Horseplay ends in drowning

An evening of fishing and drinking alcohol in a small fibreglass dinghy ended with one man drowning. 

What happened 

The man and his fishing companion spent about four hours fishing about 100 metres from shore in a 2.1 metre dinghy. By midnight they had drunk all their alcohol and decided to row back to shore. On the way back, the heavily intoxicated man began using his body weight to rock the boat from side to side, allowing water to slop in over the sides. 

His companion tried to stop him, but the man continued until the vessel swamped and sank quickly. Without lifejackets, the pair began swimming for shore. The companion called out to the man to come and hold on to the chilly bin for extra flotation, but the man ignored him and kept swimming towards shore.

a fiberglass dingy with equipment onboard stored in a lockup

The dinghy was too small for the two adults. 
Maritime NZ

After about 20 minutes, the companion with the chilly bin reached the shore, stripped off most of his wet clothes, and began walking along the shoreline calling out in the dark for the other man. 

After searching for some time, he ran back to their parked car and drove off to find a petrol station to borrow a phone. After failing to find a petrol station, he drove back to the beach and met another fisherman. This man did not have a cell phone either, but together they flagged down a passing motorist and raised the alarm. 

Police and Coastguard launched a search by sea and air. After several hours, the other man’s clothes were found on the shoreline and about an hour later, his body was found washed up on the beach. The companion was treated for hypothermia at the scene.

Safety points 

  • The vessel was very poorly maintained and far too small to be used for fishing by two adults. 

  • The pair had no effective means of emergency communication. The vessel carried no distress beacon (EPIRB or PLB), no portable waterproof VHF marine radio, and no flares. The man’s cell phone was not in a watertight plastic bag, so it would have stopped working as soon as it went into the water. 

  • Alcohol played a significant part in this tragedy including: 

    • while intoxicated, the man made a game of deliberately rocking the vessel causing water to enter it
    • once in the water, alcohol increased his disorientation
    • alcohol impaired his ability to make sound decisions and to swim to shore (instead of staying with the vessel). 

  • The men did not carry lifejackets on board. Maritime Rule 91 and local bylaws require lifejackets to be carried on all boats and worn unless the risk is low.  

  • In this case, several risk factors were present: 

    • an undersized vessel
    • a vessel in poor repair
    • fishing at night
    • no effective means of communication for an emergency
    • a high level of intoxication.