Paea Moeakiola and her late husband Tevita Moeakiola, who drowned without a life jacket.
The grieving wife of Tēvita Moeakiola, who died in a boating accident near Musick Point in Auckland during bad weather, said she never wanted him to go out to sea that day.
And Coroner Rachael Schmidt-McCleave ruled on Monday that if Moeakiola had been wearing a lifejacket, he may have reached the shore safely alongside his brother-in-law Pita Setefano and work mate Tēvita Havili on 18 June 2022.
Setefano held onto a floating life jacket, and Havili grabbed a floating petrol can in order to survive, and it took the pair 40 minutes to swim to shore and call the police about the fact Moeakiola hadn’t been able to finish the journey with them.
There were always three lifejackets on the boat - yet a Facebook live post of the trio taken on board the boat that day showed none of the men were wearing one.
Paea Moeakiola said her husband was a strong swimmer.
“In Tonga, his father said he could swim at least three miles from their island to a neighbouring one.
“When we were in Tonga he would swim out to sea with a net and then drag it back in. He was fit and kept in good shape playing tennis.”
Tongan-born Moeakiola, a carpenter, met Paea in 2004 and moved to New Zealand in 2006. He was a father of four and she a mother of six. Together they set up a family home in Manurewa.
It wasn’t love at first sight, Paea said, but she knew Moeakiola had a big heart. “He was humble, loving and caring.”
Paea told the Herald that the day before the ill-fated fishing trip, she asked Moeakiola not to go because of a bad weather forecast - and she wanted him to accompany her to watch mokopuna play netball.
“But he said ‘no, I already have a plan, I’m going fishing” Paea said.
“In the morning, he asked me for petrol money for his boat. I said no, look at the weather. I didn’t want him to go to sea that day.
“On my way to netball, he called and I ignored it. He called again and said he had taken the scrap steel to the scrap yard and got $21.
“I joked he can stand in his boat at home and fish from there as $21 was not going to get him far.”
But Moeakiola said his brother-in-law and mate wanted to join him fishing and had filled the boat’s tank.
After netball, Paea went to lunch with her son and sent Moeakiola pictures of their yum cha meal.
The couple exchanged calls and video throughout the afternoon: Moeakiola telling his wife he’d caught some fish and sending video - he was not wearing a lifejacket, she said.
At 3pm Paea told him it was time to come home, she said.
“But Tēvita said he wanted to stay out longer to make sure there were no fisheries officers as he had some undersized fish,” she said.
“I told him to throw them back to their mother fish.”
When she called him early that evening the phone went straight to voicemail.
“I had a feeling something was wrong straight away,” Paea said.
She called Moeakiola’s sister - who phoned her back later to say Police had been in touch. The boat had capsized in rough seas. Moeakiola’s body was found the following day.
Paea asked the two survivors what they had talked about while fishing with her husband.
“He told the boys my daughter and her family were coming to New Zealand the following week to watch the Mate Ma’a Tonga game and he wanted to get fish for them,” Paea said.
“My daughter and family arrived the following week for Tevita’s funeral on the Friday and the match on the Saturday. I miss him very much.”
Paea designed Moeakiola’s headstone with the top shaped as a boat.
“I would come home from work and he would be doing something with his boat,” Paea said. “I said ‘I think you love that boat more than me.’”
Paea said a few weeks before he died, the couple bought another vehicle.
“He said I wasn’t allowed to drive it as I had a work car and he wanted my daughter to use while she was here,” Paea said.
“He hid the key and after he passed we could not find the key anywhere. I had to get a new key cut.”
Much later, the key was found stashed in a high cupboard.
“He knew because I was short I would not find it up there,” Paea said.
“I went to his grave and said ‘you think I can’t get the key, if only you were still alive I would give you a slap’,” Paea laughed.
The Coroner determined Moeakiola’s cause of death was drowning, with hypothermia likely a contributing factor.
The report highlighted several missed safety steps – including the absence of lifejackets being worn, and waterproof communication equipment being available - that could have altered the outcome.
Water Safety New Zealand ambassador Rob Hewitt said as summer approaches he is calling on all recreational fishers and boaties to take extra care before heading out.
“Every one of these tragedies has a ripple effect through families and communities,” Hewitt said.
“The lessons are simple - wear your lifejacket, take working waterproof communication, and make sure someone knows where you’re going and when you’ll be back.”
Joseph Los’e is an award winning journalist and joined NZME in 2022 as kaupapa Māori editor. Los’e was a chief reporter, news director at the Sunday News covering crime, justice and sport. He was also editor of the NZ Truth and before joining NZME worked for urban Māori organisation Whānau Waipareira.