‘Just a wall of white water’
‘There are kids who aren’t going to have their dads for Christmas,’ says a grieving local. Fishing boat The Francie once rescued others from the treacherous Kaipara bar; yesterday, the tide turned. Report by Amanda Saxton and Alexandra Nelson.
Fisherman Eric Kuypers was casting his net at the south head of Kaipara harbour mouth yesterday afternoon. ‘‘It was so rough,’’ he said.
On the water, skipper Bill McNatty and his crewman had taken a fishing party of Auckland friends out on his charter boat, The Francie.
McNatty, 68, knew these waters better than almost anyone – but the Kaipara bar is notoriously treacherous.
‘‘It was just a wall of white water at least 500m to 1000m out,’’ Kuypers said. ‘‘That surf had got up from 1.4 metres to about 3 metres.’’
At 3.30pm, trying to cross the bar, The Francie overturned. Last night, searchers recovered the bodies of five of the 11 people aboard. Three injured survivors were plucked from the water; grave fears are held for another three, still missing.
Late on a clear night, police and Muriwai surf lifesavers had set up search headquarters on Defence Force land at South Head. But the temperature was dropping, and strong breezes added to the wind chill factor.
At 10.30pm, Inspector Duncan Hall said he had ordered search planes and boats back to land, for their own safety. Police dogs and their handlers continued searching the coastline into the early hours of this morning.
‘‘Inquiries are being made into what happened to the vessel and how people ended up in the water,’’ Hall added.
Members of the boating community in Kaipara, northwest of Auckland, said The Francie had been reported missing during the afternoon.
Few knew the perils of the Kaipara better than her crew: The Francie was involved in a dramatic maritime rescue in 2012. The Francie pulled a 12-metre ketch, Cheval de Mer, to safety, after it had been adrift for several days and came perilously close to hitting the bar.
Then three weeks ago, The Francie got in trouble when its engine failed at the harbour mouth. It had to be towed to safety, a local boatie said.
Last night Sharon Kostanich, another boatie, said the awful accident had come as ‘‘a terrible shock’’. ‘‘It’s a tragic thing to happen, terrible, and of course it really brings it home to us – you’re out there in a boat responsible for so many people,’’ she said.
‘‘Bill’s a friend, so of course we’re very worried.’’
Oamaru-born McNatty, a passionate environmentalist, had been a spokesman for Kiwis Against Sand Mining. He also worked with Kaipara Forest and Bird, and earned a degree in pyschology from the University of Waikato. His only daughter KathleenJane Hotere, 23, is understood to be a niece of the late artist Ralph Hotere.
His boat The Francie was licensed to carry up to 20 people, with two crew, available for hire at $700-$800 a day.
McNatty’s website promised people, ‘‘young and old’’, the chance to catch kahawai, snapper and gurnard and in season trevally, maumau, and kingfish.
The family of one man, Willie Uea, offered their condolences to those who had lost loved ones, but thanked God that he had chosen to skip the trip.
‘‘Praise the Lord my husband didn’t go on this fishing boat trip today,’’ said Maarametua Uea. ‘‘For some reason he changed his mind . . . he felt something was gonna happen.’’
At the Grand Hotel in Helensville, manager Bonnie Johnson said feelings were ‘‘pretty raw’’.
‘‘One of our boats isn’t coming home,’’ she said. ‘‘There are kids who aren’t going have their fathers there for Christmas. Anyone who’s got any emotion and anyone who comes from a fishing community will be feeling pretty distraught right now.’’
The tragedy brought memories flooding back of the last boat that went down, 22 years ago, claiming two lives. ‘‘We come from a fishing community – every time one goes down, it brings all the others back.’’
Waitemata District Health Board confirmed the three survivors were being treated at North Shore Hospital.