"Water and alcohol don't mix" Otago-Southland Coroner David Crerar told friends and family of a commercial fisherman who was killed when a boat struck rocks on a night-time trip in Doubtful Sound last year.
Jason Ross Nilsen (33), commercial cray fisherman, of Invercargill, was found dead on his crashed boat about 8.30am on March 28.
Long-time friend Daniel Young, of Bluff, who was also on board, was flown to Dunedin Hospital in a critical condition with severe head injuries.
During Mr Nilsen's inquest in Invercargill yesterday, the coroner heard a blood sample had recorded a blood-alcohol level of 102mg.
While the legal limit for driving a vehicle is 80mg, there are no rules around drinking and boating.
Mr Young said the pair met on March 27 and decided to take Mr Nilsen's new 5.8m aluminium boat out on the sound to visit friends on other boats.
"It would have been like anyone else driving ... to the shop. We were both very experienced fishermen; it's just what we did."
After visiting friends in Blanket Bay and Precipice Cove, the pair made a final stop at the tourist boat Tutuko.
At each stop both men had been drinking, but Mr Young said Mr Nilsen had consumed less alcohol over the course of the evening.
After visiting Tutuko, the men set off to return to Deep Cove between 11.30pm and 11.45pm.
"It was very dark, there were no stars," Mr Young said.
"We could hear the motor but couldn't see anything. The GPS was the only way to navigate.
"We were heading back to Deep Cove. I don't know how fast he was going.
"The [boat's top] speed was 70kmh to 80kmh, [and] knowing Jase, he would have been flat to the boards.
"I can't remember anything past that point. The next memory is waking up in Dunedin Hospital days later."
Mr Young said he was "quite positive" Mr Nilsen did not see the rocks before impact.
"I don't recall a 'Whoa' or a 'Stop' ... we just [hit] it."
Peter Young, of Te Anau, was on the Southern Winds the next morning dropping Department of Conservation staff in the area when he saw the crashed boat.
"As we got closer I could see damage to the bow and I knew it wasn't good. I could see blood on the seat and someone lying on the deck.
"[Mr Young] stumbled out, severely injured. He was covered in blood but the bleeding had stopped. Amazingly, he was coherent."
Southern Winds took on Mr Young and towed the damaged boat to Blanket Bay and alerted authorities.
Maritime New Zealand investigator Domonic Venz said investigations concluded physical issues with the boat were not factors. Mr Nilsen's intoxication, speed (estimated at about 70kmh) and not using the GPS unit to plot a course avoiding obstacles were likely all contributing factors.
In verbal findings, Mr Crerar said the pair did not "set out ... for a booze-up and a party", but neither man recognised their level of intoxication and its effects on them.
"Alcohol does not just affect motor skills, it affects cognitive skills.
"You don't think straight, you don't set the GPS, you drive too fast ... you're more likely to do unsafe things.
"The most important outcome is to add my voice to that of Maritime New Zealand ... water and alcohol don't mix.
"I know it's difficult for you to listen to this, but ... [Mr Nilsen] made a mistake.
"I just hope that this tragedy is a lesson to others that water and alcohol don't mix and that I don't see a repeat of these circumstances."
