PIWAKAWAKA,

Piver trimaran, wrecked Raoul Island 16 August 1980 with loss of owner-skipper Arthur John Doig (57) of Dunedin.

Arthur was on the final leg of a circumnavigation of the world when he met heavy seas and had a halyard failure. After motoring for several days to get to Raoul, he was running out of fuel. He was found in Boat Cove by a island staff member and said he would need to  be at Fishing Rock on the other side of the island if he needed assistance. With the last of his fuel he motored to in front of the hostel, just west of Fishing Rock and anchored about 500 metres out, but the wind had changed to an onshore wind by the time he got there. Deciding to stay anchored there the night, the wind came up overnight and was about 25-30 knots onshore by next morning. Tom Sutherland, one of the Met observers found the yacht on the rocks next morning after doing the 6am weather observation. Debri was scattered about 1km along the shoreline. The yacht was sitting parallel to the shore, but mostly upright with the inshore pontoon completely smashed. Arthur's body was found some distance from the yacht so appears he may have been washed overboard. The logbook was still on the yacht and the last entry was "joy of joys, have sighted Raoul Island."

The Lands and Survey staff on the island later burnt the wreck to stop it breaking up further and making further debri.

His body was recovered and returned to New Zealand in H.M.N.Z.S. Taranaki, and his funeral held in Dunedin on 26 August 1980.

Arthur Doig was manager of the Dowling Street branch of the Otago Saving Bank from which he resigned  in 1974, and built the yacht about 1968-70 with the help of friends and colleagues. After he was affected by the resins it was completed by two of his clerks. It was registered at Dunedin No 2 of 1976 before he set out on his voyage.