Three men who died off the Illawarra coast at the weekend were strangers to local fisherman Michael Beck, but they shared a common love.
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On Monday Mr Beck found himself returning to the carpark at Bellambi boat ramp where the trio made their ill-fated launch Saturday afternoon.
He left a bunch of yellow flowers on the windscreen of the men's now-abandoned car, with a note "from all the fishermen. We are with you, RIP".
"I'd seen them here, the day before [they died]," Mr Beck told the Mercury.
"They died doing something we love - just fishing, same as we do. I feel for them."
Marine Area Command is investigating after the men's 4.6m runabout was found overturned about 5km off the coast of Port Kembla on Sunday.
They departed 2pm Saturday after telling relatives they would return by 2am Sunday. Family raised the alarm when they noticed them missing at 6am. A member of the public found the body of one of the men at Corrimal Beach about 10.30am, while the two other men were discovered with the upturned boat early Sunday afternoon.
Those deceased include two East Corrimal men aged 19 and 44. The third man, believed aged in his 40s, has yet to be formally identified.
A woman who accessed the men's car at Bellambi on Monday said the trio were active in their local Filipino church community.
"They are good men and they go fishing not just for themselves, they go fishing for the whole community. When they catch fish, they call you and they give you fish," said the woman, who described herself as a good friend of the deceased, but otherwise declined to comment.
With no survivors to explain what went wrong, theories abound in the local fishing fraternity.
Mr Beck believes the men became lost while trying to return to shore when the weather changed Saturday night, and says the tragedy makes a case for improving lighting at Bellambi boat ramp.
"Go to other breakwalls - Shellharbour, Port Kembla - they've all got flashing lights," he said. "We've got nothing here. They've got a navigation light over there in the park which is the size of a house lightbulb - useless."
Unconfirmed reports indicate the men were last seen fishing off Bulli's Waniora Point, also known as Peggy's Reef, after nightfall on Saturday. .
"I reckon they were coming back and they got lost and got caught on Bellambi Bommie [reef]," Mr Beck said.
Other local fishers noted the stricken boat had no visible damage to its underside when it was televised being pulled from the water.
"I don't think it's hit something; I think it's tipped," said one, Mark.
Another fisherman, Paul, pointed to the presence of problematic south-westerly winds late Saturday night.
"They blow from the mountains to the sea. We only get them in winter. If something goes wrong, then the sou-wester blows you out to sea."
"It seems strange. They've said they were going to [stop fishing] at 2am knowing - if they had checked the weather - that there were strong winds coming up, in a 4.5m aluminium boat.
"What happened is a mystery. Sadly enough they all perished and no one can tell the tale, and we an only assume."
Whether the men were wearing life jackets forms part of the police investigation, now in the hands of Marine Area Command
Marine Rescue Port Kembla unit commander Kevin Bradley confirmed the men never logged on with Marine Rescue NSW before launching.
Boaters use VHF channel 16 or a purpose-built smartphone app to record details of their intended trip.
"Once you log on, from that simple amount of information we're then able to know where you are, how many people are on board and where you're going," Mr Bradley said.
"Our radio bases are manned 24/7, 365 days of the year. If a boat goes overdue, we contact them by several means and if we haven't got a response by a certain time - 15 minutes - we advise Marine Area Command and they activate us or [go searching] themselves."
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Angela Thompson
Proudly Illawarra Mercury since 2008; these days covering crime and justice issues. UOW alum. Thrilled by the chase and sobered by some of the things I see and hear when I stand still - sometimes in the same day. ang.thompson@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Proudly Illawarra Mercury since 2008; these days covering crime and justice issues. UOW alum. Thrilled by the chase and sobered by some of the things I see and hear when I stand still - sometimes in the same day. ang.thompson@austcommunitymedia.com.au
