Harbourmaster to chide capsize survivors

Queenstown's harbourmaster plans to "chew on the ears'' of two Kingston men whose boat capsized in Lake Wakatipu on Saturday night.

Marty Black said the small outboard boat overturned 2km north of Kingston about 10pm, while the men were returning from a day trip to the resort.

After swimming ashore they were found by a Kingston boat-owner who began a search after hearing about the missing boat.

One of the men was taken to Lakes District Hospital for treatment for hypothermia.

Mr Black said he was trying to contact the men, who were aged about 30, to talk about boat safety.

"Travelling in a small boat in the late afternoon all the way to Kingston with a limited amount of fuel and probably no other safety gear other than life jackets on board is pretty dumb really.''

It was fortunate the lake was calm and there was no wind, allowing the searching boat owner to hear the men's voices in the dark.

He was unsure if they were wearing life jackets.

By chance, he had spoken to the men in Queenstown earlier in the day while they were refuelling their boat.

He learned they had run out of fuel in Queenstown Bay and had to swim the boat ashore.

Senior Sergeant James Ure, of Dunedin police, said the men could not be reached on their mobile phones after the incident because the batteries were flat.

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