Seven flung into Hauraki Gulf after boat blast

Press, 30 December 1985, Page 6

Seven flung into Hauraki Gulf after boat blast

PA Auckland Seven people flung into the Hauraki Gulf when their boat exploded at the weekend feared they would drown until a yachtsman took them aboard his rubber dinghy. “I was gone,” said one, Mr Charlie Nathan, after being pulled from rough water by the hair, taken to shore, and flown to hospital by helicopter for treatment of exposure. His mother, Mrs Kathy Hough, was lashed by flames when the 6m runabout’s engine exploded off Beachlands, south-east of Auckland, on Saturday evening. As members of the family were flung off or jumped from the blazing vessel, Mrs Hough had to force herself through flames near the front of the boat to escape. The group had been in the boat about five minutes after setting out from Beachlands on a fishing trip.

“It was an enormous explosion,” said Mr Mark Hough, aged 21, of Te Atatu. “We thought we were all

dead.” He and his uncle tried to fight the flames as the other five jumped overboard. However, the heat was too intense.

The group tried to grab debris from the blazing boat and support one another in the water. Mr Hough estimated they were in the water for about 15 minutes before help arrived from a nearby yacht. “It was lucky that fellow was in that boat and saw us.”

The yachtsman went to the tiring people in a small rubber dinghy with a motor attached, and plucked them aboard.

Mr Nathan considered he fared worst of the group. “I was out,” he said. “I kept going out because I couldn’t hold my head above the waves. The last thing I saw was the rubber dinghy in the distance.”

Lifejackets were stored in the bow section of the runabout which was ablaze before the group could reach them.

The trip to shore in the

rubber dinghy was slow because the combined weight of the yachtsman and his seven passengers almost submerged it. Water washed over its engine, cutting it out.

When Auckland Volunteer Coast Guard, Howick Sea Rescue and Maraetai Boat Club vessels got to the scene the boat had burned to the waterline. Its petrol tank had not exploded. Mr Nathan was flown by helicopter to Middlemore Hospital for treatment of exposure. Mrs Hough went by ambulance for treatment of arm and leg bums. Both were treated and discharged. Another seven people were rescued from a capsized runabout in the Waitemata Harbour near North Head yesterday afternoon.

An Auckland Volunteer Coast Guard spokesman said the 4m vessel was overturned about 3.30 p.m. He said a yacht club vessel went to the crew’s assistance and took them to shore. Nobody was injured or needed treatment.