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Auckland Council has erected additional signage at Wenderholm Regional Park, advising paddleboarders of the hazard of marker buoys and moorings outside the river entrance, after a woman drowned there three years ago.
The signage was one of the recommendations made following a coroner’s investigation into the circumstances around the death of Joanne Dening, a 35-year-old swimming coach, who was paddleboarding for the first time at the popular site in February 2019.
The woman was paddling with her flatmate at Wenderholm, using a borrowed board with a line attached with an ankle strap. After initially paddling in the estuary, they then ventured into the channel with the intention of paddling around into the harbour and along the beach.
But Ms Dening fell from her board in turbulent outward-going water from the Puhoi River, and was swept against a channel marker.
While Ms Dening was swept one side of the marker, her board was swept around the other with the board line stopping her from moving away. The current was too strong for her to reach down to undo the ankle strap.
The strong current saw her friend unable to return to assist Ms Dening, while a kayaker who tried to help capsized and was swept away. Ms Dening was eventually pulled from the water and brought to shore where, despite efforts to resuscitate her by ambulance officers, she was pronounced dead.
The coroner’s report found the woman had drowned in tragic circumstances, as it was a fine, calm day.
The danger had come from a faster than usual ebb tidal flow connected to a king tide, inexperience on the board, and unknowingly using the wrong board line attachment.
The coroner said the death highlighted the need for stand-up paddleboarders to use a leash with a quick-release system that could be operated from above the waist, and to never use a leash attached to the ankle or calf in moving water like rivers and harbour mouths. A personal flotation device should also have been worn, although the report findings said it was unclear, depending on the type of the device, if this would have helped.
