A kayaker is lucky to be alive, Coastguard says, after he was plucked from large waves and cold water on the Maketu Bar on Saturday afternoon.
Coastguard Maketu volunteers sprung into action about 3pm when a person driving past shouted out their window that someone had capsized on the bar, off the coast of Tauranga.
"The man was about 30 to 40 metres away from his kayak," said Coastguard Maketu president Shane Beech. "The outgoing force of water over the bar meant he was trapped in the surf break and getting hammered by the waves.
"There was no way he could swim to safety, he was in desperate trouble."
Six crew jumped on a rescue vessel and reached the man in "mere minutes", finding him in "bad shape - extremely cold and having swallowed a lot of water".
"Another couple of minutes and I think it would have been a very different outcome this afternoon," Beech said. "This is a rescue our volunteers can be very proud of, there is no doubt they saved a life today."
Eighty-two people drowned in New Zealand in 2019, Water Safety NZ statistics show. Six were in the non-powered boat category.
