilometres offshore, they located the overturned catamaran.
The capsized catamaran drifting towards Sandy Bay at dusk on Tuesday evening. Malcolm Pullman
One hull was submerged, the other on its side. The skipper was sitting on the centre section, trying to get his dinghy.
“I backed up about three or four metres and said, ‘You have to swim out to me’.
“Dale grabbed him and we pulled him onboard.”
Pengelly said the skipper told him he was the only person on board and did not appear to be in shock.
“He’s an experienced yachtie,” he said. “Pretty bulletproof.”
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The skipper’s dog, Rimu, had been onboard too wearing a bright orange life jacket but jumped from the dinghy and was last seen swimming toward shore.
Despite the conditions, Pengelly and Dale continued several kilometres along the coast searching for the dog before returning.
“I would’ve found it hard to just go straight back,” Pengelly said.
A community search for Rimu the dog continued, with locals responding to social media posts and using drones to scan the rugged coastline.
Pengelly’s generosity didn’t stop with the rescue, he opened his home to the skipper to stay the night and took him back to the catamaran, that has washed up upside down on Sandy Bay Beach, to salvage items from the vessel.
Paul Baragwanath, who alerted police to the boat and witnessed the rescue, commended Pengelly what jumping to action.
“He’s a very brave man because at any point his boat could have flipped.
“I think he’s a real hero.”
But Pengelly wouldn’t accept the title.
“I’m not a hero – it’s just in my DNA,” he said.
“When you’re a lifeguard and someone’s in trouble, you just go. But it wasn’t easy. It was fricking serious.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand