Unexpected call for fishermen

Press, 25 September 1987, Page 5

Unexpected call for fishermen

By YVONNE MULDER Three Hawke Bay fishermen will make an unexpected call at Lyttelton this morning.

The men were taken off their fishing boat Newfish 2 about 14km east of Cape Kidnappers when the boat started taking in water yesterday. They were rescued by the Ecuadorean cargo vessel, Islas Galapagos, on her way to Lyttelton to deliver a load of bananas.

The three men, Messrs Terry Lay, of Hastings, Mike Hardy, of Napier, and Grant Canty, of Napier, are due to arrive at 6 a.m.

The Napier Harbourmaster, Captain George Gunn, said the watchtower received the mayday call at 8.20 a.m. yesterday. A general call was put out to all trawlers in the area, and the Wellington marine radio contacted the 6625-ton Islas Galapagos sailing south from Auckland. A search and rescue aircraft directed the Islas Galapagos to the fishing boat. Strong westerly winds made it difficult for the fishing boat to be seen, said Captain Gunn. Three other fishing boats went to the aid of Newfish 2 after the crew

were taken off, and eventually the Newfish 1 managed to tow the boat back to Napier.

Two helicopters were on standby at Waimarama Beach but they were not required, said Senior-Ser-geant Graeme Sawyer, of the Napier police. The aircraft had an inflatable liferaft ready to drop to the crew, and the crew already had their own liferaft alongside the boat.

The Newfish 2 arrived back at Napier about 4 p.m. yesterday. Marine surveyors went aboard to try to establish why the. boat had taken in water.