Father-of-three worried about weather before fatal fishing boat trip - family 
By Jean Edwards NZ Source: MZ 3/22/2022
Jean Edwards
Te Awamutu builder Mark Sanders, 43, was one of 10 people on board the charter boat Enchanter when it sank off North Cape during a wild Sunday night storm.

Five people, including skipper Lance Goodhew and crew member Kobe O'Neill, were rescued by helicopter after four hours in the water and have since been discharged from Kaitaia Hospital.

Four bodies have been recovered and the search for the fifth person will resume this morning.

Graeme Sanders said his son was a father of three, talented sportsman and keen fisherman.
 

He last spoke to him when he shook his hand and wished him good luck as he embarked on an adventure he had been looking forward to for two years.

Sanders said his son told him he might have to cut the fishing trip short because of the poor weather forecast.

"He was worried about the forecast for the last day or so that he was fishing. He told me that before he went - 'the forecast doesn't look good, we might have to come back early'."

A weather warning was issued on Saturday morning, two days after the Enchanter left Mangonui on a five-day trip to the Three Kings Islands north of Cape Reinga.

 
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