Search and rescue officials are urging boaties and kayakers to prepare well before taking to the ocean, after a series of incidents in recent days.
Police attended three water rescues over the weekend involving kayaks and a surfer.

Sergeant Craig Madden of the Western Bay Police Search and Rescue reminds the public how quickly things can go pear-shaped out at sea or in any water environment if people go beyond their capabilities.

The first rescue was on Saturday evening when two males paddled out towards Rabbit Island on surf boards.

One swallowed salt water and was unable to make the return journey. He sat on rocks while the other paddled back to shore and raised the alarm.

Mount Surf Lifesaving members were advised and carried out the rescue using an IRB.

Both males aged 29 are local and have made the trip out and back on a previous occasion.

Neither required medical treatment.

The second rescue was only a short time later when a two-man kayak had been struggling to get in over the past hour before a member of the public made an emergency call to police.

The Surf Club was contacted and deployed an IRB however the pair finally made it back to shore under their own steam, the strong south westerly breeze would have made return trip difficult and contributed to the situation, says Craig.

A third rescue was mounted on Sunday evening when police received two 111 calls at the same time, both members of the public had been watching a kayaker who was about 80 off shore and had fallen out of the kayak. The kayaker had been struggling to get back onto the craft without success for about 20 minutes before they called police. A member of the public responded to the distressed kayaker and swam out to assist, says Craig.
"This hero was able to assist and both persons and kayak was safely brought back to shore. The Papamoa Surf Life Savings Club was called out, but stood down before they got their IRB in the water."

There was a strong off shore breeze over the weekend which made it easy to get out but physically stressful coming back in for persons in self-propelled vessels.

Craig also reminds the public the necessity of wearing some form of buoyancy device, such as a life jacket when enjoying water recreational activities.

"This is the period of the year when marine rescues sky rocket but with some common sense, like checking the marine forecast and having safety equipment on board most rescues could be prevented or at least minimised."