An Australian couple say they're "very thankful" to New Zealand rescue crews and lucky to be alive after their yacht struck a whale and sank over the weekend.
Four sailors — two Australians, a New Zealander and a French national — were rescued from Australian-flagged vessel Tai Tam on Sunday after it struck a whale and began sinking 250 nautical miles north of Norfolk Island.
The crew spent hours in a life raft before being picked up, with rescuers praising their quick emergency beacon activation.
Now safely back in their Melbourne home, "keen sailors" Jeremy and Jemma Cooper told Breakfast how their sailing trip to New Zealand turned into a fight for survival.
Sailors Jeremy and Jemma Cooper recounted their ordeal to Breakfast after their yacht struck a whale and began to sink over the weekend. (Source: Breakfast)
"We sailed our yacht across to New Zealand around Easter and put it in the Bay of Islands marina, and then we sailed it up to Fiji early in July, and we had three months cruising around the Fijian Islands.
"We were really on our way to put it back into Opua. We were about halfway back, and then just out of the blue a massive collision with a whale," Jeremy explained.
Jemma said Jeremy was having a rest down in the starboard berth when she heard "this huge hit".
"I was on the helm, it was a beautiful day. The sea state was settling down, and [we were] knocked sideways. Everyone in the cockpit, the two other crew as well, were just knocked sideways, and there was just this wrenching sound, and then no control whatsoever at the helm, completely locked off," Jemma said.
The couple said they were convinced it was a pod of "enormous" sperm whales which caused the "catastrophic damage to the boat".
"We sort of spent the first half an hour just assessing the damage, trying to get the boat under control. We had two other crew: one New Zealander, a guy called Terry Hetherington, who's on his way back today, and a French guy, Martin Jaffray, but between the four of us we got the boat under control and assessed the damage," Jeremy said.
"Our crew members, Martin and Terry, who are fantastic, you know, assessing damage, trying to stem flow, getting pumps going and just sort of buying as much time so we could make some decisions," Jemma said.
"But yes, we're very lucky," she said.
Jeremy said it was "pretty obvious the whole situation was unrecoverable", and triggered the EPERBS.
"Within half an hour we were talking to New Zealand Rescue Services," he said.
He added: "We wanted to keep the boat afloat for as long as possible to put off the time we had to get in the life raft."
The crew were then guided by a New Zealand Air Force aircraft that stayed overhead for hours.
The next morning, the aircraft helped direct a cargo ship to the sailors' location, rescuing them from their life raft and bringing them safely aboard.
The couple thanked the rescue crews, saying they "wouldn't be sitting here" if it wasn't for the fast-acting Kiwi teams.
"The whole thing was superbly executed, and so again, just we're super thankful to to New Zealand for making it all happen," Jeremy said.
"We're very thankful to New Zealand for the fact that we're able to be back here."
The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including Opportunity's challenge to National, and a big milestone for the world's tallest bridge. (Source: 1News)
SHARE ME