DEEP SOUTH DISCOVERY

Fiordland is like another planet – you are really taking a trip into the mountains. In the mountains you carry appropriate equipment, stay watchful, and prepare for severe weather and Fiordland is the same, except that you can go there by boat. And if you’re determined enough, you can go there on your own boat.

They are a tough but friendly lot down there. The commercial fishing boats tend to be solid units with high bows, low windage and big engines. Their skippers are capable, weather-beaten and helpful and there is a sense of ‘we all need to look out for each other down here’.

All boats in the region are overseen by a daily radio sched by Meri Leask from Bluff Fisherman’s Radio, VHF channel 64 every morning and channel 61 every evening. This is far more intense than we are used to around the Hauraki Gulf, and with good reason. In that remote and rugged area, it is best others know where you are in case you need