PETER Oberg was a busy man, trying to cram the lives of three people into one.
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The accountant, auditor, old car enthusiast, triathlete and fisherman was always living “on the edge of timelines,” according to his younger brother, Andrew.
“He’d turn up to the runners’ club or at the pool with 30 seconds to spare and then he’d be off and racing,” Andrew said.
The man in a rush with dishevelled hair amused many but all knew a heart of gold pumped strongly inside.
Peter Oberg is missing, feared drowned off Seal Rocks, near Forster on the north coast last Wednesday.
He was with two other Goulburn men, his brother-in-law Damon Thorpe and friend John Keith, when a freak wave washed them off Sugarloaf Point at about 12.30pm.
They had been fishing from a rock shelf, onto which they had abseiled.
Mr Thorpe managed to get back to shore while Mr Keith was rescued from a rock by a jet skier.
But despite a full scale search, including significant help from Andrew, Peter has not been found.
“He was my best mate. He was my everything, my world,” Andrew said on Monday.
“He was a larrikin, no doubt. Whatever I was doing, he wanted to do and vice-versa. We were like two peas in a pod.”
Fishing was his “pure obsession” in the same way his father, Leon, chased and photographed trains.
Far from the relaxing pursuit many imagined, it was frequently wet, cold and uncomfortable, sitting on rocky outcrops.
But he did not take unsafe risks, studiously examining weather, wind and wave energy data before he went and planning his break around the bad weather days.
Many have questioned why the men were fishing from the ledge in “rough conditions.”
Andrew, who had been surfing that morning, said the ocean was unbelievably calm, in contrast to what the metro media had depicted.
Just one hour before the accident, Peter had taken a photo of Damon and John and smooth waters in the background. They were waiting for the big northern blue fin catch.
“He was not a bloke who just turned up and said “I’ll go fishing,’” Andrew said.
“He didn’t take risks. This was just a freak wave.”
Sirens sounding up the village’s quiet street first alerted Andrew to the fact something was wrong.
He and friend, Goulburn man Chris Jones, discovered from police that three fishermen were missing.
Andrew jumped in a police car and led officers to the point. With a policeman, he abseiled down about 20 metres to find Mr Thorpe, who had made it back to shore and had rang triple zero numerous times using patchy mobile reception.
It was 20 to 30 minutes after the men had been washed into the water and Mr Thorpe was freezing.
“All I did was stabilise him and give him some dry clothes because I’m a first aider. I did nothing heroic,” Andrew said.
Then he fixed his eyes on the ocean trying to find the others. Amid the seals, dolphins and mullet he noticed a hand go up. That was John Keith. Andrew signalled to the rescue chopper, which had arrived on scene five to 10 minutes after authorities were alerted. A jet skier picked up Mr Keith, who by this stage was down to his underpants and suffering hypothermia.
Despite the good vantage point, Andrew could not find his brother.
While the two other men were taken to Manning Base Hospital in Taree, Andrew and Mr Jones kept searching.
He praised one of the policemen who had abseiled down without any regard to his own safety. Another man stood on a ledge in shorts and t-shirt for five hours scouring the water with binoculars for any sign of Peter.
Two fishermen, who had also been caught up in the dangerous convergence of two currents, joined in the search. Everyone played their part, Andrew said.
“I was just spare, full of heartache and frustration,” he told the Post.
Westpac spokesperson, Glen Ramplin, told the Lakes Advocate that ‘the third man’ was last seen floating face down in the water.
At about 4.30pm Andrew made the heart breaking call to his parents, Leon and Trish, with the news.
With dark setting in and police interviews over, he drove to Taree in pelting rain to pick up his friends from hospital.
The next day the search resumed with more resources and “a circus of media” turned up.
Realising later there was nothing further they could do, the men headed back to Goulburn.
Back home, the men and the Oberg family have been showered with support. Mr Thorpe and Mr Keith are traumatised by the experience and all are mourning his loss.
Andrew said while finding his brother’s body would help the family, it was not necessary.
He was in a place he loved.
This week he remembered a “brutally competitive” man with whom he ran, swam, cycled, abseiled and loved.
“As long as I was involved, he had bragging rights at the end,” he said.
“I will miss that. We were like peacocks showing off our feathers.”
On the weekend, authorities found a pair of zipup track pants in the water but it was not clear whether they belonged to Peter. Yesterday, police divers and Surf Life Saving Australia personnel on jet skis resumed the search.
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