Fishermen 'broke all the rules'

By ELIZABETH BINNING

Two Tongan men who died during a midnight fishing expedition breached just about every safety rule when they went out in a leaky dinghy.

Savelio Lolesio and Sanualio Kiola had been drinking and were not wearing lifejackets when they got into difficulty in the early hours of May 20.

The Tongan cousins rowed into the Whitianga estuary with friend Aisake Lavelua to retrieve a fishing net they had placed there the previous day.

Mr Lavelua was the only man to return ashore alive.

At an inquest in Thames yesterday, Coroner John Jenkison heard how the three men, all stonemasons on the Whitianga Waterways housing project, went to retrieve their net after an evening of drinking at a local bar.

Mr Lavelua said Mr Kiola was in a happy mood and "mucking around" a lot as they went down to the boat ramp at about 1am.

It was dark and raining as they climbed into the 3m aluminium dinghy which they had used for fishing many times before.

The dinghy was old, leaky and had no flares, lifejackets or bailer.

Mr Lavelua said Mr Kiola rocked the boat from side to side. When he did it a second time, Mr Lavelua fell into the water.

He could not get back in and instead drifted in the current until he reached shallow water and could walk ashore.

The last time he saw his two friends they were still in the dinghy.

On the beach two other friends, Vaomakai Palanite and Joshua Halo, had heard Mr Lavelua's cries for help.

They tried to find another boat so they could go out and look for the men.

They searched the water for an hour, then went to a house across the road from the boat ramp and called the police for help.

"I kinda knew they were missing, probably drowned," said Mr Palanite.

Extensive searches did not find any sign of the two missing men. The dinghy washed up on the beach that morning.

On May 24, a fisherman found Mr Lolesio's body floating face down in the water.

A spotter plane located Mr Kiola's body lying in the mudflats the next day.

Toxicology reports showed that the men had a high blood alcohol levels, Mr Kiola's level was three times the legal limit for driving.

A Maritime Safety Authority report found that the alcohol, which reduces survival chances by up to 50 per cent, and the lack of lifejackets would have been considerable factors in the drownings.

Coroner John Jenkison said it was impossible to tell what happened to the men after Mr Lavelua fell out of the dinghy.

But not following water safety procedures had inevitably contributed to their deaths.

"Just about all the rules for water safety were broken."

Mr Jenkison hoped other boaties would learn from the deaths.

"It's important that people are aware of the proper procedures if they are going to go fishing."

Safety first

* About 25 people die in recreational boating accidents each year.

* Three-quarters of those deaths could be prevented if lifejackets were worn.

* Drinking reduces the chances of survival by up to 50 per cent because alcohol hastens the onset of hypothermia and reduces a person's ability to stay afloat.

* Boaties should wear lifejackets and carry a torch, flare, cellphone and bailer if going out in a dinghy at night.