Photo: 123RF
A coroner wants one consistent law across New Zealand requiring boaties to wear lifejackets on small vessels, after finding a mother and her young son would have had better chances of surviving a capsizing, if they been wearing them.
The pair were on a scalloping trip in Auckland's Manukau Harbour when the boat skippered by the woman's partner was hit by a wave and overturned, leaving them and two friends onboard clinging to the hull for hours.
It was November 2022, and while the two friends swam for more than two hours to shore for help, the trio briefly found safety on a sandbar before falling into deep water again. None of them were wearing lifejackets or had cellphones within reach when the boat flipped.
Tragically, Gemma Ferregel and her 10-year-old son Ryder drowned and her partner Kevin McQuire treaded water until he was rescued.
Police investigated the deaths and McQuire pleaded guilty to two charges of manslaughter related to failling to keep all passengers onboard his boat safe. He was sentenced in December to six months community detention, in the High Court in Auckland.
McQuire had failed to ensure all onboard wore lifejackets, that there were adequate forms of communication on board, and had not properly checked the weather conditions before heading out on the harbour.
Coroner Erin Woolley's findings were made public today.
She decided to conduct an inquiry for the purpose of "making comments aimed at reducing the chances of further deaths occurring in circumstances similar to those in which Gemma and Ryder's deaths occurred".
"In this case, it is my assessment of the circumstances leading to Gemma and Ryder's deaths that if they had been wearing lifejackets, their chances of surviving after the boat capsized would have significantly increased because they would have been assisted by the lifejacket to stay afloat in the water," she said.
"Wearing a lifejacket is one of the simplest and most effective ways to prevent drowning fatalities. It is crucial to normalise lifejacket use in New Zealand, so that all Kiwis undertaking boating activities make the conscious choice to wear one."
Woolley recommended Maritime New Zealand consider whether one nationally consistent rule or law is required to mandate the wearing of lifejackets in all parts of New Zealand on small boats.
She also wanted the organisation to consider if further public education campaigns about water safety are needed.
"Public education campaigns emphasising the dangers of complacency and the importance of personal responsibility in water safety are also critical to reducing drowning amongst recreational boaties."
Maritime rules do not mandate boaties to wear lifejackets nationally but some regional bylaws make wearing lifejackets compulsory on small boats.
Auckland Council's bylaw makes wearing a lifejacket mandatory, unless the skipper believes it is safe to not wear one.
Some regions, including Waikato, make it mandatory for all people in boats under six metres in length to wear a lifejacket at all times.
"To achieve national consistency on this issue, Maritime New Zealand would need to create national legislation requiring life jackets be worn while on a boat under six metres in length," Woolley said.
Maritime NZ spokesperson Matt Wood said the deaths were a heartbreaking and preventable tragedy.
But he did not comment on the coroner's recommendation, instead noting the "growing national recognition of the importance of lifejacket use".
"Right now, most regions already require lifejackets on recreational craft under six metres while underway. Nationally, lifejackets must be worn in heightened risk situations - and that rule applied in this case. Our message to every boatie is simple: follow the Boating Safety Code every time you head out. That means wearing a lifejacket every time you're on the water.
"Not wearing a lifejacket, no way to call for help, ignoring the marine forecast, and alcohol use are the known common causes that contribute to recreational boating deaths in New Zealand - and they are avoidable.
Maritime NZ was "aware of" National Party MP Cameron Brewer's member's bill before Parliament, he said.
Brewer's bill - the Life Jackets for Children and Young Persons Bill - was introduced in April, and would make it compulsory for those under 15 years old to wear a life jacket on boats and craft of less than six metres.
Maritime NZ was also working with the Safer Boating Forum to "drive real change" through a national behaviour change campaign, community grants, and partnerships with MetService, and investing in safety education and outreach.
"At the same time, we're working with the government on national navigational safety rules, and we continue to back regional councils and harbourmasters in enforcing local rules that reflect the unique risks in their areas," Wood said.
The coroner's findings reflected the sentencing notes from Justice Michele Wilkinson-Smith, who warned against boaties' complacency.
Wilkinson-Smith described the skipper's "she'll be right attitude" as contributing to the tragedy, when McQuire was sentenced in December.
At the time, she said there would be many other men with years of boating experience who would be heading out on the water with their families, and those family members would place complete trust and confidence in them.
She noted the risk over confidence and failure to plan for the worst-case scenario and the hope that anyone reading about the tragedy would think twice about letting their children take off their lifejackets, head out without checking the weather and fail to ensure lifejackets are worn by all onboard.
The coroner noted that Water Safety NZ agreed that a minority of boaties demonstrate poor behaviours and actions stemming from a culture of "she'll be right".
"Despite a reasonable awareness of the potential for drownings, these boaties carry the assumption that it will not happen to them," Woolley said.
"Water Safety NZ encourages all boaties to be more proactive and think about how to survive. This type of safety focused culture would see all boaties prepared for the conditions, as well as being prepared with the thought that they might end up in the water at some point, and therefore have a plan for that possible occurrence. That would include wearing lifejackets at all times, having a way to communicate attached to their body and knowing they have the water safety skills to deal with an unexpected immersion into water."
The boat capsized on Manukau Harbour (file image). Photo:
How the tragedy unfolded on 6 November 2022
It was a fine Sunday morning and Kevin McQuire bought fuel, food and alcohol, then picked up a drag net from a friend for a day's scalloping in the Manukau Harbour.
He was an experienced skipper and the owner of a 4.8 metre boat called Deez Nuts, and court documents set out the turn of events.
McQuire lived near the boat ramp, so checked the weather and tide from his deck before launching from Te Toro Bay with four others, including Gemma and Ryder, onboard later that morning.
Their friends Jay Boddiner and Lisa Downey had joined them for the trip.
He had not checked the official weather forecast or that there were enough lifejackets on the boat - Ryder was wearing a lifejacket for some of the trip, however it was riding up so he asked his mum to take it off. No one else wore lifejackets.
The group put out the drag net and did some scalloping, all drank alcohol but were not intoxicated, meanwhile the weather deteriorated with wind gusts and waves of up to a metre.
On their last drag, McQuire let Ryder steer the boat but soon realised it was off course and took back control, accelerating to get back on course when the boat was hit by two waves and capsized.
They realised Ryder was trapped under the boat and Boddiner dived down to retrieve him. They had no way to raise the alarm, their cellphones were under the boat and there was no working radio onboard.
All five clung to the upturned hull for four to five hours before Boddiner and Downey decided to swim to shore to raise the alarm - it took them two and a half hours.
Meanwhile, Ryder his mother and her partner held onto the boat before finding a sandbar to stand on, but as they walked along it abruptly ended and they fell into deep water.
Weak from spending hours in the water, and battling the incoming tide, they were unable to get back onto the sandbar.
McQuire told police that they were all holding onto each other and as Ryder went under, Gemma was holding onto him and did not want to let him go.
"[McQuire] was holding onto Gemma and was also pulled under. They spoke to each other at that point and said they were going to drown," the coroner's report said.
About 7pm that night, the two friends who had swum to shore made it to land and contacted the police.
Half an hour later the police helicopter found the overturned boat and rescued McQuire, who had been treading water.
Gemma's body was recovered near the overturned boat but despite a 15-day extensive search and rescue operation, Ryder's body has never been found.
The coroner found both had drowned.
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