{"id":197348,"date":"2025-12-23T02:16:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T02:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/197348\/"},"modified":"2025-12-23T02:16:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T02:16:09","slug":"coastguard-issues-summer-boating-safety-alert-after-near-fatal-lake-rotoiti-rescue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/197348\/","title":{"rendered":"Coastguard issues summer boating safety alert after near-fatal Lake Rotoiti rescue"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"vUWuwjCGukMuO\" style=\"display:none\">Without the crucial life preservers, the brothers used two bags and a seat cushion to stay above the water as they awaited rescue.<\/p>\n<p class=\"vUWuwjCGukMuO\" style=\"display:none\">Coastguard volunteers pulled the two out of the lake more than an hour later after the other three people managed to swim to shore.<\/p>\n<p class=\"vUWuwjCGukMuO\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cWe\u2019ve learned a lesson, and I have to say it was a lesson we were extremely lucky to survive\u201d, Ian said, reflecting that the accident had changed his life forever.<\/p>\n<p><img  alt=\"The Lake Rotoiti incident saw Coastguard rescue the two men after an hour-long wait in the waters. Photo \/ Coastguard NZ\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>The Lake Rotoiti incident saw Coastguard rescue the two men after an hour-long wait in the waters. Photo \/ Coastguard NZ<\/p>\n<p class=\"vUWuwjCGukMuO\" style=\"display:none\">Coastguard Rotorua Lakes volunteer Jonathan Findon said Ian\u2019s experience was a good reminder of how a seemingly simple save can go awry.<\/p>\n<p class=\"vUWuwjCGukMuO\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cThey were lucky to be alive &#8211; this is a classic case of good intentions going wrong. The boaties who attempted the tow did their best to help, but, unfortunately, it ended with both vessels at the bottom of the lake.<\/p>\n<p class=\"vUWuwjCGukMuO\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cThis is exactly where a Coastguard membership proves its worth. Instead of relying on another passing boatie, members get 24\/7 free non-urgent assistance, avoiding situations like this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"vUWuwjCGukMuO\" style=\"display:none\">Findon urged Kiwis to wear lifejackets while boating this summer and recommended calling Coastguard at *500 in any emergency.<\/p>\n<p class=\"vUWuwjCGukMuO\" style=\"display:none\">Volunteers responded to 1269 incidents on the water last summer, seeing a 26% rise in life-threatening situations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"vUWuwjCGukMuO\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cSummer is a time to make fun, happy memories \u2013 boating, jet skiing, kayaking &#8211; but sadly, too many people aren\u2019t making it home after a day on the water,\u201d Coastguard CEO Carl McOnie said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"vUWuwjCGukMuO\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cBy always wearing a lifejacket, carrying two forms of waterproof communication, and making a trip report &#8211; especially when crossing a bar &#8211; you give our volunteers the best chance to reach you quickly and bring you home safely.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Without the crucial life preservers, the brothers used two bags and a seat cushion to stay above the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":197349,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[74,41242,21933,121774,18247,121775,35631,121776,8532,47753,6101,305,42,121778,33262,1452,13207,40484,12782,16507,65795,43,8527,121773,6302,121777,33040,312,14625,9348,1361,40,38,41,39,35146,2201,1316,25152],"class_list":["post-197348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-after","tag-alert","tag-bags","tag-boatie","tag-boating","tag-clutching","tag-coastguard","tag-cushion","tag-ended","tag-extremely","tag-good","tag-have","tag-headlines","tag-horribly","tag-hour","tag-issues","tag-lake","tag-learned","tag-lesson","tag-lucky","tag-nearfatal","tag-news","tag-rescue","tag-rotoiti","tag-safety","tag-samaritan","tag-sank","tag-says","tag-summer","tag-survived","tag-that","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-vessel","tag-went","tag-when","tag-wrong"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}