IT'S BETTER TO BURN OUT THAN IT IS TO RUST
There was me and my husband Maco (Max), his bro Dave and our three nephews Baz, Phil and Dave’s boy, James. He’s the one I call Neff
It was like herding cats to coordinate a trip for six people with busy lives from different parts of NZ but all the rest of us had to do was keep up with Neff’s enthusiastic email traffic as he made the plans, and mark the date in our calendars. Too easy. February should have been a cinch for settled weather but as we loaded our gear onto the Mana Charters boat in Bluff, skipper Bob Hawkless told us to be prepared for a lumpy ride. The real seas started as soon as we got past Dog Island and into open water. Every wave was a wall of green water on the starboard side as the boat pitched and rolled through the 4-5 metre swells.
It was comforting to think that Bob must have seen it all before in his 25 years of crossing Foveaux Strait. Just to be sure, Neff asked him “How bad is it today on a scale of one to ten?”
“Oh, ’bout a six” Bob said calmly.
