Island day-trip ends in tragedy

By SCOTT MacLEOD

A man drowned after he and a friend broke into a bach on Rangitoto Island, got drunk, stole a dinghy - and tried to row to Auckland.

The dead man was aged in his late 20s.

He has not been named as police have yet to find his family.

The pair are understood to have taken the ferry to the island on Monday for a day-trip, but missed the last ferry back to Auckland.

They phoned the emergency 111 number to report that they were stranded, but the operator hung up on them.

Police said the operator hung up because the men were drunk and abusive.

The men broke into a vacant bach and stole alcohol, police said.

Early yesterday, they took a dinghy from the bach and started rowing to the mainland, 4km away.

Constable Brian Sloan said the dinghy filled with water, or capsized, 800m from the island, and the men started "swimming for their lives".

Only one made it ashore.

A police spokeswoman said the survivor phoned 111 again at 3 am - this time to say his friend had lost consciousness in the ocean.

The police launch Deodar and the WestpacTrust rescue helicopter were sent to the area.

The helicopter found the dead man at 4 am.

The 4.20 pm Fullers ferry was the last ferry to leave Rangitoto on Monday.

The operations manager for Fullers Auckland, Phil Andrew, said his firm did not usually count passengers on return trips to Rangitoto because some people who went there stayed the night.

Mr Andrew said Fullers, the Coast Guard and police usually coordinated a rescue if they heard that someone was stranded overnight.

There are about 25 baches on Rangitoto. The Department of Conservation website says some of them are historic.