Suffering continues for family left behind
The daughter of a man who died in the Francie disaster wishes she could ask the skipper why he crossed the bar in treacherous conditions without lifejackets.
Skipper Bill McNatty was one of eight who died when the charter fishing boat went down in heaving seas at the entrance to the Kaipara Harbour on November 26.
“We want to be able to look him in the eye and say, ‘This is what you have done’,” said Amy Yerro, 28, daughter of Taulagi Afamasaga, whose body was found nine days after one of New Zealand’s worst maritime disasters.
“Bill McNatty made the call to go across the bar. He should’ve said, ‘Right boys, we are going back in but it ’s really rough out there put on your lifejackets — it could have potentially made a difference.” The past two months have been “hell” for Yerro, her husband Sam, and their two children Caitlin, 4, and Jacob, 1. The family moved back to her parents’ house in West Auckland to take care of her mum, Mefi, and brother Tavita . “My mum is devastated. She has said to me many times, ‘ I don’t know how I can live like this for too much longer. I wish I could go with him’.” Mefi works with Iripa Iripa, one of the survivors of the Francie tragedy. “It ’s a constant reminder of Dad. She keeps asking herself why he survived and not dad.” Taulagi, 56, was fondly known as “Lagi” by colleagues at the Auckland Harbour Bridge where he worked.
“There’s not a day that passes they don’t think of him,” said Yerro, who works at IAG insurance.
“He was a real joker, he loved teasing the kids. It ’s heartbreaking to know I will never see him again.”
A Maritime New Zealand statement said skippers of recreational vessels must ensure all on board are wearing lifejackets of the right size at times of heightened risk. This may include crossing a bar.
Yerro is determined to keep her father’s memory alive by creating awareness about people wearing lifejackets on recreational and commercial boats.
“We don’t want to be forgotten — we need to remind others about the pain we go through each day not knowing what happened.”