$100k boat grounded in Greymouth

A fishing boat is sitting high and dry on Cobden Beach on Monday night after a bad run on the notorious Grey River Bar in Greymouth.

Now with the crew out safely, there's a race to salvage the vessel before the tide turns it into kindling.

West Coast local Adrienne McCarthy said they went down after hearing yelling on the shore.

"But how on earth did he get on the beach?" she asked. 

The Kutere, a 47-year-old, 16-metre-long wooden boat sent a mayday call just before 2am on Monday morning. It hit Cobden Beach soon afterwards.

Three people were rescued and were cold, shaken but luckily uninjured.

The Grey River bar is notoriously dangerous and the locals are heaping praise on the skipper of the Kutere.

There are still plenty of questions about the grounding and the Kutere's owner, respected seaman Les Horncastle, refused interview requests.

It's terrible timing for Mr Horncastle. It's understood he's trying to sell the $100,000 boat so that he can retire.

With his crew safe, the task at hand is to find a way to salvage the boat, before the waves take their toll. 

Newshub.