Betty G beaches at Waihau Bay

Missing boat Betty G, owned by 61-year-old fisherman Will Fransen who fell overboard on January 2, has turned up off East Cape nearly two weeks later. Picture by Coromandel CFM Christine Elmiger

A missing boat belonging to a man who fell overboard and spent 24 hours floating in the sea off the Coromandel Peninsula was yesterday found off East Cape nearly 200 kilometres away.

Cambridge 61-year-old Will Fransen said he tried and failed multiple times to catch the attention of passing boats after he fell overboard near the Alderman Islands on January 2, and was “pessimistic” from the start about his chances of survival.

Mr Fransen set off on a solo fishing trip on his 12-metre boat, with plans to return the next day. He had hooked and tagged a marlin and was about to release it back into the ocean when everything went horribly wrong.

He could not recall if he lifted the rail on his boat or if it had come out on its own, but with the movement of the ocean and the fish, he lost his balance and fell out of the open safety rail.

“The next thing I was in the water with the boat idling,” he told The New Zealand Herald.

He tried to swim back to the boat but within a few strokes realised it was moving away from him too quickly.

He was about 30 nautical miles, or 55km, east of the North Island and ended up drifting a long way south to Mayor Island in the Bay of Plenty.

He trod water through the night, not sleeping, drifting many kilometres south until he ended up close to Mayor Island/Tūhua.

He was eventually spotted and rescued by three young men fishing nearby. His face was burned and his legs, arms and joints sore from treading water, but he was otherwise OK.

His boat, the Betty G, turned up off East Cape on Tuesday.

NZ Police confirmed a member of the public reported having found the boat just after 1.30pm yesterday.

“A boat belonging to the man rescued off the Alderman Islands on January 3 washed ashore today at Waihau Bay, Ōpōtiki,” a police spokesperson said.

“The owner has been notified and arrangements are under way to remove the boat from the shore.”