KEY POINTS:
A man holidaying in Auckland drowned after falling from a dinghy in the Hauraki Gulf yesterday - despite frantic efforts by his friend to save him.
Fifty-one-year-old Leonard Muru-Paenga and his friend, Robert Scanlan, were fishing in the shallow waters in Gardiner's Gap, between Motutapu and Rangitoto Islands, when tragedy struck.
The two men were forced to swim 200m to shore when the dinghy was tipped over. Scanlan was wearing a lifejacket, but Muru-Paenga was not.
Muru-Paenga, a New Zealander now based in Australia, had been in Auckland for a 50th birthday celebration. Last night, his family was making a dash across the Tasman.
His death brings the drowning toll to four this year already - a man also drowned in Lake Tarawera yesterday.
Sergeant Craig Kennedy, of the police maritime unit, said the dinghy capsized after it turned side-on to the swell.
"The deceased shifted to the same side as the other person was sitting on," said Kennedy.
"All the weight was one side and it made the boat turn side on to the wave, which is what we call broaching. A wave came along and flipped it over."
The pair tried to swim the 200m to shore before a passing kayaker saw the two men in difficulty, and paddled to get cellphone reception to alert emergency services.
Scanlan performed CPR on his friend for 30 minutes before police, the Auckland Rescue Helicopter, Coastguard and Harbourmaster arrived at the island, 15km northeast of downtown Auckland.
Paramedics spent a further 40 minutes trying to revive Muru-Paenga, but he died at the scene.
Mark Cannell, pilot of Auckland Rescue Helicopter, said the fatal accident was a warning of how unpredictable the sea could be.
"The shore was less than 200m away. It's such a shame. It was calm where they were."
Scanlan and his friend's body were brought back to the Auckland Marine Rescue Centre in the police launch, where family and friends were waiting.
West Auckland man Scanlan helped his rescuers lift the body of his friend into the undertaker's car, but was too distressed to speak to the Herald on Sunday. The Coastguard and Harbourmaster declined to comment, as separate Coroner and police investigations are under way.
Kennedy hoped the inquiry would answer whether the dead man could swim.
Sean Bainbridge, commodore of the Clearwater Cove Yacht Club, said Gardiner's Gap was a sheltered area.
"Gardiner's Gap is really only a creek between the two islands and it's very shallow," he said. "I'm not sure how anyone could have an accident there - it's very sheltered.
"But there has been a bit of wind today, so I suppose something could have been overturned or pushed into the gap if their motor died."
Another man died while swimming in Lake Tarawera, near Rotorua, yesterday. His family could only watch as he slipped under the water.
Paramedics were unable to resuscitate the man, believed to be in his 30s.
Police said it appeared the man may have stepped into a hole while in the water and got in over his head.
Three-year-old Zhane Edmonds drowned in a Gisborne lagoon on New Year's Day. The water was less than 1m deep.
Earlier that afternoon, a man was pulled from the water at Te Mata, about 20 minutes north of Thames on the Coromandel Peninsula, but later died.
Last year's drowning toll stood at 96.
Matt Claridge, general manager of Water Safety New Zealand, said: "Every year we see the same mistakes. New Zealanders need to understand that water can be unforgiving.
"It only takes one error in judgment to directly contribute to, or create, a chain reaction, which can end in disaster."
Claridge stressed the need for boaties to carry the right equipment, especially life jackets.
