Nine hours in sea after fall from yacht

By ELIZABETH BINNING

A man who spent nine hours treading water after falling unnoticed off a yacht was kept alive by one thing - the thought of seeing his family again.

Peter Makiri, of Manurewa, fell into the Firth of Thames on Wednesday night as he and two friends were sailing home after an evening at a Kaiaua pub.

The 42-year-old had been standing at the stern of the 8m yacht Melissa Dawn when it changed direction and he fell overboard.

Worried about being struck by the propeller, he dived, and by the time he surfaced the yacht and his mates were gone.

"I started to panic a bit when I realised that they weren't coming back," Mr Makiri said last night from his hospital bed.

"It was just starting to get dark and I knew there wasn't much chance of them finding me. I didn't think I was going to make it through the night.

"I started losing it a little bit but then I thought, 'I have to make it through the night'.

"If you want to survive you do it. You have to focus on something to get through it."

For Mr Makiri, who escaped with little more than exhaustion and a possible lung infection, the focus came in the form of his partner, Toni Dunick, his six daughters and his four-month-old grandson.

Mr Makiri knew his best option was to try to swim to shore, but the current kept pulling him away.

As the night wore on he grew colder. He struggled to stay afloat and eventually removed his clothing, which had been weighing him down.

At one stage something large, possibly a shark, slammed into his leg.

"That really scared me, I didn't know what it was."

Mr Makiri's companions, 17-year-old Karl Daniela and 52-year-old Tony Jones, reached Thames by 1am and raised the alarm.

Mr Daniela, who had been sailing the boat, said he had heard a "thump and a splash" about 9pm but thought the other two were playing tricks on him. When he looked around he realised Mr Makiri was gone.

He and Mr Jones spent about half an hour searching without success before deciding to get help.

They ran out of petrol on the way and were towed to shore by a commercial fishing boat.

Police and six members of the Thames Coastguard began a search and at 6.20am spotted Mr Makiri about 6km offshore.

Coastguard president Mike Skeet said he was "incredibly lucky" to be alive after so long in the water without a lifejacket.

"He was very fit. That's really what kept him going."

Police and the coastguard yesterday urged other boaties to take notice of the near-tragedy.

"Just leave the alcohol at home and wear lifejackets." said Mr Skeet.

Mr Makiri does not think alcohol was to blame, but accepts that it was not wise to drink and sail.

"I had had a few beers but wasn't drunk. I think if I was drunk I wouldn't be here today."