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Alden Williams/Stuff
The West Coast Coastguard boat, the Ivan Talley Rescue (File photo).
Seven Coastguard volunteers were injured, including one person who had to be airlifted from a boat, while crossing a notorious West Coast river bar.
After a training exercise at sea, the Ivan Talley Rescue boat was crossing the Grey River bar around 10.15am on Saturday when it was unexpectedly hit by a large wave.
All seven crew members were injured and power to both engines was lost.
The wave caused the boat to “broach”, meaning it lost control and dramatically changed course into the wind.
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A bar is an underwater build up of silt, sand and mud at the entrance to a harbour or river. As the open water becomes shallow, waves can become steep and dramatically increase in height.
“The very nature of a bar creates swells that can move in unpredictable ways and often at unpredictable speeds”, a Coastguard spokesperson said.
MARTIN DE RUYTER/STUFF
A Coastguard Nelson crew trains at Port Nelson with the Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter crew using the rescue helicopter’s winch.
The Grey River bar is particularly dangerous. According to Te Ara, the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, between 1985 and 1993 eight people died when boats capsized crossing the Grey River bar.
After the incident, one engine was able to be restarted, and the boat was taken out to deeper waters where the injuries could be assessed.
The decision was then made to take the boat 100km north to Westport, where it was safer to get the crew into the harbour with just one engine.
All seven volunteers suffered minor injuries but almost nine hours after the initial incident the condition of one crew member deteriorated and the Nelson Rescue Helicopter was called.
GEORGE HEARD/STUFF/Stuff
The Grey River, looking out to sea (File photo).
They were “generally in a lot of pain”, the Coastguard spokesperson said.
That crew member was airlifted off the Ivan Talley and taken to Grey Hospital around 7pm.
Ten and a half hours after the incident the remaining six crew members finally arrived in Westport.
All seven crew members have now returned home and are doing well, the spokesperson said.
The incident highlighted the unpredictable nature of a bar and why it’s important that people wear life jackets, stop and observe the bar beforehand and know their limits when it comes to crossing, they added.
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