Whakatane Coastguard's rescue of an injured man from White Island on Saturday night was also a good opportunity for a night training exercise, says Whakatane Coastguard president Peter Milton.

The man had injured himself on a charter fishing boat on Saturday, and there was concern the spike injury might get infected if left too long without proper medical treatment.

White Island.

'They were talking about swapping him with another boat that was out there,” says Peter. 'We were on listening watch and we said we had a crew who's happy to come out and do it, so that's what we did.

'He probably could have hung in there for another day or two, but the operator knew the guy and said we can come out and do it. He was one of our members as well.”

The mission became the training day the crew had scheduled, and trip out and back was made in perfect conditions.

'So it was really a good Samaritan thing,” says Peter.

'It was a good experience for the crew, getting out and getting some night experience.

'It was perfect conditions, I was tracking them and they were cruising 24 knots out, and 26 knots back – about 45 minutes to get out there, then they went alongside and had a cup of tea or something, and came back in the same time. There was a slight easterly breeze, but not much.

'I think he got checked out when we got back, I'm not sure if he went to hospital or not.”