Family boat seized by police after girl, 3, drowns on Hawkesbury River

A yacht which a family of 13 has called home for over two years has been seized by police, after the second youngest child on board tragically fell into the Hawkesbury River and drowned on Tuesday near Brooklyn.

The Soetekouw family have been living on their boat Sumbawa for over two years.

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A yacht which a family of 13 has called home for over two years has been seized by police, after the second youngest child on board tragically fell into the Hawkesbury River and drowned on Tuesday near Brooklyn.

A police spokesman said the boat was currently being held in a holding yard for examination “as per regular procedure” and alternative arrangements had been made for the family who had lived on board the 7m yacht since December 2016.

Zeinobiyah Soetekouw, 3, nicknamed Zobbie by her parents Steve and Beccie, was reportedly playing with her siblings on board the yacht on Tuesday while it was moored at Dead Horse Bay at Brooklyn.

Zeinobiyah “Zobbie” Soetekouw, aged 3, drowned in the Hawkesbury River on Tuesday, July 9.

Beccie went ashore but when she returned she realised Zobbie was missing.

Emergency services were called and water police pulled the little girl from the water just after 12.45pm about 100m from the boat, where she had been floating for about 20 minutes.

She was rushed to Mooney Mooney and was met by paramedics who performed CPR for about 30 minutes to try and save her, a witness said.

She was flown to The Children’s Hospital at Westmead but was pronounced dead after arriving.

The Soetekouw family, including husband and wife Steve and Beccie (pictured), sail around Sydney and live in different areas. Picture: Julian Andrews

It is not known whether the girl was wearing a lifejacket.

The Soetekouw family has been living on board their boat - named Sumbawa - since December 2016 after selling their farm in Tasmania and buying the yacht. The youngest of the 11 siblings, Shakirah, 1, was even born on board.

Police did not say how long they would keep the yacht in holding.

Mum Beccie has given insight into life on the boat through a blog. She wrote in one of her earliest posts, before they moved on board, that she had dreamed of travelling.

Dead Horse Bay where the family of Zeinobiyah (Zobbie) Soetekouw was moored leading up to the incident. Picture: Renee Nowytarger

“One day, I saw a family who was travelling around Australia in a bus and had been for 10 years,” Beccie wrote.

“They had left ‘normal’ life behind for nothing but adventure and damned what people thought.

“I was hooked! I just wanted to sell up and travel and the travel bug wouldn’t let up. It got to the point that I didn’t want to look at properties anymore because I just wanted to get away."

A Brooklyn local, who did not want to be named, told the Advocate he saw Beccie and three children collecting water at a reserve next to Broken Horse Bay shortly before the incident on Tuesday.