Gone bush on Great Barrier
Perspectives and insights from both the responders and subject person of a maritime SAR job that became a land operation.
At approximately 1pm on Sunday, 28 July 2024, John Ogden set off in his sea kayak from Medlands Beach, Great Barrier Island. John was 82 years old and quite familiar with the area. He was an experienced paddler, who was equipped with a wetsuit and personal locator beacon. His plan was a day trip past Shakespeare Point, then south along the coast before returning the same way.
"When I set off, conditions were sunny and clear, with light northerly winds," says John. But after lunch at his destination, the winds had picked up to around 20 kilometres per hour, with one metre high waves. As he returned northwards up the coast, John was about 500 metres offshore to avoid reflected waves from the rocky coastline. "I'd paddled in these sorts of conditions frequently, so I wasn't worried. However, hip pain from osteoarthritis flared up unexpectedly, which meant I couldn't control the kayak properly. I didn't want to be tipped over out there, so I turned and let the wind and waves help me to the safety of a rocky beach." John pulled his kayak up above the high-tide mark and began to walk back to his car by climbing over the Oruawharo high point then following the Kowhai Valley track. The route was steep and scrubby, which made for slow progress. When darkness fell around 6pm, he continued very slowly without a torch.
John had given his intentions to his wife, with an estimated return time of 6pm. As he was overdue and away from his intended route, he decided to activate his personal locator beacon. However, John suffers from Raynaud's syndrome, which results in numb fingers in cold conditions.
"Although I knew how to activate my beacon, the mechanism was awkward. In the dark with numb fingers, I simply couldn't do it."
John's wife reported him overdue to local Police around 7.30pm and at 8pm a SAR operation began. The Police Maritime Unit vessel Deodar III and the Police Eagle Helicopter departed from Auckland. "At night, with increased northerly wind and rough seas, we expected the transit time to be about two and a half hours," says Sergeant Kevin Stone who was Incident Controller onboard Deodar III. "So once we were underway, we contacted Coastguard Great Barrier Island to see if they could respond sooner than us."
Coastguard volunteers launched from Tryphena harbour in good time and motored to the search area. Meanwhile, the Eagle helicopter crew were at the scene, and discovered a kayak on the rocky shore around 9pm. They asked Coastguard to investigate, but their vessel couldn't land due to the onshore winds and rough sea conditions. However, Coastguard determined the kayak had been intentionally pulled above the high-tide mark.
"In that area, radio communications with all the assets is a challenge," says Kevin. "But mobile phone coverage is reason-able, so images of John's kayak could be sent to us and to Eagle." That allowed the Eagle crew to confirm that the kayak definitely belonged to the missing person.
"We were very confident the missing person was no longer in the water, but he was not near the kayak. After a thorough discussion with our Tāmaki Makaurau SAR Squad colleagues, the decision was made to suspend the maritime operation and begin a land operation," says Kevin. Once incident control was handed over, Deodar III left the scene.
Senior Constable Steve Webb and Constable Pat Forde were flown to the scene in the Eagle helicopter. "After we relocated the kayak, the aircrew used their thermal imaging camera and found the man fairly quickly," says Pat. "Using the helicopter's loudspeaker, we told him to stay put."
The two officers performed a hover egress to a rock on the scrubby hillside, about 100 metres away. The officers reached John, who was in good spirits, but cold and wet. It was deemed too risky to attempt a hover ingress with John at night and with the pain in his hips, so Eagle returned to base and the Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter was tasked to do a winch recovery. On arrival at the scene the helicopter crew decided that conditions were unsuitable to conduct the winch at that time, so they developed a plan for the officers to escort John to a better spot on the ridge top and try again at first light.
“It was really thick bush and slow going, but after three hours we made it to a good spot,” says Pat. “We set up our tent fly for shelter from the wind and developing showers, then waited till the morning.” At first light, John was winched up with a helicopter medic and flown to Aotea (Great Barrier Island) Health Centre at Claris. The officers were picked up and flown to Auckland.
Thank you to John Ogden for sharing his experience with us for this article.
Survivor reflections
After the incident, John wrote an account for the local newspaper, Aotea Advocate.
The account had a range of personal insights and recommendations, but began with a grateful acknowledgment to the responders involved.
“First and foremost – “thank you” to all those who helped get me out of the situation into which I had put myself and supported [my wife] as she worried about me. In particular I thank the Police who were dropped in from the Eagle helicopter to help me get to a safer position for an air-lift. All very professional, well equipped, fit and competent. Likewise, our local Police [who] kept in touch with the rescue pair and with [my wife] in a supportive and professional manner. To the helicopter pilots, especially the person flying the Eagle very low over irregular windshorne bush and rocky outcrops in the dark looking for me, finding me, and somehow dropping off my rescuers – thank you. Thank you too to the Coastguard from Tryphena. I know you were out there in the dark looking for me.”
Insights
Excellent coordination between several agencies and effective application of each SAR asset’s capabilities led to an efficient and successful operation.
Smooth transfer of incident control ensured minimal delay to the progress of the operation.
Safety first: responders assessed the risks of delays, the condition of the patient and the prevailing conditions to choose the most appropriate patient recovery plan.
Survivor stories are powerful SAR prevention tools. John Ogden wrote his own account of the incident, with a range of insights and recommendations. These stories resonate with the public which aids in SAR prevention.
greatbarrier.co.nz/expedition-excerpts-from-john-ogden/
Members of the SAR community are trusted by the public. Encourage others to hire or buy a distress beacon that is appropriate to their activity, that can be activated easily in adverse conditions. See the Consumer NZ beacon survey commissioned by NZSAR for specific recommendations.
consumer.org.nz/articles/emergency-alerting-devices/buying-guide
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This story was originally published in the December 2024 issue of Link magazine, which is produced by the NZSAR Secretariat for the wider search and rescue sector.