Lake Hāwea man Pete Rutherford and his brother Ian were in the right place at the right time last week when they rescued two men from a submerged boat in Otago Harbour.

The two brothers had motored from Port Chalmers to their favourite fishing spot near Papanui Beach last Wednesday (September 22) and conditions were “pretty good, pretty flat”, Pete told the Wānaka App. 

By the end of the outing, as they pulled two other men from the sea, the pair were given a stark reminder of what can go wrong at sea: “It just goes to show that even if it’s a calm day you just can’t take anything for granted.”

There was one other boat at the fishing spot when Pete and Ian arrived, and the brothers moved to the far end of the bay and turned off their radio to save the battery.

After a while Pete happened to look up and saw an orange haze. 

He and Ian looked closely and realised it was a flare. They turned on their radio and heard a mayday call, radioed to say they were on their way, and “shot off” to where the boat had been, about ten minutes away.

Pete Rutherford PHOTO: Wānaka App

When they arrived just the bow of the boat was visible and two men, a father and son, were in the water. They were wearing life jackets and holding on to a chilly bin.

The rescued men had radioed their plight using a handheld radio and hadn’t known whether their message had got through, Pete said. 

“They were only 500 metres from the shore but the currents it would be pretty hard to swim in.

“They were very quiet. They were definitely in shock.”

It took about five minutes to get the older man into the boat, using the ladder, Pete said.

Pete and Ian helped the two men dry off, collected what they could from what was floating around the capsized boat, then headed back to Port Chalmers.

Otago Regional Council harbour master Steve Rushbrook met them on the way, and told the rescued men they had done everything right.

It appeared something had gone wrong in the bilge, the boat filled with water and the men couldn’t keep up with bailing it out, Pete said.

“They did everything right and it all turned horribly wrong.”

“We were just in the right place, right time. And they would have done the same for us,” he said.

Pete and his brother always carry a radio and personal locator beacons.

Keen fisherman Pete said once he discovered ocean fishing (and blue cod) he forgot about trout. He and his local fishing buddy do have some favourite local fishing spots, but he was tight-lipped about revealing their location to the Wānaka App.