Man lost at sea...his dog found alive

So sad that this man is missing. So what is the bottom line in this story for his companion found alive.  This man  made the choice to go sailing. But the dog didn't. If this dog had the reasoning ability as do most humans,she might or might not have agreed to accompany her master on this dangerous endeavor. But since she does not and cannot talk. We will never know. But what we do know is...dogs are at the mercy of their masters no matter how reckless or thoughtless they might be.

NO SIGN OF ACTIVITY: The Tafadzwa, as it was found by a Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion yesterday.

STILL MISSING: Mr van Rensburg went missing after leaving Tauranga for Gisborne on March 12 with his dog, Juanita.
LATEST: Friends of missing yachtie Paul van Rensburg are "shattered" that a search of his yacht this morning failed to find any sign of him.

They were still holding out hope Mr Van Rensburg would be found, though.

"It's really hard to say (what their next steps would be) right at this minute but we have to look at all options and look at them seriously," friend Warwick Gowland said.

The 40-year-old South African went missing after leaving Tauranga for a new job in Gisborne on March 12 with his dog, Juanita. He was reported missing four days later and his 11-metre steel-hulled yacht, Tafadzwa, was spotted by an Air Force P3 Orion 110km west of the Chatham Islands yesterday.

Fishermen boarded the boat this morning. Although they failed to find Mr van Rensburg, his dog has been recovered alive.

Mr Gowland said friends could look at land masses in the area

in case Mr van Rensburg had made it to one of those.

"There's a lot of questions to be asked and answered," he said.

Mr van Rensburg's friends has lobbied to continue hunting for the Tafadzwa since the official search was called off earlier this month.

Mr Gowland believed there should be an official review.

"We don't believe they kept their search going long enough. They cut it off way too early, it's that simple."

SEARCH OPERATION

Maritime New Zealand defended its decision to call off the search for Mr Van Rensburg after three days.

Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) mission coordinator Geoff Lunt today told NZPA he rejected any criticism of the search.

"We carried out a very extensive and exhaustive search and based that on the information we had at the time," he said.

Inquiries into the vessel's location had been exhausted, he said.

"That was what happened after three days of searching, it was decided that there was no longer viability to continue searching."

Mr Lunt said RCCNZ's role was "effectively over" and it would not take any further action, including a search of nearby islands, without new information.

"We have no leads to start a search from," he said.

"Indications are that's he's fallen overboard quite some time back, because of the state of the sails, and based on that we have no information at all that we can start a search with."

Mr Lunt said it was not yet clear if Mr Van Rensburg had been wearing a safety harness or what may have caused him to fall overboard.

The rescue coordination centre carried out an extensive search for the yacht over three days, covering 328,000sq km.SPOTTED FROM THE AIR

The commanding officer of No 5 Squadron, Wing Commander Nick Olney, said it was pure luck the yacht was seen by the Orion crew yesterday.

"It was in good shape, but the sails were badly ripped. There was no sign of activity on deck."

The crew could read the name of the Tafadzwa, confirming it was the missing boat.

"The guys were pretty excited. They tried to call him up but there was no response."

- with PAUL EASTON, The Dominion Post, and NZPA