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floater vests – from the cabin.
He tried Crombie’s cellphone, but it was too wet. The skipper explained that his wife would raise the alarm when the boat didn’t arrive back. Or, as they drifted closer to land, he said they could swim to shore where there were baches where they could get dry and warm. There was no way of knowing if the mayday had been received.
By this stage Osborne wasn’t looking so good, all the colour had drained from her face and she looked worn out. Hindmarsh thought she’d used up her last reserves swimming out to rescue Johnston. Three months on, Johnston remembers she and Randall had locked eyes and the message that passed between them was ‘we’re done for’.
‘‘At that point,’’ recalls Osborne, ‘‘I was ready to let go. But I looked at the others and thought, I’ve got to hold on.’’
Meanwhile, the skipper was having trouble reading the instructions on the flare, due to his eyes being blurred from the petrol fumes underneath the boat. ‘‘Just set it off!’’ yelled Crombie. Then, when she saw him throw it away, she shrieked – ‘‘What are you doing?’’ He replied, pointing – ‘‘Look’’.
There, coming towards them, was Kaian, the first and smallest of the rescue boats. Two more boats arrived – the DOC boat Hananui and a fishing charter, Aurora Australis.
Ropes were thrown and they were hauled onboard. Four of the women passed out once on deck, as did Oksanen.
Johnston describes the rescue: ‘‘When that first rope got thrown, Elaine grabbed it and I grabbed the tail of it. Three guys hauled us in. It was like a Japanese whaling boat – I got pulled up onto a stainless steel slaughtering-type part of the deck. I opened my eyes and saw Elaine wrapped in blankets, then I was gone, and woke up in the medical centre.’’
Crombie says she crawled across the deck to find a seat and was grateful for the blankets.
She began vomiting when back on shore. Hindmarsh recalls shivering uncontrollably and throwing up throughout the boat trip back.
All were suffering from severe hypothermia. It was an extremely close call. They had spent nearly an hour in the water. Another few minutes and it could have been a very different outcome.
The survivors were taken to the settlement at Oban where they were loaded into a waiting ambulance and van and taken to the Stewart Island Health Centre.
They were seen to by Marty Pepers, the triage nurse, who ran from one to the other amid a buzz of community members who’d arrived with blankets, hot water bottles and soup. The women all have nothing but praise for Pepers, who they remember being run off his feet taking care of all seven survivors.
Two helicopters flew four women to Southland Hospital in Invercargill while Osborne remained on Stewart Island for the night. She was taken good care of by the proprietor of the South Sea Hotel where they had booked accommodation and left backpacks with fresh clothing.
Randall and Hindmarsh were discharged from hospital that same night, Crombie the following afternoon and Johnston the day after.
All are very relieved to have survived. They are extremely grateful to the skipper of the water taxi, whom they say did everything he could throughout the ordeal. To the Stewart Island community they give many thanks for all of their support.
Stewart Island police officer Stu Newton says the locals described the wind that day as ‘‘screaming’’ and they were surprised anyone had survived.
Back in Golden Bay, Tasman, all four women returned to warm homes with fires and food prepared by friends, neighbours and their community.
The women put their survival down to the fact that all of them except Johnston are experienced kayak and waka ama paddlers and had undergone capsizing drills.
They also swear that the layers of merino clothing they were wearing was the most important fact in their survival and their shared camaraderie.
If there are any lessons from their experience, it’s to be prepared, wear a personal locator beacon and learn water safety skills, including what to do in emergencies.
The relief for many who know the women is huge, and also pride in the now proven survival instincts of these wahine toa.
As Jo Randall says, ‘‘We showed what southern women are made of.’’