Still fishing after all that wind!

Who would have thought that on a dull grey Saturday with enough rain to float Noah's Ark, and winds forecast to get up to 35 knots, that we would get a callout

Just after lunch at 1300 the pager went off for a 7.7 m Rayglass off the south coast of Little Barrier with engine issues. The inboard engine and stern leg apparently gave a warning, then a big clunk and the engine was dead.

Thanks to Al being there to launch us we were quickly off in good time. Once past Māori rock we battered into a fair swell as we made our way to the customer.

Three wet people on board were still gamely fishing until they saw us arrive through the murky afternoon cloud and rain. We quickly hooked them up and checked they were going to a trailer at Omaha, had life jackets on, established comms, and off we went with a beam sea.

We got back to Omaha and quickly got them on the pontoon and after the admin we walked them round to the shore while one of their crew got the car and trailer. Three people glad to be going home, if a little wet. Back home 4.5 hours after we left, slow because of the swells and confused sea.

Many thanks to Dave, Neale and Nick for turning out. All got soaked but we put the heater on for the trip home and, while we didn’t dry out, at least we got some warmth. Left the boat with jackets etc. airing and the dehumidifier on and will sort all out tomorrow at the start of training. Home with fish and chips by 1830.