An interesting story...
Mussel diver makes six-hour swim to safety - New Zealand news on Stuff.co.nz
A Bay of Plenty diver who spent six hours swimming to shore after being separated from his boat says he was prepared to spend days at sea.
Ian Foden, 59, from Little Waihi, ended up swimming about 5km after surfacing from a dive on Tuesday evening and discovering his boat and wife, Bubs had become loose from an anchor and drifted away.
The pair yelled at each other but Mrs Foden, an inexperienced boatie, was not able to get the aluminium boat to him in choppy seas.
Mr Foden told the New Zealand Herald he accepted he was on his own, secured his haul of mussels to a buoy, and struck out for the shore.
He discarded his weight belt and swam with the current in his wetsuit and breathing gear.
While he was a long way from the shore, Mr Foden said he never felt in any danger.
"It was no bother. I just wondered if I was going to be as good as that guy Hewitt." Robert Hewitt got international attention after surviving 72 hours in the sea off the Kapiti Coast after becoming separated from a dive boat during an expedition in 2006.
As searchers at Maketu responded to calls from Mrs Foden, her husband got close to the shore at about midnight and came across a volunteer searcher whose boat had become beached on a sand bar at the Kaituna Cut.
"He was out trying to help me so the only decent thing was to try to help him," Mr Foden said.
He managed to help get the boat free before heading back to the holiday camp he runs with his wife and having a "bloody good beer".
Maketu Volunteer Sea Rescue and two private boats had set out at about 9pm to try and find Mr Foden and coastguard Shane Beech said he was lucky to get to shore safely as the swell was getting bigger.
"We were suspecting the worst," he said.
Mr Foden said while he was calm, he was concerned for his wife, but pleased with how she had handled the situation and grateful to searchers who had set out to assist both of them.
The main disappointment was discovering there was a toxic warning on shellfish, leaving his mussels inedible.
Mussel diver makes six-hour swim to safety - New Zealand news on Stuff.co.nz
A Bay of Plenty diver who spent six hours swimming to shore after being separated from his boat says he was prepared to spend days at sea.
Ian Foden, 59, from Little Waihi, ended up swimming about 5km after surfacing from a dive on Tuesday evening and discovering his boat and wife, Bubs had become loose from an anchor and drifted away.
The pair yelled at each other but Mrs Foden, an inexperienced boatie, was not able to get the aluminium boat to him in choppy seas.
Mr Foden told the New Zealand Herald he accepted he was on his own, secured his haul of mussels to a buoy, and struck out for the shore.
He discarded his weight belt and swam with the current in his wetsuit and breathing gear.
While he was a long way from the shore, Mr Foden said he never felt in any danger.
"It was no bother. I just wondered if I was going to be as good as that guy Hewitt." Robert Hewitt got international attention after surviving 72 hours in the sea off the Kapiti Coast after becoming separated from a dive boat during an expedition in 2006.
As searchers at Maketu responded to calls from Mrs Foden, her husband got close to the shore at about midnight and came across a volunteer searcher whose boat had become beached on a sand bar at the Kaituna Cut.
"He was out trying to help me so the only decent thing was to try to help him," Mr Foden said.
He managed to help get the boat free before heading back to the holiday camp he runs with his wife and having a "bloody good beer".
Maketu Volunteer Sea Rescue and two private boats had set out at about 9pm to try and find Mr Foden and coastguard Shane Beech said he was lucky to get to shore safely as the swell was getting bigger.
"We were suspecting the worst," he said.
Mr Foden said while he was calm, he was concerned for his wife, but pleased with how she had handled the situation and grateful to searchers who had set out to assist both of them.
The main disappointment was discovering there was a toxic warning on shellfish, leaving his mussels inedible.
