Kayaker's mate died after warning sign removed

Dale Frankum and Garry McCarthy

Dale Frankum and Garry McCarthy had sailed and kayaked together for more than 20 years.

The best friends saw each other almost daily, but on October 11 their good times came to an end in the South Waikato when they unwittingly kayaked into a treacherous canyon on the Waihou River.

Mr McCarthy, 71, was first into the "rock sieve" which was obscured and usually marked by a warning sign.

"It's just a natural trap there," he said. "And the sign had been removed and we walked into it."

Police believe the sign, later found tucked under a bridge, was deliberately torn down.

Without it, Mr McCarthy almost lost his life and Mr Frankum did.

The 68-year-old's body was found on Saturday, the same day his family and friends held a memorial service in Auckland, not knowing if the river would ever return him.

Initial searches had failed to find any trace of the body, hampered by the dangerous terrain and rough water.

Mr McCarthy and Mr Frankum had kayaked some of the most powerful rivers in the country, including the Waikato and Clutha, but were powerless in the canyon.

At that point, the river takes a sharp bend and narrows from about 10m to 1m before becoming submerged under rocks and then exiting in powerful rapids.

"It's like coming down a motorway that has got an obscured U-turn in it and no warning sign," Mr McCarthy said yesterday.

He landed upright but had no time to warn his friend behind him, unable to breathe in the surging water.

"It's so violent, your life jacket has little buoyancy. I even went over a waterfall and never knew."

He felt himself losing consciousness and beginning to drown.

"I had to gather every ounce I had to have a go. By some absolute fluke I got out of it," he said.

Once at shore, he scanned the water for Mr Frankum, before climbing to a road near Okoroire and flagging down a van.

A local hotel manager said the chances of anyone thrown into the water surviving were "slim or none".

Mr Frankum and Mr McCarthy had kayaked other sections of the river in the preceding months and been on numerous kayaking and sailing trips since meeting at Whitford Yacht Club.

"It wasn't a case of frail old people doddering around there," Mr McCarthy said.

Mr Frankum's family were also anxious to correct reports that he was an "elderly" kayaker.

"He was a very active boatie all his life," his wife Margaret said.

She said 300 people had attended the service for her husband, a retired builder who built dozens of boats.

Father to two children and three stepchildren, he sailed from Canada to New Zealand with his first wife and in recent years had built campervans.

Said Mr McCarthy: "He was a hive of industry. What would normally take five or 10 years, Dale would do in six months or a year."

Mr McCarthy also credited his friend with inspiring their adventures.

"He was a born optimist. With all lugubrious people like me, he would pick us up and get us going".

He planned to honour his friend by continuing kayaking.

"I'll get another kayak this summer as Dale would want me to."

* Putaruru police would like information about the warning sign.