Police are now searching shorelines north of Auckland for a yachtie and his six-year-old daughter who have been missing for 11 days.
The deeply distressed mother of a 6-year-old girl missing with her father on a catamaran for the past 11 days has spoken of her shock at their sudden disappearance.
Alan Langdon, 49, and his daughter, Que, left Waikato's Kawhia Harbour for the Bay of Islands on a catamaran on December17 and have not been seen or heard from since.
Police have grave concerns for their welfare and a massive search is underway.
Speaking for the first time, the girl's mother, Ariane Wyler, told the Herald that she separated from Langdon last year and has since been in a protracted custody battle.
"I am deeply distressed about this current situation and miss my daughter Que greatly."
"I am strongly convinced that they both are alive, well and safe," said Wyler, who lives at Golden Bay in the South Island but is on holiday in her native Switzerland.
She spoke yesterday with Langdon's parents, Kay and Walter, who live in Kawhia, a tiny seaside village south of Raglan, and was shocked at hearing news they'd been reported as missing.
Langdon, a stay-at-home dad, built the catamaran the pair were sailing in on Smith's front lawn.
Smith raised the alarm with Coastguard on Boxing Day after Langdon and Que had been at sea without word for nine days.
She described Langdon as a competent boatsman who doted on his daughter.
"She was his best mate. He loved her to the max," Smith said.
"We're hoping that they're safe and well. All we want is to hear from them, that they're okay. We can't do anything else."
Before Langdon and Que set sail, Smith slipped some Christmas presents and a letter into a bag for the pair and put it on board the white-and-blue catamaran.
"Hopefully they did open it on Christmas Day or whenever. It was just some clothes and lots of sweets, of course, which he doesn't like her to have too much of.
"We're hoping that they're safe and well. All we want is to hear from them, that they're okay. We can't do anything else."
The Langdons are well-known in the Kawhia area and have a long association with the sea.
Langdon's grandfather operated a fishing vessel out of Kawhia Harbour for many years.
Local police are focusing on establishing the pair's whereabouts while Auckland Maritime Unit is conducting searches of the shorelines north of Auckland.
Yesterday, a spotter plane searched the coastline between Mokau and Port Waikato and 6 nautical miles out for Langdon's catamaran but found nothing.
Police refused to answer specific questions or say if they believed there were any suspicious circumstances.
"We continue to make inquiries as to the pair's whereabouts, and have an open mind as to what the situation may be. We urge any member of the public with any information or sightings to contact police," a spokeswoman said.
"It was terrifying"
Read Alan Langdon's account of his family's brush with death when Cyclone Pa, sunk his catamaran
My name is Alan Langdon and on 13th March 2015, a very black Friday our boat 'Sanyasin', our home since 27th August 2008 was destroyed by Cyclone Pam in Port Vila, Vanuatu.
Que never complained when she and her mother were climbing out of the cockpit with seawater pouring in and the whole boat tilting on to its side at around midnight.
She did not demonstrate any fear or panic and was concerned for her mother.
After the port hull was destroyed and 'Sanyasin' was on his side we were held to the seawall by our stays and the starboard hull was alternating between 45⁰ and sideways and what remained of the cross beams were keeping the hull above the seabed our boat was being sucked out to the length of the stays and then slamming back into the seawall while waves broke over across and around us as well as under our "boat" and up the sea wall then receding back under through the beams/boat.
Several times we were separated and lost our grip on the side of the starboard hull which was now uppermost and continually awash or underwater.
Becoming tangled and having to rip off clothing while underwater for extended periods of one, two and sometimes three big swells before getting a chance to breathe.
The seawall was above us sometimes and 10 metres away sometimes as we were lifted by waves and dropped/slammed into the base of the wall by large swells.
Losing grip on the boat and each other was pretty scary but I kept reaching out and regaining grips on Que and Ariane and Sanyasin with arms, hands, feet and legs.
Fatigue was setting in and my hands starting to lose strength. Ariane was swept away and despite all my efforts I could not retain her or regain a grip on her so after a short while I stopped trying and concentrated on keeping Que with me.
She also was swept under dragged by some tangled mess which I had to remain underwater for a short while to untangle her and when we got back onto the side of the hull which was uppermost I squeezed her so hard between my chest and our boat her skin was scraped off a little which she told me.
It was imperative that we get up onto the seawall and judging the time to be right I told Que I was going to lift and throw her up and she would fly.
I proceeded to place hands below her armpits and pulling my legs beneath me pushed up with all my strength while throwing her up as well.
As I threw her straight up the 300km/h wind carried her away into the maelstrom and this is one of the most difficult things I have ever had to do/experience.
I crouched back down and then leapt up as the wave crashed up the hull onto the seawall and landed on my hands and knees gripping on while the wave receded to look up and see Que's legs running away from me toward "safety".
Ariane had managed to grab a stay and while the sea lifted and pounded her into the coral and concrete she had gone hand over hand, regularly submerged by waves when suddenly one wave picked her up and washed her onto the seawall, her face getting pushed against the chain links.
