Family shares despair: 'I still can't believe he's gone'

DESPERATELY holding onto his 73-year-old father, and trying to save himself, Darren Parkins clung to his overturned boat for more than an hour

A man has died after the boat he was on sank off the Mackay coast near Bailey Island. Picture: Graphic

DESPERATELY holding onto his 73-year-old father, and trying to save himself, Darren Parkins clung to his overturned boat for more than an hour waiting for rescuers to find them.

As night fell, the rescue helicopter flew toward Bailey Island, about 46km east of Mackay Harbour.

They arrived to find the older man, William Parkins, dead, but winched Darren, 40, to safety and took him to Mackay Base Hospital.

William and Darren Parkins had spent Thursday fishing in their 4.5 metre open style console boat, but about 5.45pm they ran into trouble, when the boat began taking on water.

His father had owned the boat for about eight years and loved that tinny, William's son Jason said yesterday.

On Thursday, his only concern would have been getting his esky full of fish back home.

Now the Parkins family was numbed by the shock of their sudden loss, which hadn't quite hit home, Jason said.

"I still can't believe he's gone," he said.

"I didn't expect him to go on me.

"Bill was a very caring person and loved his family and grandchildren very much. Fishing was his passion and he went any chance that he had."

William Parkins was a family man who loved his fishing. A family photo of William pictured with his granddaughter letticia. Picture: Jacob Miley

Fishing was a passion of Williams. Picture: Jacob Miley

Family also described William as "one in a million" and a "beautiful person".

Detectives spent Thursday night speaking with Darren Parkins at Mackay Base Hospital, where he gave investigators his account of events.

"The dad was bailing out water coming through the bilge on the boat. They don't know what was causing that, they tried to stop it but water was still coming on board," Mackay Country Patrol Inspector Steve O'Connell said.

The boat started to sink as it took on water, with the swell from the open ocean making things worse, he said.

All it took was a shift in weight and a final wave to capsize the boat, causing it to flip and throwing both William and Darren into the water.

Insp O'Connell said it took a while for Darren to activate the EPIRB as it was trapped in the overturned boat and he had to hold onto his father.

"The man was trying to look after his dad, he's got to duck under the water, go back into the boat, search around with no visibility trying to locate where it's secured on the boat, remove it from its holder and then back to the surface," he said.

Police are yet to determine the cause of William Parkins' death but believe it may have been caused by an existing medical condition.

Originally published as Family shares despair: 'I still can't believe he's gone'