A 47-year-old man drowned yesterday while waiting to be rescued after tipping out of a dinghy in Coromandel Harbour.
The man and his brother-in-law went fishing at Te Kouma yesterday afternoon, Senior Constable John Morrissey said.
The men climbed out of their boat and into a dinghy but the dinghy
capsized, throwing both into the water.
Crew on board a rescue boat are understood to have worked on the man without success.
It is estimated he was in the water for between 20 and 30 minutes.