The Pacific Invader returns into the Houhora harbour with the final victim of the Enchanter tragedy. Photo / Adam Pearse
The light of day was fading as the final victim of the Enchanter tragedy made his way through the Houhora harbour.
The vessel, Pacific Invader, wasn't idling - it cut through the water with purpose, knowing it had the most precious cargo to deliver.
It had been nearly 48 hours since the fishing charter boat capsized after reportedly encountering a large wave near Murimotu Island on Sunday evening, breaking the flybridge.
Five people survived. Five were missing.
The sinking sparked an extensive search and rescue mission with crews all too aware their window for body recovery lessened by the hour.
By Monday afternoon, four bodies had been found. One was still missing.
The discovery of Enchanter's hull on Monday proved crucial - it is understood the last angler was found inside.
About a dozen people waited for him at the Pukenui wharf on Tuesday evening. All stood quietly.
Aboard the Pacific Invader were the dive squad, who had assessed the hull yesterday afternoon to establish whether body retrieval was possible.
Nothing about their demeanour indicated any sense of relief or success. As they saw it, their job wasn't done until they'd ensured the victim had made it back to solid ground.
Often a bustling wharf, little more could be heard outside the waves lapping at the shore, the cool breeze shifting through the trees.
With extreme care, a wrapped body was lifted off the vessel and onto a gurney, which was then wheeled slowly up the ramp.
His friends were there to welcome him - three men facing the reality of a final goodbye.
With only a few minutes, they said what they could as he lay in the hearse. The emotion was raw, comforted by a small pat on the back or a brief arm around the shoulder.
When it became too much, they turned away, gazing into the middle distance - looking out to the water that had claimed their mate.
The sombre silence was only broken when locals began a customary prayer and waiata under the watchful eye of Tohoraha (Mt Camel) outlined against a darkening sky.
"The essence [of the prayer and waiata] was to clear the way for him to return from here to his people," a local kaumātua at the scene told the Herald, "to acknowledge the hurt of the family and friends, and to support those people."
Death on this scale wasn't common for the Houhora community. Local Abbey had to cast his mind back almost 50 years before he could remember an equally horrific tragedy.
Although the grief at yet another death was all too evident, there was also relief.
Relief that all had been accounted for. Relief that no one was still out there, alone in a vast, cold ocean.
"It's nice that we got them back," Abbey said.
"It means closure."
Hopefully the return of five Kiwis to their grieving families will allow not just them, but a community and a nation to find closure after such unimaginable loss.
The Herald chose not to photograph the body's arrival at the wharf out of respect for the man's family and friends.
