A teenager was forced to leave his father in the water and swim for his life after a huge wave sunk their boat on the Tauranga Harbour last night.
The body of the father was found about 8am today after major searches last night and this morning.
The surviving teenager has told of swimming up to 80m to shore to raise the alarm but by the time police and rescuers began searching for his father there was no sign of him.
The 55-year-old Tauranga man drowned after the boating accident at Oruamatua Point in Rangataua Bay, between Matapihi Peninsula and Maungatapu shortly before 8pm.
As rescuers using at least two Inflatable Rescue Boats began scanning the water this morning, the grief-stricken 19-year-old son waded out into the water by Maungatapu Bridge and looked out.
Family members were also holding a vigil on the clifftop over the area where the 55-year-old went missing before it emerged his body had been found.
Less than an hour earlier, the son told the Bay of Plenty Times about the horrific night.
"I guess stuff happens - you can't help it.''
He and his father were out setting nets - something his father had done for years - when their boat sank. Neither man was wearing a life jacket.
"The wave came in from the back. We got caught against the waves. It came straight in.''
"We both jumped off then I went to my dad.
"I tried to take his jacket (hoodie) and he told me to leave it and to swim to shore.
"Those were the last words I heard. He told me to just go.''
"We tried helping each other for about 10 minutes and we both tired. He just told me to go and try my hardest to get to shore.''
"I just feel sorry and sad - he told me to swim off and I swam off.''
It was only the second time in three years the son had gone out fishing with his father.
The son estimates he swam up to 80m and when he reached the shore "I just felt like dropping on to the ground but I had to keep going''.
He made his way around the Matapihi peninsula up on to the bridge and knocked on door of a home by the Maungatapu Marae and raised the alarm.
Last night's search involved police search and rescue, Tauranga Coastguard and Tauranga's Trustpower TECT rescue helicopter.
Tauranga Coastguard operations manager Simon Barker said they searched late into the night but were unable to find anything. Six Coastguard volunteers and crewmen were involved in the search.
- Kiri Gillespie of the Bay of Plenty Times
