Two Men Drowned In Capsize

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31985, 12 May 1969, Page 1

Two Men Drowned In Capsize

Two men were drowned when a 9ft dinghy powered by an outboard motor capsized in Puketea Bay, Kenepuru Sound, Marlborough, on Saturday afternoon. A seven-year-old boy, the soitof dnie of the men who was drowned, survived. One had" not been recovered late

last evening. The men were: , BRYAN DOUGLAS BOWLER, aged 30, a railway engine-driver, married, of 28 Tenby Place, Wainoni; and NOEL DAVID HEWETSON, aged 30, single, a telephone operator, who lived with his parents in the Rai Valley, Marlborough.

Messrs Hewetson and Bowler, Mr Bowler’s son, Graeme, and a man whose name could not be ascertained last evening travelled in the dinghy from Te Mahia to the Portage where they arrived about 2.15 p.m. They stayed about half an hour before setting out on the return trip to Te Mahia. The third man * did not go back in the boat. The sea was calm and there was no wind but it is thought that one of the occupants of the boat stood up and overbalanced. About 3.30 p.m. Mr F. Orchard. of Havelock, was in his launch Glenmore about 600 yards off shore from Puketea Bay when he saw the dinghy drifting and decided to investigate.

When he got closer he heard a child in the water crying for help. Mr Orchard hauled the boy on board his launch. Near the dinghy Mr Orchard found the body of Mr Bowler face down in the water. With the help of a man who had rowed out from the shore in a small boat, Mr Orchard got the body into his launch. Graeme Bowler told Mr Orchard that there had been a second man in the dinghy and j a search was made for Mr Hewetson without success. Mr Orchard used his radio to get in touch with the fishermen’s radio base at Picton and the police were informed. He took Mr Bowler’s body to the Portage and it was then taken by road to Torea Bay. The boy, who was shocked and cold, recovered quickly and was left in charge of his granparents. The search for Mr Hewetson's body was continued until 9 p.m. on Saturday in

water between 35ft and 40ft deep. The search was resumed at dawn yesterday by Constables T. Myles and A. Schultz, of Blenheim, and Mr Orchard dragged the seabed.

At 1.30 p.m. yesterday the fishing boat Tenui, owned by Mr D. Ballantyne, began trawling the area. Sergeant A. K. Keown, of Blenheim, said that the search would be continued today. An inquest was opened in Blenheim into the death of Mr Bowler on Saturday evening before Mr J. T. Beaumont, Justice of the Peace, and was adjourned sine die after evidence of identification had been given.