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A summer of accidents
by JO MCKENZIE-MCLEAN – Saturday, 31 January 2009
Who knows what goes through people's minds when they set off into the bush dressed only in shorts and a T-shirt, carrying a bottle of whiskey?
Or setting off for a tramp with bad weather forecast? Or taking children out to sea in a boat without enough lifejackets, enough fuel and no working radio?
Water Safety New Zealand general manager Matt Claridge said it had been the nature of incidents that was most concerning this summer.
"They have typically been recreation-based activities resulting in most incidents, which basically means they are preventable. They are based on skills, knowledge and attitude," he said.
Among the dead were eight swimmers, including New Zealand Warriors rugby league player Sonny Fai, who drowned while rescuing his younger brother from a rip at Bethells Beach in Auckland.
There have been 23 drownings since December 1, including 18 (five up on last year) this month.
"A common theme shared by those involved in accidents this summer has been ignorance of basic safety precautions, such as failure to carry lifejackets, failure to carry reliable communications, not bothering to check the weather and too much alcohol, which are still the four leading causes of recreational boating deaths in New Zealand," he said.
Maritime New Zealand manager of recreational boating, Jim Lott, said boating fatalities were also a worry, with eight recreational boating fatalities since December 1, compared with one for the same time last year.
"Taking a little bit of extra time to check the forecast or that you've got the right safety gear on board before going out could save your life and spare your loved ones a lot of potential heartache later on.
Genevieve Lewis, 9, was killed by a boat on Lake Taupo."
Boating deaths this summer have included jet-boat driver Laurence Singleton, 51, and passenger Anton Oskar Woitasek, 34, who were killed in a collision with a jet ski while fishing on the Kawarau River near Queenstown.
Claridge said the "lucky survival" of five boaties two men and three children at sea off Maketu, northeast of Te Puke, was an example of people being ill-prepared. She was water-skiing behind her parents' boat and died after she was hit by another boat while waiting in the water for her parents to turn around and pick her up.
"The fact is they weren't prepared and they ignored the basic fundamentals for heading out on the water.
The group was rescued after about 40 hours in rough seas and a search involving five boats, two helicopters and several planes. The families are very lucky not to be counting the cost of the dead," Claridge said. The families are very lucky not to be counting the cost of the dead," Claridge said.
Maritime incidents had jumped dramatically, with 51 incidents on the water in January, compared with 19 last January, Seward said.
There had been a "significant increase" in the number of searches in December and January, with 299 incidents compared with 208 for the same months the previous year.
Land Search and Rescue (LandSAR) chairman and Wanaka Search and Rescue volunteer Phil Melchior said search teams were on track to have a "record season" of callouts.
"This includes two Napier boaties who had to be rescued after a drinking session saw them take a friend's boat out without telling anyone where they were going and failing to take any safety equipment," he said.
Two operations in Mt Aspiring National Park had highlighted reckless behaviour, Melchior said.
"As far as Wanaka is concerned, this summer we have had worked 800 volunteer hours that's a huge amount," he said.
She had tackled a track for experienced trampers, believing it would offer a shortcut between Wanaka and Queenstown.
In January, a 20-year-old Adelaide backpacker was "woefully ill-prepared" when she needed rescuing after spending nine days in a remote hut, surviving on Weet-Bix, muesli bars and powdered milk.
Irina Yun, 36, of Auckland, went into Mt Aspiring National Park on New Year's Eve, ignoring warnings not to go because of a bad-weather forecast, Melchior said.
This was despite the track's brochure warning the mountainous trail should not be tackled by inexperienced trampers.
Searchers spent between 350 and 400 man-hours searching for Yun, with no success.
Searchers spent between 350 and 400 man-hours searching for Yun, with no success.
Her damaged pack was found in a gorge in the Dart River, below the Dart Hut, and it is believed Yun was swept away while attempting to cross one of the several creeks that flow into the Dart.
Another search that sparked criticism from rescuers was near Punakaiki, on the West Coast, when three men two Irishmen and a Kiwi got stuck on a steep bluff.
They had set out on the walk wearing only shorts and T-shirts and carrying a bottle of whiskey. Thirty volunteers, including two dog teams, were brought in, along with a helicopter.
"There have been high-profile (searches), but there have also been a succession of relatively minor ones," Melchior said.
There had been about 30 incidents so far this summer for the Wanaka LandSAR teams, he said.
"I would say, in terms of searches, stupidity and a genuine lack of awareness is a fairly high factor," he said.
"In terms of accidents, it is not so much a factor these things just happen. But when you take a situation like Irina Yun, it was a wholly avoidable situation. She was undertaking a tramp in weather it shouldn't be done in, and she was advised of that."
People should not be put off outdoor activities; they just had to take basic precautions, Melchior said.
"The last thing we want to do is put people off going into the mountains or hills. If anything, we want to encourage more of it," he said.
"But you can have a safe trip and much better experience if you take basic precautions. Then, if something does go wrong, your chances of getting rescued and found very quickly are massively enhanced."
Basic precautions include:
Tell people where you are.Understand the nature of the tramp you are going to be on and be reasonably confident you are up to it. .
If you are doubtful about doing something, such as crossing a river don't do it.
People should carry an emergency locator beacon and are reminded that the 121MHz and 243MHz beacons will not be picked up from tomorrow.
Publicity campaigns have advised people they need to upgrade to 406MHz beacons.
Historically, February is a busy month for water and land rescues.
"February is still usually our second or third-highest month for drownings," Claridge said.
"It's still summer.
"People are still heading to the beach, river or lakes to cool off.
Fishing is still pretty popular and fishing brings with it a large number of drownings each year," he said.