One man has died in what Hawke's Bay police say was a routine fishing trip that went tragically wrong.
Waipatiki Beach, Hastings District Photo: CC BY-SA 2.5 / Wikicommons
Two local men were checking crayfish pots off Waipatiki Beach, north of Napier, yesterday afternoon when their pontoon boat flipped, throwing them off.
The police said a 65-year-old man made it to the beach last night but his 63-year-old companion was missing until this morning, when he was found dead on rocks.
Senior Sergeant Luke Shadbolt said the boat was well stocked with safety equipment, but the men didn't get a chance to use any of it.
"We don't believe they were wearing lifejackets at the time the boat flipped," he said.
"I think it's just a classic case of a situation happening very very quickly. When a boat flips in those circumstances, you don't have time to recover your emergency equipment, your lifejackets."
The man's next of kin have been notified and his death has been referred to the coroner.
Meanwhile, a person has died while diving at Leigh, north of Warkworth - with another person taken to hospital in a moderate condition.
There have been at least eight other fatal diving incidents throughout the country since Christmas.