The children and wives of the Waikato men who drowned off North Cape when the fishing charter boat Enchanter went down say their hearts go out to the survivors who they know will be suffering too.
Sixty-three-year-old publican Richard Bright, his 72-year-old mate Mike Lovett and 43-year-old Mark Sanders were popular characters in the Cambridge/Te Awamutu community.
They were found deceased in the water on Monday off North Cape, along with another victim.
Police say another body, that of Sanders' friend, was located in the water Tuesday afternoon.
"Our hearts go out to everyone that has survived, they have lived through it," Richard Bright's daughter Jess Short told Newshub.
'The Enchanter', one of three vessels owned by the Enchanter Fishing company sank in 4m swells at North Cape on Sunday night.
Ten people were on board, including the skipper Lance Goodhew and his senior deckhand Kobe O'Neill. Both survived, along with three others.
The company was running a five-day charter to the Three Kings Islands 55km northwest of Cape Reinga when survivors say Goodhew opted to bring the vessel home a day early.
The family of 43-year-old Te Awamutu builder Mark Sanders says they take comfort knowing he died doing what he loved.
"For months he kept talking about the trip, he was saying after the trip he would come home and finish our house, stop drinking and go on a diet. All the things he was going to do… he was so excited," says daughter Reese Sanders.
Reese and 15-year-old sister Sienna, 12-year-old brother Ali, Mark's wife Megan and his parents have been engulfed with support from across Waikato.
Mark was a fisherman, rugby man and horse racing identity with his dad.
Worried about the storm, he phoned his family just hours before the Enchanter's distress signal went off 8pm Sunday night.
Ali recounts how Mark said, "He was having the best time of his life and that he'd be back soon - he told us he loved us".
"For us the most relieving thing, he is not lost... they found him that's some consolation," local trainer Graeme Sanders says of his son.
Cambridge local Mike Lovett, who was a much-loved handyman at The Oaks Stud, joined his good mate publican Richard Bright on the trip.
"He was really one of a kind," says Bright's daughter Jess Short.
Wife Brenda says she's been overwhelmed by the community support for her "larger than life character of a husband" who'd owned the popular sports bar, the Group 1 Turf Bar, for almost 21 years.
"He loved ribbing people and they loved it and he was generous to the core… he would give you the shirt off his back. He had a lot of hobbies.
"We were getting to the time of life where we wanted to do things for ourselves."
Several maritime investigations are already underway into the 5-day trip run by the Enchanter Fishing company, for the families though it's the memories that are top of mind.
"He loved fishing and he loved hunting - this marlin trip was on his bucket list," Brenda Bright says. "He wanted to catch a marlin and hopefully I find out in the coming days if he did."
The mens' bodies are now being returned home to Waikato.
"I'm just so looking forward to having him back and saying our last goodbyes, he would do anything for us so that's what we need to do for him now," Reese Sanders says.
One last gesture for a dad who gave his kids all the time in the world.
