Teen vanishes at unforgiving fishing spot
A snag and a simple mistake on a sunny afternoon appear to have cost a Waikato fisherman his life.
It was the teenager’s first time trying his luck at Papanui Point near Raglan, where experienced fishermen know how quickly things can turn fatal.
At about 1.30pm on Saturday, he was washed off the rocks and disappeared.
A search through the afternoon failed to find him, as did a renewed effort yesterday.
‘‘It’s these things which show you what could happen,’’ a fisherman of 40 years’ experience said while unhooking a snapper and tossing it into his chilly bin as day two of the search continued.
He was there when the boy vanished, too. He dropped everything to help find him.
The fisherman, who asked not to be named, understood the teenager went close to the water’s edge to free a line when a wave dragged him in.
Conditions were relatively calm with a moderate, increasing swell at the time.
He is wary of the Tasman Sea.
He knows about the lives Ruapuke has claimed.
‘‘It’s the rough and wild west coast.’’
In September last year, Hamilton man Doyle Frickey was washed off the rocks at Papanui Point. His body was found more than two months later.
He was 19th person to die there, according to long-time resident Caroline Swann.
Some have been swamped by waves, others have lost their footing and tumbled into the roiling seas.
Another fisherman at the point yesterday, Colin Harvey, said fishing there is dangerous and those familiar with the area know where you can and cannot go safely.
But newer faces don’t seem to realise how treacherous it can be.
‘‘People get too close to the water, probably not having enough respect for the waves,’’ he said.
‘‘I don’t go down to the water at all, really. It would have to be really calm for me to go down there.
‘‘Don’t go down near the water unless it’s really calm, like dead flat. And just be careful.’’
Over the years, an emergency phone was installed and life rings were bolted to the rock face but they were eventually damaged or stolen.
Now two plastic ‘‘lifesavers’’ hang around a faded orange sign in case of emergencies.
Waikato police search and rescue Sergeant Vince Ranger said lifejackets would increase a fisherman’s chance of survival if they were washed into the surf.
There were ‘‘a lot of people’’ fishing when the teenager disappeared.
‘‘We do know that the young fella, a 17-year-old from Te
Awamutu, he was fishing off the southern side of Papanui. He was down reasonably low to the water level and was washed off when a wave came and hit the rocks.
‘‘We know he was last seen in the water and hasn’t been seen since.’’
Police had been in touch with his family, Ranger said as the police search and rescue team, Coastguard Air Patrol and the Raglan Surf Club scoured the coast through the day yesterday.
‘‘It’s not hard to imagine just how they feel.’’
At Ruapuke Beach, members of the boy’s family waited on the black sands with binoculars.
Some drew in the sand and others stared into the sea while a coastguard plane circled overhead.
They didn’t want to comment in detail, but said they’d searched around the rocks on Saturday afternoon. The teenager was understood to have been fishing with his older brother.
The search for the teenager is due to resume today, weather and tide permitting.