Missing fisherman always on brother's mind

David Tawhiti tries to carry on each day as normal, but his thoughts keep coming back to his older brother missing at sea.

Wiremu Te Kapu Tawhiti, 53, known to his family as "Billy-boy", is one of three men aboard the fishing vessel Mi Jay, which left Nelson on November 22 and has not been heard from since.

"It's all right while you're busy, but as soon as you sit down and start thinking about things, it gets pretty heavy," David Tawhiti said.

"It's just the uncertainty of things - how it's going to pan out, you know. Our brother, he is a survivor, so we are still hoping for the best."

Police named all those on board yesterday as the official search for the vessel wound down. It was meant to conclude with coastline searches in the Chatham Islands yesterday, but heavy fog has delayed the search until today.

The others on board the vessel are skipper Paul Kemeys Rees, 52, of Richmond, and Cedric Albert James, 52, of Ahipara.

Mr Rees' brother, Charlie Rees, is organising a private search in waters round the Chatham Islands.

Charlie Rees believes the crew may simply be fishing in a remote spot, staying off the radio and oblivious to the search.

The National Rescue Co-ordination Centre said hopes of finding the men alive were dwindling with each day that passed. There was a possibility the men were floating somewhere on a liferaft.

"That's pretty much what we are hoping for," said David Tawhiti, "because a liferaft is a bit harder to spot than the boat itself."

Wiremu Tawhiti, originally from Tauranga, comes from a large family of nine children. He has nine kids of his own, with three of them now living in Australia.

He is a keen golfer and strong pool player, and has always loved recreational fishing.

He lived in the Bay of Plenty and worked on the wharves at Mt Maunganui for several years before moving to Levin and then on to Nelson to work on fishing boats.

David Tawhiti lives in Auckland, but still feels a close bond with his brother.

"We're a pretty close-knit family and in contact with everybody and we are all just a phone call away.

"I'm working on the roads myself [and Wiremu] is working on the boats. We try to catch up on the phone every three or four months or something like that."