First published on
A medic is lowered to a boat involved in the recovery of two men from the water off Napier on October 21 last year.
After hours clinging to a capsized boat in a chilly sea, Howard Reese told his crayfishing buddy, "I can't take any more of this. I'm too cold. I've had it."
When a wave threw them both off the boat a short time later, his friend, the boat's skipper, swam back to the overturned vessel.
But Reese, 78, remained in the water. He did not lift his arms. He floated on his back and drifted away.
