Coastguard rescues four in wild Kaikoura seas

19 June 2010: 8.00PM - The vessel Marguerite has been recovered by Kaikoura Coastguard and taken to safe harbour.

Four people were rescued from a stricken yacht in fierce weather conditions near Kaikoura in a mission coordinated by the Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) this morning.

Three men and a woman, from Christchurch and Nelson, are safely back ashore after the rescue.

The 9-metre yacht Marguerite was 16.5 nautical miles (30km) south-east of Kaikoura, headed to Lyttelton from the Marlborough Sounds, when a large wave over the stern disabled the steering and knocked out all power to the vessel’s electronics just before 8am.

The crew activated their 406MHz emergency beacon and used a cell phone and UHF-radio to raise the alarm.

RCCNZ Search and Rescue Officer Ramon Davis said the distress call was received by Maritime Radio minutes before the signal from the yacht’s emergency positioning beacon was picked up. A Coastguard vessel was despatched from Kaikoura and reached the Marguerite just before 10am.

Kaikoura-based Search and Rescue coordinator Jack Kemp said Coastguard captain Murray Paul and a crew of four volunteers faced dangerous conditions to reach the drifting vessel, with five-metre breaking waves and 30-40 knot winds.

“They had trouble locating the yacht at first because visibility was so bad, and the yacht had to set off two flares to signal their position. It was extremely difficult to get the passengers onto Kaikoura Rescue [the Coastguard vessel].

“It was a job welldone by the volunteers, because of the sea conditions it could have been a lot worse,” Mr Kemp said.

The Coastguard vessel was met in Kaikoura by ambulance staff and two of the Marguerite’s crew were taken to Kaikoura Hospital. The skipper had a suspected broken wrist and the female passenger had a fish hook in her right buttock.

The sailors were all experienced and had the correct safety equipment on board, Mr Kemp said. The Marguerite had left Waikawa Bay, near Picton, on Friday afternoon.

A coastal navigation warning has been issued to alert vessels to the disabled yacht adrift off Kaikoura.

RCCNZ is the national coordinator for all major (Category II) search and rescue incidents within New Zealand’s search and rescue region – an area covering more than 30 million square kilometres. It responds to significant incidents on land, air and sea, and all distress alerts from emergency beacons. RCCNZ is part of Maritime New Zealand and is Government-funded to provide a 24 hour, seven day a week service.