Cyclone Vaianu windsurfer: Coastguard scolds Napier thrillseekers ignoring beach bans
Authorities say they’re disappointed in the number of Hawke’s Bay thrillseekers who decided to venture near Cyclone Vaianu’s waves on Sunday.
Coastguard Hawke’s Bay and skipper Matt Harvey was alerted to a windsurfer near Westshore at about high tide at 12.45pm on Sunday.
MetService said offshore Napier waves hit an estimated 3.7m on Sunday afternoon. By midnight, they were expected to have lowered to 2m.
On the exposed eastern coast of Mahia, 6.5m swells were recorded on Sunday afternoon, but were also expected to ease, MetService said.
Harvey said callers to police and Napier City Council were worried the windsurfer was in trouble because he was repeatedly falling off his board and coming ashore only to be blown back out.
Knowing the weather was forecast to deteriorate further in the hour or two after, Harvey made the call to activate his crew to go out and reach him.
But just as the boat was set to depart, Harvey learned that the windsurfer had made it back to shore south of the Westshore Surf Life Saving Club.
“I went around to have a conversation with him,” he said.
The windsurfer told Harvey he was highly experienced.
“You can be the most experienced person in the world at something, that doesn’t mean it won’t go wrong,” Harvey said.
He explained to the windsurfer that people had flooded 111 with calls and that he’d dragged his crew away from their homes to come to save him.
“It’s what we’re here for, it’s what we do, but for someone to actually go and put themselves in that position to then put our crews in those situations is just not appreciated.”
Harvey said two people were also seen on bodyboards in the Napier inner channel next to Perfume Point.
The incident involved at least two police vehicles, people from Napier City Council Emergency Management Team plus the Coastguard crew.
Harvey said the number of people going near the water “for a photo” on Sunday was sad.
“If that one thing that they just cannot control goes wrong, the amount of emergency services that that puts at risk, it’s just incredible.”
“Our crew would like to stay home with their families too.”
Napier City Council said residents needed to stay off all beaches and coastal paths during the cyclone.
The council said people should not be surfing, swimming or fishing and they should avoid viewing waves from shorelines or exposed areas.
“These conditions can change quickly and become life-threatening without warning.”
About 25 minutes earlier, police were called to Marine Parade as onlookers jumped the fence to the closed viewing platform, with video capturing them being splashed by waves.
Police said upon arrival, they found people in the area, who were given safety advice about the warnings and advisories in place.