Missing father, daughter fishing off Firth of Thames found adrift

Saturday, 25 February 2017

A man and his daughter who failed to return from a fishing trip have been found. 

The 73-year-old man and his 46-year-old daughter set off for a day-long trip on the western side of the Firth of Thames, north of Miranda, at 10.30am on Friday.

'Their condition when found [at 10.30am on Saturday] was mostly tired, hungry,' Coastguard duty officer Mark Leevers​ said on Saturday morning. 

'They had been out all night in a very small vessel and they hadn't expected to be out overnight.

'Really, it's a wake-up call to everyone to make sure you have a reliable form of communication. This could have been resolved quickly had they been able to tell someone they were in trouble.

'Also, make sure your vessel is adequate. It was well known the vessel wasn't reliable. To go out in a vessel that you know is not reliable and not carry communication is just asking for trouble.'

When they failed to return home as planned on Friday evening, the man's wife reported the pair missing about 2.30am on Saturday, Senior Sergeant Ray Malcolmson said. 

They were on board the Sledgehammer, a 4-metre fibreglass boat outfitted with an outboard motor. 

A possible sighting by a boatie in the Firth was reported to Coastguard Rescue on Saturday morning and the information was relayed to the Coastguard plane that was searching for them. It was able to confirm the sighting and relay the information to a rescue vessel.

It was towed to shore by that Coastguard vessel.

'Both of those on board are tired and hungry, but otherwise okay,' police said in a statement.

Malcolmson said the pair had lifejackets, but no cellphone or working radio. 

Earlier, Thames Coastguard president Mike Skeet said there was a northwest wind overnight.

'Overnight it was quite choppy, there were some whitecaps with about 10-12 knot winds.'

From Wilsons Bay, halfway up the western side of the Coromandel Peninsula, Skeet could see the Coastguard plane conducting a grid search of the waters. 

Thames Rescue Coastguard headed out at 8.30am, Skeet said, and searched south of the Kaiaua boat ramp, which the pair launched from. 

It was typical to see boats as small as 4m fishing in the Firth, he said.

'When the weather is like it is, it isn't a problem.'

Anyone out on the water who may have seen the boat is asked to contact 111 or phone Waikato Police on 07 858 6200. 

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