A Northland yachtie probably drowned when he fell from his dinghy while rowing to his boat during wild weather in the Bay of Islands, a coroner has heard.
Auckland Coroner Deborah Marshall held an inquest in Whangarei on Tuesday into the death of Ronald Earle Raison, known as Earle, aged 48, who was last seen leaving a friend's home in Russell on the night of August 13, 2010.
Evidence presented by a pathologist showed it was likely he died from drowning and police said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death. The coroner reserved her decision.
It was thought Mr Raison had tried to row out to his yacht in Matauwhi Bay, where he had lived for several years, but came to grief in weather described as "absolutely shocking".
The alarm was raised the next morning when his upturned dinghy was found washed up on a nearby peninsula.
Russell residents searched the area on foot and in boats, and the police dive squad spent two days scouring the bottom of the bay.
Mr Raison's body was found two weeks to the day after he disappeared, on the other side of the Bay of Islands, on the shore of Te Puna Inlet, Purerua Peninsula, about 15km north of Russell.
The coroner heard that Mr Raison had a history of mental health issues and was on medication at the time of his disappearance.
On the morning of his disappearance Mr Raison picked up his weekly medication from Russell and bought a three-litre cask of wine, which he drank that evening with friends who lived near his yacht. He left the house about 9pm to row to his yacht in extreme weather conditions. The alarm was raised the next afternoon and his body was found face down on the beach at Te Puna Inlet on August 27.
A toxicology report found that his blood alcohol level was 86 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.
The legal driving limit is 80mg. Cannabis was also found in his blood.