They looked on as police and members of the local Coastguard - many who knew the people for whom they continued to search Foveaux Strait - carried the covered body of a man from the wharf to a waiting hearse.
The body was likely to be that of a whanau member, one of the trio said, before they returned in silence to the township.
Later, a hearse carrying the body passed them on the bridge which connects the town to its port, closely escorted by a police car.
The same vehicles were seen returning from Invercargill to the town hours later, as news filtered through that yet another body had been found.
The sombre scene summed up Bluff yesterday: the port town was eerily quiet, apart from the odd tourist eating fish and chips by the water's edge, or those snapping photos next to the signpost at Stirling Point, seemingly oblivious to the tragedy surrounding them.
By last night, four bodies had been found by searchers. None were wearing life jackets, police said.
One had been identified as that of Shane Ronald Topi (29), of Invercargill.
The search for the remaining missing continued last night, but the Bluff community say they are realistic: it is unlikely anyone will be found alive after so long in the water.
Dallas Reedy (44), of Invercargill, who survived the capsize of the 11m Easy Rider by first clambering on to the hull of the boat before clinging to a petrol can for 16 hours in water temperatures of about 14degC, had been found on Thursday night and was yesterday recovering in Southland Hospital.
The boat capsized about midnight on Wednesday after being hit by a wave that "came out of nowhere" and it sank about two hours later, Mr Reedy told police.
Rough seas and swells of up to 6m had been forecast the night Easy Rider left Bluff Harbour heading towards Stewart Island with nine people on board.
Heavy rain and gale force winds later swept through the area, causing rough seas and "atrocious" conditions.
The marine forecast put out for the Foveaux Strait at 4.09pm on Wednesday stated "gale force warning in force".
"Sea becoming very rough for a time. Southwest swell rising to 4m. Poor visibility in rain developing this evening, clearing Thursday afternoon," it said.
The wreckage of the Easy Rider was found late yesterday morning about 2km off the northwestern tip of Stewart Island, near the Bishop and Clerks Islands.
A camera with a depth range of 30m, from a civilian search vessel, had taken photos of the boat and the images matched the description of the Easy Rider.
Police and a navy dive squad were on their way from Wellington and were expected to arrive in Invercargill last night with equipment for a deep-sea dive.
Police said they would assess their next steps once the squads arrived and discuss how the search would proceed today.
They have been working closely with the families of those who were on the Easy Rider through iwi liaison officers and Victim Support.
The search and rescue operation, made up of 12 vessels conducting a sea grid search and a ground search party on the shore closest to where the wreckage was found, continued all day and into the night yesterday.
About 60 people and the navy, Coastguard and private commercial vessels had helped police in the search.
Two workmates, who had taken their smoko to the vantage point of Bluff Hill yesterday morning, strained to watch the rescue efforts under way in the distance.
Five white dots illuminated by the blue sky, against the dark shadow of Stewart Island showed the area where the boats were searching in a grid-like formation.
"Not good news, I reckon," said one of the men as he pointed to the red coastguard vessel and an oyster boat breaking away from the search and returning to Bluff.
He was right.
Additional reporting: The New Zealand Herald, APNZ
