Tributes flow for dead fishing mates
Auckland’s Pacific Island community is mourning the ill-fated journey of the fishing boat The Francie that capsized on Saturday, claiming at least seven, and believed to be eight, lives.
Four Tongans were among the dead and were named as Fonua Amanu Taufa, Tevita (also known as David) Tangi and cousins Alipate Manumu’a and Sunia Ungo’unga.
The skipper of The Francie, Bill Mcnatty, also did not survive when his boat ran into trouble on the bar at the entrance to the Kaipara Harbour.
The other 10 on board the charter boat were all Pacific Island men aged between 31 and 59.
Messages of support flowed for Taufa’s wife Debbie Taufa, who posted a picture of her and her late husband with the words ‘‘Lord, please help me to be strong.’’
Bevan Cadwallader, assistant coach of the Auckland rugby team, said he was in shock at the news of Tangi’s death.
Cadwallader said he knew the Tangi family well through their children playing rugby together.
‘‘David was a great guy, a loving dad. My thoughts are with his family,’’ he said.
‘‘He had physical presence – he was two metres tall and 140 kilograms – but it was his personality and caring nature that stuck out.’’
It was also Tangi’s ‘‘enthusiastic side’’ that saw Cadwallader encourage him to help coach a junior side with Auckland University Rugby Football Club, based in east Auckland.
Tangi himself had played rugby in his younger days, Cadwallader said.
He had stints with Pakuranga Rugby Club’s premier side and Auckland NPC teams, but an injury put a stop to his playing days, he said.
Tributes for the four Tongan men were posted on Facebook in Tongan.
Manumu’a was described as having a ‘‘beautiful little family and was a loving father’’.
Another of the victims was father-of-three Fredrick Marsters.
Marsters, originally from the Cook Islands, and living in South Auckland, was remembered as a loving family man.
Jocelyn Jones, who runs Rosemary Fishing Charters at Sandspit, said Marsters was a regular on their charter boat for the past five years and was a ‘‘fantastic’’ fisherman.
‘‘He just loved fishing,’’ she said. ‘‘He’s an awesome guy. He was a family man.’’
Jones said Marsters was kind and generous.
‘‘He’s the sort of guy that will always help you out. He came round to our house to fix one of the boat’s motors.’’
She said he was very experienced on the water and it was ‘‘hard to accept’’ that he was gone.
‘‘It’s a tragedy. My brother also drowned 40 years ago. I know what the families are going through. My heart goes out to all their families. It’s a freak accident.’’
Tangi’s sister Rosita Tangi posted a picture of him with the words ‘‘I love you David’’ and ‘‘families are forever’’.
Tevita was a father who worked as a bouncer at a South Auckland bar, according to a report in the Kaniva News. Manumu’a worked at Independent Liquor while Ungo’unga worked as a glass worker, the Kaniva News reported.
The report said the group went fishing each weekend and would charter the 12-metre boat with friends about once a month.
Commodore of Kaipara Cruising and Sports Fishing Club Steve Mcgregor said Mcnatty was a ‘‘lovely, lovely chap’’. ‘‘I can’t say enough about Bill, he was an asset to this club. He was on the committee, served as commodore in 2008.
‘‘He was a very nice man, liked by all. With the family and people he took out on the boat our hearts are aching too.’’
At just after 2pm on Saturday, The Francie contacted the Coastguard to say it was heading into the harbour across the bar with 11 people on board.
It requested a 60-minute watch, meaning the Coastguard would contact them again after 60 minutes to make sure they were safe.
By 3.02pm when The Francie still hadn’t been heard from, the alert was raised.
Of the three survivors, one managed to swim to shore while two were winched to safety by helicopter. The search for the last missing person from the boat is continuing.