Boatie who slipped away at sea remembered as ‘gentle, loving woman’
A woman who died in Moreton Bay after she and her husband slipped away from their capsized dinghy is being remembered as gentle and loving, as her loved ones come to terms with the “nightmare”.
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A woman who died at sea after slipping away from her capsized dinghy is being remembered as gentle and loving.
Philip Chiu, 54, and his wife Meen Meen, 48, were thrown off their boat on Saturday near the Port of Brisbane during what would be their last fishing trip together.
A rescue helicopter found Mr Chiu clinging to the Quintrex 440 Renegade on Sunday morning, halfway between Moreton Island and Mud Island but his wife had slipped away from the boat during the night.
Mrs Chiu’s body was found at 12.30pm on Sunday.
Khongkwan Pongpanich told The Courier-Mail that her aunty had wanted to visit her family in Thailand but the Covid-19 pandemic kept them apart.
And now they wouldn’t get the chance to say goodbye.
“I want this bad news to be just a nightmare,” she said.
“I want my good aunt back.”
Ms Pongpanich said Mrs Chiu was a family woman who lost her dad in January.
She lived at Kangaroo Point with her husband and his son.
“She takes care of everybody in my family,” Ms Pongpanich said.
Other family members took to social media to farewell a generous aunty.
“You have been our greatest source of inspiration and courage,” another niece said.
“Deep in our hearts we will always keep your image.”
A family friend said she was sad to learn they had lost a “gentle, loving woman”.
The couple left the Comslie boat ramp in Morningside planning to go fishing near the northern part of Mud Island on Saturday but dangerous conditions made for a difficult return.
Police said the pair could see the Port of Brisbane as a large wave threw them off the boat.
The Kangaroo Point couple managed to make an emergency call to family to raise the alarm.
Mr Chiu, affectionately known by work colleagues as “Chewy”, spent more than 12 hours clinging to his boat before he was rescued.
He was flown to the Princess Alexandra Hospital for treatment of hypothermia.
Police will prepare a report for the Coroner.
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