Boaties are being reminded to carry some form of communication while at sea, after a runabout broke down on Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf overnight.
The three crew on board the boat had no way of calling for help, but were spotted waving at a searching police helicopter today after the alarm was raised when they failed to return home from a fishing trip last night.
The crew had left their cellphone in their car and had no radio or flares, Constable Kevin Stone from the police maritime unit said.
They could not tell anyone they needed help when they could not restart the motor.
Mr Stone said at the very least, they should have taken a cellphone in a resealable plastic bag on the trip.
“They would have been fine. The cellphone coverage in the Hauraki Gulf is pretty good,” he says. “It’s pretty hard not to get coverage.”
The three crew members, aged 61, 39 and 11, were towed ashore by a police launch.
3 News