Kiwi Air Force Rescue at Tonga

[GordMay]

Rescue off Tonga: (12 June, 2005)
2 female crew members have been plucked from a yacht caught in a storm near North Minerva Reef.

Two female crew members have been plucked from a yacht caught in a storm, south of Tonga. The dramatic rescue took place about 9:00 AM,on Sunday morning, after a New Zealand Airforce Orion spent much of the night searching the seas.

An Airforce Orion was sent up to check on the 'Bird of Passage' after the Rescue Co-ordination Centre was advised an emergency beacon had gone off.

Mission controller Neville Blakemore says the yacht had been sheltering at the North Minerva Reef, but the Orion found the yacht dragging anchor and without a mast or communications. Mr Blakemore says the sea conditions are still horrendous, with 50 knot (93 km/hr) winds and 8 metre (26 Ft.) seas.

Mr Blakemore says the women have been taken onboard another yacht, which is still sheltering at the reef.

[Alan Wheeler]

This morning, (tuesday) two other yachts are in the state of rescue. The yacht "Scott Free" with two Canadians aboard. They have just been lifted from their Yacht to a Container vessel. The yacht was situated about 780Kms South of Fiji.
Further north at approx 740kms south of Fiji, the Yacht "Circa" is presently in the process of Rescue. It has one Kiwi and one Sweed aboard. This yacht has been dismasted due to a roll. It's just becoming Daylight here at the point of me writing this. The RNZAF Orion searched in the night and was lead to the yachts position by a Flare. The have been circling the yacht through the night. They have special heat seeking gear onboard that enables them to spot body heat through the walls , but have not been able to see anything in either the YAcht or the 6ft Dingy being towed behind. As soon as it is light enough, they will drop a H/H VHF and try to establish comunications.
The sea conditions were 6m ruff swells over the weekend and this morning are still 4.5 to 5m ruff confused sea's. (And Man do they look nasty) The Barometer is rising and the sea slowly easing.

[Alan Wheeler]

Just to follow up the story, Both yacht crews have been rescued by the Container vessel and the ship is now on it's way to NZ with an ETA of 3 days.
The yacht "Circa" which was dismasted, experianced approx 10m(35ft) waves. The yacht "Scott Free" had it's reefed main blown to shreds.
Also, just last week, another yachtsman was picked up off a beach in Fiji, after running aground on a reef.
On average, the RNZAF Orion search Aircraft and crew, undergo some form of a Pacific rescue ruffly every 2 weeks. These last two were 11 days apart.

[GordMay]

So, this recent spate of rescue activity is unusual?
"Scot Free" & "Ciru"

Fourth Rescue for Air Force Crew
Press Release: New Zealand Defence Force - Tuesday, 14 June 2005, 2:21 pm
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0506/S00141.htm

Rescue Update - Ciru
Press Release: Maritime Safety Authority - Tuesday, 14 June 2005, 10:06 am
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0506/S00136.htm

Two people rescued, second yacht located
Press Release: Maritime Safety Authority - Tuesday, 14 June 2005, 8:16 am
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0506/S00132.htm

Rescue Under Way For 2 People Adrift In Life Raft
Press Release: National Rescue Coordination Centre - Monday, 13 June 2005, 10:13 pm
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0506/S00131.htm

Rescue Coordination Centre NZ
Press Release: National Rescue Coordination Centre - Monday, 13 June 2005, 10:09 pm
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0506/S00130.htm

[Alan Wheeler]

Ooops, that last part of my thread should have read, "these last two were 11 days apart from the previuose rescue, of the guy on the reef."

[GordMay]

Woman stitches husband's head wound as yacht founders in storm
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNew...090228-ap.html

WELLINGTON, N.Z. (AP) - A woman said Thursday she stitched a gaping wound in her husband's head without anesthetic after their yacht was wrecked by a storm in the South Pacific.

Lisa Blackwood said husband Gary's wound ran from his forehead to the back of his skull and she used all the sterile sutures in board their yacht putting in 23 stitches to stanch the blood flowing from the gash.

"My mum would be proud because I don't even knit or sew," Blackwood, 35, told the New Zealand Press Association.

She also had no medical or first aid experience.

While stitching her husband's wound must have been painful, "he was probably in a bit of shock anyway so he might have not felt it...there was no anesthetic, no nothing," she said.

The pair had set out in their yacht Scot Free to sail from New Zealand to Fiji, only to be caught in gales and huge seas about 250 kilometres from their destination - on the first leg of a round-the-world adventure.

They lost their storm sail, the engine room flooded and their radio batteries nearly went flat before an emergency beacon alerted New Zealand's Rescue Co-ordination Centre to their plight.

A Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion surveillance airplane found the stricken yacht and a nearby freighter, the Capitaine Wallis, picked up the pair early Wednesday morning.

Blackwood said they were worried the condition of Gary, 52, might deteriorate because of the cut in his head, putting both their lives in serious jeopardy.

"I had all the faith in the boat and in Gary. The only thing was with Gary's cut I wouldn't know what to do if he got sick," she said.

She said it was the right decision to abandon the Scot Free, even though it was uninsured and means they will have to start again on their dream to sail around the world.

"It was our home," Blackwood said as she struggled to hold back tears.

The couple arrived Thursday in the northern New Zealand port Auckland on the Capitaine Wallis.

[GordMay]

“Na Eala” - Any additional information, from local sources?

Wed, 29 Jun 2005 ~ American Yachtsman rescued north-east of New Zealand

An American yachtsman has been picked up from his stricken yacht, the “Na Eala”, north-east of Northland's Cape Brett.
Rescue Co-ordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) said the cargo ship "Tasman Provider" rendezvoused with the yacht, which was dismasted in bad weather and had lost engine power.
RCCNZ said yesterday afternoon the 41-year-old yachtsman was safe and well.