Family and friends gather at Waiinu beach as memorial to drownings unveiled

John O'Connor Whyte was at Waiinu Beach on Saturday to remember his father, who drowned at the Waitotara River mouth in 1956. Photo/ supplied

John O'Connor Whyte looked in Raetihi for the father who died when he was 2 - but found him at Waiinu Beach.

His father, Brian O'Connor, died in a boating accident at the mouth of the Waitotara River on December 2, 1956. The others from his boat were saved, but four out of five in another fishing boat were drowned crossing the same bar later that day.

Mr O'Connor and his sisters Sonya and Brenda kept vigil at Waiinu Beach for a day last year, 60 years after the boating accidents that claimed five lives. This year they had a memorial rock erected at the beach, and on Saturday the plaque on it was unveiled.

Teddy Tamou, the only one still alive from Brian O'Connor's boat, uncovered it with Ruth Allen, the sister of Malcolm Myhill, who drowned in the second boating accident.

Brian O'Connor's son John O'Connor Whyte, who now lives in Melbourne, has hankered to know his father.

"I always searched for my father where he was born, in Raetihi. But because of all the people who knew him I really found him at Waiinu Beach," he said.

Local people have taken an interest in the unveiling, which pleased Mr O'Connor Whyte because the drownings 61 years ago had a big impact on them.

"We lost one person and they lost five people. It was an incredibly significant event in their lives. Most of them still remember it, as if it just happened yesterday."

After the unveiling and dedication of the rock there was a minute's silence. Then people released helium balloons, which blew east.

Photos were taken and everyone had a small glass of champagne or whisky, with the rest of the whisky poured over the rock.

Then the extended O'Connor family went back to the Waitotara Hotel, where Brian O'Connor and his wife had lived after their marriage, and they had a drink together.

The unveiling was a comfort, but it doesn't end Mr O'Connor Whyte and his sisters' connection with Waiinu Beach.

"We will continue to go up to Waiinu Beach and visit our father," he said.