22 THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - JUNE2018 CRIMPY’S PEOPLE:
Sandy Hendren
NMR President Adrian Mullen presents Sandy a bouquet on her retirement
Forever the mother.
The calm measured voice that has lit up the airwaves and offered reassurance to Nelson boaties for over thirty years has finally melted into the ether, with modest fanfare but having left an indelible impression on the seascape of many lives. Sandy Hendren hung up the mic for the last time in May, resigning from Nelson Marine Radio with no regrets and the conviction that it’s finally time for a clean break and happy to be handing the reins to a new team that will take the voluntary service into a new era. Reflecting on a colourful ‘career’, Sandy is strong advocate for the service and the role it plays linking those at sea with those ashore, with particular emphasis on safety at sea. “It’s huge,” she says. “Cell phones don’t work everywhere and only ever connect you to one other person, whereas the radio operator is like a conductor with an orchestra at his or her fingertips.” She explains that the radio operators, while voluntary, have a huge bank of resources at their fingertips, in the case of emergency, and can facilitate the right action quickly. And it’s not just through formal organisations such as Police, Search & Rescue, and Coastguard. “Over the years, you get to know your locals: who has what, who is prepared to help at the drop of a hat, and where they are situated,” she says. “Coupled with an understanding of the local environment, in the advent of an emergency, a good operator can apply that knowledge and swing into action quickly — often averting serious disaster.” A case in point: The Duncan was getting hammered by a severe easterly off the Abel Tasman coastline and taking on water quickly. Being a Mot’ local and knowing all the town’s ‘identities’, Sandy had the solution at her fingertips, faster than thought provided the answer. A quick phone call to Haddy and he was
off like a robber’s dog with a pump and hose ‘borrowed’ from the fire brigade. Time being the essence, he was able to effect a good number 8 wire rescue before the inevitable disaster happened. There simply wasn’t time to rely on more formal avenues of rescue. It is precisely this ‘situational awareness’ that landed Sandy the job in 1987, when Mount Campbell Nelson Marine Radio (as it was then known) advertised for an operator, together with some nudging from close friends. “With my background, they insisted I’d be perfect for the job and pushed me forward.” Sandy grew up a child of the sea, both her father and grandfather being commercial fishermen, so knew ‘the sea’ intimately, which she now sees as being a prerequisite to being an effective radio operator. “Commercial fishermen are a breed unto themselves,” she says without a hint of cynicism or derision. “Their whole lifestyle revolves around life at sea and it’s a hard life… it’s hard on the men and it’s hard on the women at home.” Sandy believes this constant exposure to tough elements forges tough characters, so it helps if the radio operator knows boats and the sea, and just how quickly things can and do change. A poignant reminder of this is the story of the Iona II, a Nelson-based commercial
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fishing vessel that was lost in a severe storm off Farewell Spit over two decades ago. “Five boats were fishing off the West Coast ahead of a pending storm. They finished fishing and formed a convoy, with Iona II second astern, as they headed for home,” says Sandy.
“The storm rocketed up the coast quicker than anticipated and caught the flotilla on the Spit.” The storm was violent, smashing the sturdy vessels relentlessly, stoving in the bulwarks of one and smashing in the windscreen of another. The rain was such that the skippers couldn’t see the bows of their boats and the radars were rendered useless. For security and comfort, the boats kept in contact with each other but when the Quo Vadis lost its windscreen around 11.00pm, the skipper called for radio silence while they effected repairs, just in case he needed to issue a distress call. Once repaired, the air was again alive with chatter, this time with everyone confirming they were okay. In the confusion, no-one could be certain
Iona II had responded and it is now believed she went down sometime after radio silence was called for. She was reported missing the following day when she didn’t turn up for unloading. It was a beautiful, calm, clear day. Sandy lived on the radio for the next week or so as fellow fishermen and a spotter plane scoured the ocean for signs of life or wreckage. “Nothing was found,” says Sandy, “Absolutely nothing!” Which indicated the vessel went down very quickly, with no time even for a Mayday call. “The impact on the industry and the community was huge,” she reflects. “We all knew the skipper Barry Cameron… he had two young crew with him — his young nephew and another young boy… it stays with you!” There have been plenty of rescues with successful outcomes since, and a few humorous moments as well. Two Aussie yachts sailed into Tasman Bay and the crews wanted to walk Abel Tasman, so she gave them directions. The skipper came back, wanting to know where they could buy a snake bite kit. Come hell or high-water he wasn’t stepping ashore until he had that antivenin. He
took some convincing! A diver entering the water at Croisilles Harbour, from a launch, had his upper arm severely sliced by the prop when someone inadvertently leaned on the starter at an inopportune moment. They radioed for help and Sandy immediately contacted Nelson Police requesting a helicopter.
“I was given the third degree by a rookie cop wanting to know who I was so I hung up and rang the Mot’ Police — they knew me and had a chopper up in no time.” Meanwhile, she reassured the crew via radio and instructed them not to take off his wetsuit or give him anything. Once he was rescued and successful treated at Nelson Hospital, Sandy got a call from the hospital with an urgent message to be relayed to the victim’s crew. “They were a mess and thought he’d died,” Sandy recounts.
“Whatever you do, don’t eat his share of the scallops!” There was silence for several long moments before a shaky voice came back, “Okay… but is it okay for us to have something to drink now?” Mother Hendren said it was. From the days of operating an old single sideband radio, raising children around radio ‘scheds’ from home, organising rescues and tows, through to relaying messages back to loved ones ashore, Sandy has seen it all. But it’s time for the mother to step aside and take on a new challenge. And one she relishes. Being a grandmother. She thinks for a moment and her eyes take on a dreamy look.
“Being a radio operator, noone knows my face, so I can go incognito!”
Then she states that she will still go down to the water to watch the boats. “Being a fisherman’s daughter, I love to see them out of the water and check their bums are clean!” Forever the mother.
But she managed to calm them and then delivered the important message:
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