Survivors thank crews who saved their lives
One of the survivors of a dramatic search and rescue at sea credits his military training for remaining calm in a crisis and says it also meant he knew when help would be on its way.
New Zealand Army Lieutenant Colonel Steve Newman was a crew member on the yacht SV Essence, which sank about 40 kilometres off Cape Brett just hours short of reaching land on 14 October, after sailing into a storm on a trip from Fiji to New Zealand.
As the yacht sank the crew lost their location beacon and their life raft was ripped off the yacht’s deck by the enormous seas. All four ended up in the water in a battle of survival lasting about two and a half hours before they were rescued.
A Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) P-3K2 Orion, asked to assist by the National Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand, found the crew and dropped a life raft to the sailors. Soon after Lieutenant Colonel Newman and the three others were winched aboard an Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter. Tragically, one of the four, skipper Stuart Pedersen, died.
The three survivors paid an emotional visit recently to both air crews involved in the search and rescue.
“We wanted to personally thank our rescuers and let them know how grateful we are for their extraordinary efforts that day,’’ Lieutenant Colonel Newman said. “I told the crew of the Orion that without being found, you can’t be saved. They located us, deployed a life raft to us, and we were able to be rescued by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter crew.”
At one stage the Orion was on its way, the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) ship HMNZS Otago was steaming towards them, and two of the RNZN’s Seasprite helicopters had set off as back-up in case the two Westpac Rescue Helicopters sent had to turn back because of the atrocious weather conditions, Lieutenant Colonel Newman said.
“When the yacht sank and the four of us stepped off into the sea together, the waves were enormous and the wind was absolutely howling. We stayed calm and thought through what we needed to do, which was to stay together and survive. We kept communicating with each other for as long as we could until the cold and tiredness reduced this.
“When we saw the P-3K2 Orion come towards us I said, ‘Watch for the wing waggle — they’ll do that when they see us’.’’
To ensure they are well prepared in the event of a search and rescue mission, RNZAF crews routinely practise releasing stores to survivors. RNZAF aircraft captain Squadron Leader Rod Olliff said the crew had flown to the yacht’s last known location and crew members scanned the sea.
One of the survivors had a personal locator beacon but the signals from that faded in and out because of the massive swells, Squadron Leader Olliff said.
“One of the things that really helped us pinpoint their location was that Stuart had taken a SSB handheld radio with him into the water, so we were able to use signals from that to refine their position.’’
Lieutenant Colonel Newman said he was relieved when he saw the Orion appear and waggle its wings.
“Minutes later it returned and dropped a smoke flare to the sea downwind of us. The plane disappeared and then came back lower than before. It was a great sight to see four or five small parachutes deploy out the back and then one larger parachute, with the life raft.’’
The struggle to get everyone from the life raft and huge seas into the rescue helicopter was harrowing, he said.
“Everyone involved fought so hard. While Bruce (Goodwin) and I managed to get into the raft, Stuart and his wife Pamela had become so entangled in rope and unresponsive that there was no way they could clamber into the life raft and we couldn’t manage to pull them on board before the helicopter arrived about 12 minutes later. The Westpac crew had to cut the ropes and winch them up one by one.
“I was the last one to be winched aboard and my euphoria at being rescued was quickly shattered when I looked around and realised that Stuart hadn’t made it.’’
The visit with the air crews was very emotional, Lieutenant Colonel Newman said. One of the survivors, Bruce Goodwin, took along a thank you card drawn by one of his grandchildren.
“It was not just three people saved, but also a community of family and friends who are so thankful to the people who rescued us,’’ he said.
