Rimu went missing after the catamaran she and her owner were on capsized in Northland last December.
Curly-coated retriever Rimu, missing for four days after a catamaran capsize off Whananaki, is back at sea and sailing confidently again – lifejacket on, as ever.
Rimu and her owner, Wānaka retiree Mark Ayre, had been living aboard their new $350,000, 10m catamaran Timbee for a few weeks in Whangārei when their trip north ended in catastrophe on December 30.
The craft collided with the infamous Elizabeth Reef about 5pm that day.
The partly submerged reef holds a grim place in Northland’s maritime history. In 1975, the vessel Le Capitaine Bougainville was wrecked there, claiming 16 passengers and crew.
Ayre, who is an experienced sailor, international birding guide, long‑time adventure and mountain worker, said he had previously plotted a safe course around the reef but the sea changed. With Timbee on autopilot, a combination of a strong current and a 2m swell began nudging the vessel sideways towards the obstacle.
“Every time that [swell] hit, it sort of pushed us a little bit closer,” he said.
At the same time, the current was dragging them nearer to the reef.
Ayre had gone below deck when the catamaran struck. Rimu reacted first.
“She got in the dinghy and was sitting in the dinghy that was tied on the back of the boat … sort of like saying, well, there was a big bang and it’s time to go, you know, ‘come on Dad, hurry up’.”
Ayre stuffed lifejackets into a breach and wedged toolboxes against the door. He tried to zigzag Timbee clear through the swell, but the damage was too great and the vessel overturned.
Thrown repeatedly into the sea, barefoot and wearing only a T-shirt and shorts, Ayre fought to right the dinghy as waves knocked him from the upturned hull.
Local veteran lifeguard Gordon Pengelly commandeered a neighbour and the pair went to Ayre’s rescue, managing to pull him to safety.
However, Rimu had already leapt into the sea and was nowhere in sight.
Despite being a curly‑coated retriever, “she hates the water, she doesn’t like swimming, she never has done”, Ayre said.
But once she jumped, she committed, paddling steadily into the blackness.
He believed she went aground on cliffs near Cabbage Tree Bay, clawing her way up steep, slippery rock.
“She must have climbed and skidded on the rocks over and over … To do that much damage,” he said of her torn and bleeding paws.
“It’s quite amazing what she did – for a dog that hates water … she’s a tough little thing.”
Four days later, still wearing her fluorescent orange lifejacket, a flash of it caught the attention of a spearfishing group at the hidden bay, leading to her rescue.
When Rimu reunited with Ayre, he said she “just went berserk, all over me, pushing me around”.
Ayre has no doubt the lifejacket was what saved Rimu during what he believed must have been at least a four‑hour ordeal at sea.
Ayre stayed a few days with Pengelly, who said he was amazed Rimu survived, so much so that he bought the same lifejacket for his dog.
Rimu had regular vet visits for four weeks to treat deep cuts across all her paws, Ayre said. Thankfully, she recovered quickly.
She has become something of a local celebrity and even has her own email address: Rimu2025lost4days@gmail.com
She regained her sea legs on short sailings, including time aboard a tall ship during the Bay of Islands Tall Ships Regatta.
Photos of Rimu aboard a yacht during a recent sailing trip from Wellington to Napier were recently shared on social media to reassure Northlanders who had followed her December disappearance.
Wearing one of the high‑visibility dog lifejackets Ayre insists on, Rimu is pictured relaxed and alert above deck watching the lower North Island’s eastern coastline slip by, and happily napping below deck, albeit carefully guarding other sleeping crew “with a paw in their face, or her face on their face”, Ayre said.
The post thanked people who “showed such care and dedication to finding her while she was missing”.
Ayre said the incident at Whananaki hasn’t put him off sailing. He intends to buy a new boat and replace tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment lost during the capsize, once his insurance claim is finalised.
Ayre accepted the upturned boat was a hazard at Sandy Bay Beach but was disappointed not to have had the chance to recover important items before the boat was destroyed during salvage by a digger.
He said he was grateful the community had been so kind and asked anyone who might find his lost items, including phones and a leather man bag containing licences, such as his sailing instructor’s, to contact police or him via Rimu’s email address.
Sarah Curtis is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on a wide range of issues. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in journalism, much of which she spent reporting on the courts in Gisborne and on the East Coast.