A LONGWAIT
A year to the day after the loss of fishing boat The Francie on the treacherous Kaipara Bar, grieving relatives still await answers. By Dileepa Fonseka.
I think if I went out there it would be my way of saying goodbye because that’s where it all happened. But I can’t go up to Kaipara.’ AMY YERRO, PICTURED
JUST over a week ago, Walter Marsters’ niece wrapped her arms around his chest and squeezed him tight.
She wasn’t hugging him, but holding onto her dead father.
‘‘She just grabbed hold of me and and said it was like Dad was right there.’’
Nearly a year had passed since Marsters’ brother Fred died at sea, along with seven others, while crossing the Kaipara Bar on the charter boat The Francie.
But at that moment, Marsters realised it was not over.
The Auckland man said he was still coming to terms with the death of his brother, who was a strong swimmer.
When they were in their 20s, the pair once paddled a distance close to 2000km through the Pacific Ocean.
‘‘Our family has lived on the sea, we know the sea, and for one of us to have an accident like this is a tragedy.’’
Skipper William McNatty and Marsters’ fellow passengers Sunia Ungo’unga, Alipate Manumu’a, Tevita Tangi, Fonua Taufa, Auerua Aria, and Taulagi Afamasaga also died after The Francie overturned.
Three others survived – one swimming to Muriwai Beach and the other two winched to safety by the Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter.
No large memorial services would be held to mark today’s anniversary of the disaster, Marsters said. The families of those who died have gradually lost touch with each other.
But as the months have worn on, their questions around the tragedy remain ever-present, he said.
‘‘We still want to find out what happened, if it was mechanical failure we want to know what happened.’’ In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, questions were raised about why McNatty had gone out past the bar, then made the decision to return when conditions took a rapid turn for the worse. Some alleged negligence and arrogance on behalf of McNatty in choosing to enter the harbour, while others alleged the boat had suffered mechanical failures in the lead-up to the disaster. Many in the boating community near the harbour are unwilling to talk a year after the media firestorm, other than to express their anger that such allegations were aired in the days following. Several said it wasn’t the conditions on the way out that were the problem but changing weather patterns on the way back. Many also said McNatty’s boat met regulations for crossing the Kaipara Bar.
Wendy Marshall had been McNatty’s partner for 11 months before his death.
She fought to hide the tears as she remembered how the most generous-hearted and loving man she’d ever met in her life was pilloried as allegations surrounding his competency began to get a wider and wider airing.
‘‘His role as a skipper, he took it extremely seriously, there was no way that he would have put lives at risk,’’ she said. ‘‘It was purely accidental.’’ It’s a version of events many of the survivors of The Francie have recounted to the family members of those who died. Amy Yerro, whose father, Taulagi Afamasaga, died in the disaster, said she wanted the survivors to help her understand what his last moments looked and felt like.
Afamasaga had been a charter client of The Francie for years. His time on the vessel stretched back to the boat’s previous owners.
Yerro has struggled to sleep for most of the past year, only managing to quieten her mind by leaving the curtains of her bedroom wide open.
It makes her feel closer to Afamasaga, who she thinks of as hidden up there, somewhere in the wide expanse of the night sky. She declined an invitation in January to attend a blessing near Kaipara Harbour that many other families, including the Marsters, attended.
‘‘I think if I went out there it would be my way of saying goodbye because that’s where it all happened. I can go out to Parakai where the boat last launched, and I can go to Muriwai where some of the debris was washing ashore, but I can’t go up to Kaipara.’’
And as the Maritime NZ inquiry continues, Yerro has knitted together survivors’ accounts to tell what happened that day – a calm day going out and a rough one back.
Afamasaga had finished an extraordinary day of fishing, boasting to others how much he was looking forward to telling his wife Mefi about his haul, they told her.
His chilly bin was full of snapper, and he had caught the