People in the street, business operators behind counters and colleagues in the fishing industry yesterday spoke quietly about the two men missing off Doubtful Sound.
And they were careful to speak about cray boat skipper Bruce Gordon (42) - one of their own - and his crewmate Darren Allen (37), of Wairio, in the present tense.
However, those same members of this tight-knit community were shy of talking on the record until the men on K-Cee were found, as if the prospect of breaking ranks would tempt fate.
K-Cee was last heard from on Monday morning.
"He's one of the really solid guys in the industry.
"He's missed by all in the industry," one resident said of Mr Gordon.
"It highlights the risk the guys take every day when they go out on the water," another said.
Hope of the men's survival was pinned on Tuesday - the first day of the large-scale search for the pair - on the absence of the fishing boat's inflatable dinghy and inflatable life raft.
That hope took a beating yesterday.
Southland area commander Inspector Lane Todd told media outside the Te Anau police station yesterday that searchers had recovered two wooden floorboards from an inflatable dinghy about 10km north of Secretary Island.
Searchers also found a bladder which matched that of K-Cee's inflatable life raft. The bladder was found 400m off Noon Extreme Point, on Secretary Island.
Six boats and three helicopters were involved in the second day of searching yesterday in a 400 square mile grid pattern around the half-submerged wreckage of the hull, which had drifted closer to Secretary Island.
The wheelhouse had not been found by last night.
No life preservers were missing from the wreckage of the boat.
The emergency locator beacon from K-Cee was discovered yesterday on a beach north of the bow section of the boat.
It had minor damage and appeared still to be operational, but had not been activated, Insp Todd said.
"Our sympathies are with the families of the two men.
"We had hoped to have a better outcome than what we have got at the moment.
"Unfortunately, things aren't looking as positive as we would have hoped."
Officers from the Police Dive Squad, based in Wellington, were taken by a Southern Lakes Helicopter to inspect hull wreckage, which had been towed to the sheltered Neck Cove on Secretary Island.
The team dived all yesterday afternoon and shared their findings at an operational debriefing last night.
The search was called off just before 8pm yesterday and would resume again this morning, Insp Todd said.
Asked what happened to K-Cee, Insp Todd said a "large impact" was suspected, but it was too early to know how it occurred.
However, police were not looking into whether K-Cee had collided with another vessel and there was "certainly no evidence" to suggest it had.
Insp Todd praised Te Anau search and rescue personnel and the commercial fishing community for their help in the search, which also involved a Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion, using night lights and radar, for four hours on Tuesday night.
The last radio report from K-Cee was at 8.15am on Monday.
Police were informed about 9.30am on Tuesday the boat was overdue in returning to Doubtful Sound and a large-scale search and rescue operation began shortly afterwards.
The Gordon and Allen families were being kept informed by police yesterday and said in a statement they appreciated the commitment from the community in searching for their loved ones.
"We are still all hoping for a miracle and appreciate all the support and kind thoughts we have received," they said.
