MIRACLE SURVIVAL
EXCLUSIVE: Alive after five hours in the water
EXCLUSIVE
The survivor of one of the country’s worst maritime disasters tells his story for the first time
Iripa Iripa swam for five hours after his boat sank, claiming the lives of eight mates
Injured, exhausted and suffering severe injuries, he battled huge swells
He reveals the promise to his daughter that kept him alive
As Iripa Iripa lay trapped underneath the Francie, surrounded by debris in darkness the one thing on his mind was the promise he made to his youngest daughter: “I will make it no matter what — I’m coming home.”
The survivor who spent five hours fighting for his life at sea after the Francie charter boat capsized told the Herald on Sunday he feels blessed to be alive but devastated his fishing mates are dead. “I made it, why didn’t they? “I can’t stop thinking about it but it ’s not good because you can’t bring them back.”
The Francie charter boat sank crossing the Kaipara bar in treacherous conditions last November. Eight men who had been fishing on the boat drowned, including skipper Bill McNatty.
Iripa was one of three survivors. He swam ashore and the other two — known only as Moli and Nesi — were winched to safety by a Westpac rescue helicopter.
The married father-of-four has spoken publicly for the first time, telling the Herald on Sunday the tragedy continues to haunt him.
“Every night I have nightmares but the flashbacks are the worst. When I am in the shower and I have soap in my eyes, when the water is pouring down on me I feel trapped like it ’s pitch black and I can’t see anything. You don’t know where you are — that’s what it felt like on the boat.” Iripa and 10 others were regulars on the Francie. They’d leave at 4am for a day on the water. “At $60 dollars per head, you can catch up to 10 snapper and 20 kahawai; it was a cheap way to feed the family,” said Iripa.
The group — Sunia Ungo’unga, 43, Alipate Manumu’a, 33, Tevita Tangi, 31, Fonua Taufa, 42, Fred Marsters, 58, Auerua Aria, 59, Taulagi Afamasaga, 56, Iripa, Moli and Nesi — met skipper Bill McNatty at Parakai wharf on a bleak and blustery morning last November.
After catching their quota they were heading back and trying to cross the bar as the weather closed in. They were navigating the increasingly choppy waters when a huge wave tipped the boat over.
Iripa was thrown from down below to where the water bottles and fishing rods were stored.
“After the boat rolled, I ended up with a little pocket of air. I was trapped upside down. When the boat started rocking I pushed the debris away and saw light through the hatch and went for it.”
Freezing and injured, Iripa found a piece of wood from a broken deck chair that kept him afloat until he found two child-sized lifejackets.
He put one over his neck and attached the second one to it so he could keep his head up. “I felt like I was in a washing machine that wouldn’t stop spinning but I refused to give up.”
Iripa was in the 4m swells for up to five hours, determined to swim to shore despite being battered by waves.
Dressed in a long