Two bodies washing up on a beach, only one in a life jacket, a missing yacht, no mayday call and a lack of debris.
Mystery surrounds what happened to two elderly sailors – one from Duns Creek in the Hunter Region, the other from Smiths Gully in Victoria – who were just hours from their safe harbour when something as quick as it was catastrophic caused them to enter huge seas in Stockton Bight, where they lost their lives.
The men were named on social media on Saturday as renowned Victorian artist Piers Dudley-Bateman, whose work hangs on the walls of the Reserve Bank of Australia, and his brother-in-law Antonio Giner.
Police would not confirm the names, or reports the men were experienced sailors, as they have not been officially identified.
The pair, who were on their way from Broken Bay to North Arm Cove, left at 2pm on Thursday and got into trouble some time overnight. They were found washed up on a remote section of Stockton beach north of Newcastle on Friday afternoon.
It is understood the pair, aged 71 and 77, were in constant contact with their families as they moved up the coast. They were last heard from, by relatives, late on Thursday.
It is understood the pair's planned arrival time at North Arm Cove was about midday on Friday, however, when relatives could not raise them, they reported their concerns to authorities.
It is understood their mobile phones went dead about 3.30am.
When they never arrived, a full-scale search was organised along the sometimes treacherous waters of Stockton Bight.
The combined resources of water police, helicopters and surf life savers had found no trace of the men or their eight-metre yacht by Friday afternoon.
One of the men's bodies was then discovered by officers "on waters close to the shore", near the sand dune landmark Tin City, at around 3.30pm.
A sweep of the beach found the body of the second man 20 minutes later, at the tide mark about 500 metres south of his companion.
One man was still wearing his life jacket.
As light faded on Friday night, police driving onto the beach with lights flashing were passed by recreational fishermen, four-wheel drive enthusiasts and tour guides packing up for the day.
Officers from police rescue had the grim task of driving more than six kilometres down the remote beach and photographing and retrieving the bodies from where they lay in the damp sand.
It was still unclear whether a dinghy and fuel tank also found washed ashore on Stockton beach, but some distance from the men, were linked to the tragedy.
On Saturday, a search continued for the yacht, Inspector Brian Tracey from Port Stephens Local Area Command said.
"Searching still continued today. It didn't reveal anything. We had PolAir and the Marine Area Command out, as well as the Nelson Bay Police doing a land search of Birubi Beach," Inspector Tracey said.
"We found some equipment, such as a life jacket and a boot... but whether that's related to this incident or not, we don't know. We still haven't found the vessel."
Inspector Tracey said the search would continue for the yacht "as long as we deem necessary".
"We want to find the vessel to assist in any investigations," he said.
The fact that there was no mayday call to authorities has baffled investigators. It could suggest the men had no time to call for help.
One theory is the men may have fallen asleep only to wake and find themselves in severe danger before jumping overboard.
Only one of the men had any noticeable injuries – a few marks to his head – but whether that points to their fate may not be known until an autopsy is performed.
Police are preparing a report for the Coroner.
with Neelima Choahan
