A Hauraki Gulf identity known as Beachcomber Bob who spent his entire adult life at sea has drowned in mysterious circumstances.
Robert Courtenay, 65, died after being dropped off by a water taxi at a pontoon near Kawau Island, an exclusive island 45km north of Auckland, on September 25.
His body was found washed ashore at the island two days later by two children. His dinghy was adrift at sea.
Despite living on a boat for almost 40 years, police said Courtenay was not a strong swimmer and was weighed down by heavy clothing.
An inquest into his death is to be held but his family said they would probably never know exactly how he died.
His sister Margaret, 70, said he loved the solitude of the island. "If he had to go that's exactly the way he would have wanted," she said. "The sea claimed him, Kawau Island claimed him. They told us no one will ever know as there were no witnesses."
When police asked around, people only knew of him as Beachcomber Bob.
His nephew John added: "He didn't really want to leave the island, that was his biggest fear, ending up in a retirement home.
"He drank and he smoked and he lived life how he wanted. He was the kind of person who had a lifestyle that you look at and envy."
A memorial service will be held at the Kawau Island Yacht Club on October 31.
Kawau Island Residents and Property Owners' Association secretary Helen Jeffery said: "Bob was a unique character. It's just the way he chose to live. He didn't care about possessions as long as he had a bit of food."
The former commercial fisherman's bushy beard and fondness for collecting trinkets he found in coves and inlets around the Hauraki Gulf islands earned him the nickname Beachcomber Bob among Kawau residents.
Old mariner drowns at sea
Beachcomber Bob. Photo / Supplied
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