The three men aboard the 6m Summer Wine declined to speak to the Otago Daily Times as they were being towed back to Port Chalmers, but their saviours, the crew of the cruise boat Monarch, said the smaller vessel was so close to grounding, it was saved only by thick bull kelp cushioning it from the rocks when they arrived a few minutes after the Mayday call went out.
"They were well and truly in the rocks and being a ferro cement [hull] boat, the waves would have smashed it up pretty quickly. . .
"If it had been low tide, I don't think the boat would have made it until the Polaris II arrived," Monarch skipper Sean Hesseltine said.
Monarch crewman Nigel Young said the skipper of Summer Wine looked "pretty nervous" when the Monarch arrived.
"He looked like his heart was beating a bit fast, all right."
Mr Hesseltine was able to get Monarch just close enough for Mr Young to throw a line to Summer Wine and the vessel pulled the smaller boat away from the rocks without further damage.
The University of Otago research vessel Polaris II arrived about 25 minutes later and towed Summer Wine back to Port Chalmers.
Mr Hesseltine said he understood the three men had been fishing at sea and were returning to Deborah Bay when the boat's motor died.
When the anchor failed to hold and the boat began to drifting into the rocks, its skipper sent out a Mayday call on marine radio.
Monarch, which had nearly completed a harbour cruise with tourists on board, was in the vicinity and went to the stricken vessel's aid.
A tourist on the Monarch, Whangarei woman Sue Sandford-Hill, said the rescue added some "unexpected excitement" to the cruise and was executed by Monarch crew in a professional manner.
