Rescue after boat sinks

A relaxing New Year’s Eve nearly turned to tragedy for a Queenstown family after their boat sank in a lake.

Mark Grieve, his daughter and three other children had to cling to a ski biscuit for about 35 minutes while other boaters came to their rescue.

Grieve had taken his family and friends out to Sunshine Bay on Lake Wakatipu, about 4 kilometres from Queenstown, on Monday.

The boat suddenly started filling with water about 7pm, after they had been in the water for two hours and while two children were on the biscuit. The crew were about 2km to 3km from the shore. ‘‘I looked around and I was like, ‘where’s that water coming from?’ I immediately took the power off the motor and realised it was coming in quite quickly,’’ Grieve said.

Everyone on board had lifejackets and the children had wetsuits on, but Grieve was wearing only shorts, a T-shirt and a lifejacket.

A boy on the shore noticed the top of the boat, alerting people on the beach that Grieve’s party was in trouble – though they managed to keep the mood light.

‘‘We were in the water cracking jokes – it’s not as traumatic as you think. We had everything right.

‘‘It’s about having safety mechanisms in place.’’

The group paddled as fast as they could towards the shore, holding on to the biscuit as they swam, until other boaters reached them.

Police came to the scene as a precaution, but an ambulance was not required, Grieve said. He was left feeling a bit cold, but the children were fine.

The boat was salvaged on Monday night.

A section of the bottom of the boat had given way, causing it to sink, but it was not yet clear why that happened.