Police scaled back the search for a missing father of three, admitting there was no hope of finding him alive after he was lost in a boating accident that killed his friend, an art dealer.
IT entrepreneur Andrew Findlay, 51, is still missing after the body of Tim Klingender, 59, was found in the water off Watsons Bay, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, on Thursday.
Police have now revealed neither were wearing life jackets when their 7.8m inflatable boat was wrecked by 5m waves off the coast of Bondi on Thursday, with debris from the boat found near The Gap.
“This was a violent accident, a tragic accident that we believe could have been prevented,” said Superintendent Joe McNulty of the Marine Area Command.
“They both had no life jackets on. That is a terrible message to share with you today.’
Rescuers believe the boat struck a treacherous hidden underwater rock ledge while being pounded by the massive surf.
“That big swell contributed to the loss of two good men,” Supt McNulty said. “Know your abilities, know your surroundings and the circumstances.”
IT entrepreneur Andrew Findlay, 51, is still missing after his friend and fellow sailor Tim Klingender, 50, was found dead in waters off Watsons Bay on Thursday morning
Mr Klingender’s body was found on the rocks near a small craft that overturned just after 10am on Thursday.
The search for Mr Findlay, a father of three young children, will be scaled back when it resumes this Sunday, with every hope of finding him alive.
“We are now at the end, we are completing the search,” the police chief added.
“The survival time for everyone in the water, given the temperatures at this time in July, has passed.”
Supt McNulty said the operation covered more than 20km on Saturday from South Head to Cape Solander at Botany Bay.
Caves and cliff faces around the suburb have been searched with a PolAir helicopter hovering near the shore trying to locate more of the boat and Mr. Findlay.
The four-ton ship the men were in is still lying tight against the rocks below the cliffs at South Head, and police are trying to extract evidence from it.
He said the men were trolling, a fishing method in which fishing lines are dragged behind a vessel. He said they were too close to the cliffs for the conditions.
The tech entrepreneur was known as an avid fisherman according to close friends who anxiously await news of his whereabouts.
“It’s just horrible for everyone,” one of Findlay’s friends told me the Sydney Morning Herald.
Mr Findlay had a penchant for the water with an old photograph resurfacing of him and his three children canoeing in Sydney Harbour.
Mr Findlay’s partner, Lakshmi Pillai, declined to comment on the matter when reporters approached him.
Police were seen rappelling off a cliff at The Gap on Friday when they discovered more pieces of the destroyed boat.
Friends and family of Ms. Pillai also gathered in the area to support their friend.
Marine police were contacted at about 10:20 a.m. Thursday by members of the public who had seen pieces of debris floating in the area.
Shortly afterwards, Mr. Klingender’s naked body, wearing only socks on his feet, was found on the rocks near a small craft that had overturned.
On Friday, three Navy boats had joined the effort to search the area at 8 a.m., as well as a group of volunteers from Botany Port Hacking.
Crews have been conducting parallel line surveys from The Gap to Wedding Cake Island, just off Coogee, according to NSW superintendent Steve Raymond.
‘The sea conditions around the search area are reasonable; there’s a little swell but visibility is pretty good for the Marine Rescue NSW search crews,” Raymond told SMH.
The police investigation in the area was suspended at 5 p.m. on Friday and resumed when it became light early Saturday morning
Mr Klingender’s death has been met with shock waves in the art community, which viewed him as an international leader in Australian Indigenous art
Mr Klingender’s death was met with shock waves in the art community, which viewed him as an international leader in Australian Indigenous art.
“He leaves a huge vacuum for Indigenous art in this country and around the world… he really was the architect of the market we have today,” said collaborator and Melbourne gallery owner D’Lan Davidson the Daily Telegraph.
His wife, Skye McCardle, will now be the primary caregiver for the couple’s two teenage children.
Ms McCardle was in Nepal when news of her husband’s death broke before immediately arriving back in Sydney on Friday.
Mr. Klingender worked for Sotheby’s for 20 years, where he became an international director between 1998 and 2009.
While he’s there established a contemporary art department for Sotheby’s, Australia in 1994 before establishing an Aboriginal art department in 1996.
After leaving the organization, Mr. Klingender launched Tim Klingender Fine Art in 2009, with the strong ethical standard he was known for in the industry.
Police are now trying to understand what caused the boat to become a wreck and whether this was to blame a mechanical failure or whether it has been beaten by the elements.