Fishing guide `lacked licence'

Prominent fishing guide Bill Hohepa did not have a charter operator's licence at the time of a fatal Northland fishing trip, a court was told yesterday.

Wayne Wills, who has built a reputation as a fishing guru using the name Bill Hohepa, faces two charges under the Maritime Transport Act of causing unnecessary risk to people and to property.

He has pleaded not guilty.

A 53-year-old Otaki man, Keith Philpott, drowned in Doubtless Bay on June 25, 1996, when a 5.5m aluminium boat piloted by Wills capsized.

If convicted, Wills faces a maximum 12-month jail sentence or a $10,000 fine on each of the two charges.

Mr Philpott was one of six passengers on the boat, the Hunky Dory, taking part in a rock fishing trip Wills organised.

On the first day of an Auckland District Court trial yesterday, the Northland harbourmaster, Captain Peter Wavish, said that at the time of the tragedy Wills had not applied for the $100 charter operator's permit required under regional council bylaws.

Captain Wavish said that while he had never seen the Hunky Dory, photographs he had been shown raised safety concerns.

"I would have considered this boat to be seaworthy only in very calm waters," he told Judge Bruce Buckton and the jury.

"Mainly, the safety margin to prevent water coming under the side [at the stern] is about half compared to the rest of the boat - it is very, very close to the water."

Cross-examined by Wills' lawyer, Colin Carruthers, QC, Captain Wavish agreed that the boat had been manufactured by one of the country's leading boat designers and builders, Fyran Boats.

Birkenhead greenkeeper David West, who was on board the Hunky Dory when it capsized, told the court all those on the boat were wearing life jackets at the time.

The group had spent the morning fishing off rocks at Broadies Creek, on the south side of the Karikari Peninsula, when Wills decided to head back to nearby Whatuwhiwhi because the weather was deteriorating.

The trial continues today and is expected to conclude early next week.