Raglan locals are mourning the loss of William (Bill) McNatty on the Kaipara bar on Saturday 26th November. Bill, skipper of the charter fishing boat, Francine, was returning to Kaipara Harbour just after 2pm.
The boat was reported missing on Saturday afternoon after attempting to re-enter the Kaipara Harbour in waves of up to 4m. The skipper of the Francie was among those who died in the tragedy. Three people have been rescued and the bodies of seven people recovered. One person remains missing.
Police on Sunday confirmed the boat’s owner Bill McNatty was among the dead, while all the others on board the Francie were Pacific Islander males aged between 31 and 59. They included four people from Tonga, one from Samoa and one from the Cook Islands.
While living in Raglan, Bill took a leading role in the Greens, Raglan Community Radio, Whaingaroa Environment Centre and set up the raglan.co.nz website which operated for many years. From 2001 he was a DJ on Raglan Radio and in 2005 hosted the early morning Saturday Moods show. Known as a computer whiz he operated the company Starlight Computers in Raglan around 2002 doing work for local businesses.
Phil McCabe of KASM said on FB, “Bill was instrumental in the great work done by KASM in the early days fending off a number of cowboy wannabe seabed mining companies. I didn’t know Bill well but want to acknowledge the significant role he played in the long struggle to protect the beautiful yet powerful west coast.”
In 2008, Bill worked on ensuring that the Te Uku wind farm was modified and built to minimise its impact on the environment.
Bill certainly did more than his share for Raglan and the environment.
This is a very sad loss. Our thoughts are with Bill’s family and the other families who lost their loved ones in this tragic accident.