‘The yacht went under so quick’
Four people clung together in heaving seas after their vessel sank. One of them wasn’t going to make it
Exhausted but overjoyed, Bruce Goodwin thought they’d made it. Inside the rescue helicopter above turbulent seas, he sought a smile from his sailing companion Stuart Pedersen.
He didn’t get one.
It was in that moment, cold and wet, he realised his friend had died. “It’s just devastating,” he says. They were part of a sailing crew of four with Pedersen’s wife Pamela and her brother-in-law Steve, who had fought for their lives in massive seas off the coast of Northland after escaping their sinking yacht on Monday.
It was the group’s last day on board the 47-foot yacht travelling from Fiji to New Zealand.
Earlier in the day, the conditions had been reasonably calm. But as they crept closer to the Bay of Islands, the winds became stronger and the seas got “steeper and steeper”. Soon, gusts grew to beyond 40 knots and massive waves started breaking.
Then at 1pm, about 30km from Cape Brett, a surge of water broke over the yacht. Goodwin, 66, and Pedersen were swept off the vessel.
“I went under water. I’m sure Stu went under water as well. I was pulled along at a very painful rate. I was stuck in my harness for some time under water until I felt Stu pulling me back on board,” Goodwin said.
“The deck was a mess but most things were still functioning.”
Down below, Pamela and Steve were knee-deep in water.
“The yacht’s windows had been sucked out from their frames, and water from the waves was repeatedly rushing in at a rate beyond what the vessel’s pump system could handle,” Goodwin continued.
“That’s when I said we need to put out a mayday.”
Radio contact was made while Goodwin searched for the yacht’s emergency beacon and liferaft “but they must have gone out the windows, they were nowhere to be seen”.
Goodwin activated his own personal locator beacon.
“We were encouraged. We were saying ‘we can do this’,” he said.
The four gathered in the yacht’s cockpit for about 20 minutes preparing to abandon ship.
Goodwin said Pedersen and Steve, whose surname he did not know, took turns at manually pumping the bilge pump “to try to give us extra time”. “But unfortunately it got so low in the water, the bow went under.”
As water rose around them, Goodwin was first to leave.
He unclicked his harness from the yacht and dived through the water, pulling Pamela with him. The other two followed moments later. They were just in time. “When [the yacht] went under, it went so, so quick.”
Alone in the ocean, the four sailors clicked their harnesses together and waited. And then the strangest thing happened.
“An albatross came and sat beside us,” Goodwin said. “I saw it as a sign from God. I do have trust in God and [I thought] we can make it.
“We struggled with waves coming at us. We took on water and spat it out. We tried to keep each other warm and encouraged.”
About 2.45pm, through the sea spray and waves, Goodwin spotted the Air Force PC3 Orion, which dropped a liferaft.
“Oh boy, when we first saw the Orion I thought ‘you beauty!’.
“I saw this big, long, long rope with flags on it coming down. It landed quite a way from us, maybe 50m away. I swam for it as hard as I could.”
Tears welled up as Goodwin recalled: “I really didn’t think we were going to make it but the rope would get picked up and placed closer each time. Those guys in the [rescue] team knew just where to place it.”
With barely any strength left, Goodwin eventually managed to pull himself on to the lowered raft. After another big effort, Steve was next.
The two men pulled on their harness ropes to help Pamela and Pedersen get in but against the surging seas and a tangle of knots in the ropes, the mission became impossible.
“There was nothing left in us to get them in.”
Goodwin said he and Steve were reluctant to cut the ropes because of the risk of the others being swept away in the rough seas.
“I took Pamela and Steve held Stu along the liferaft.”
Goodwin doesn’t know if it was seconds, minutes or hours later that he saw the rescue helicopter arrive. By then, all four were too exhausted to talk. But they were conscious and alive.
“I got a smile from Pam,” Goodwin said.
A rescue helicopter swimmer winched Pedersen and his wife away from the raft one by one. Steve was next, then finally Goodwin.
“It was just great to get up to that helicopter.”
Wrapped in a thermal blanket and given some water, Goodwin reached out to his skipper.
“I tried to get a smile from Stu.” But it wasn’t to be. Pedersen had died before making it on board the helicopter.
Back home in rural Waihi, Goodwin’s voice cracks as he looks back on the fateful voyage.
He and Pedersen shared a love for sailing; they met four years ago as members of the Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club.
“To do something like this, we do it for pleasure. And to have such an outcome, it’s devastating.”
And he is incredibly grateful for the efforts of their rescuers.
“To be living in a country that can throw so much resource without a moment’s thought at four people who need them. There must have been no hesitation when they got our mayday and they were so prompt.
“We feel so positive and honoured to live in such a country that cares for people.”