April 5, 2019
After almost a month at Stewart Island, we’re back at the Middle Island.(Some would call this the South Island but to me, that’s disrespectful of Stewart Island which may not have a big city but is quite consequential.) We have internet again so we’ll start posting some of the things we couldn’t while out in the wilderness.
Just before we left, we learned that a clean boat certificate is required to go to Fiordland. We didn’t end up going there, but we didn’t know it at the time, so we put the GoPro on our boat pole for a look around our bottom. All was well, except for our rudder. We tried to do a quick haul-out but the yard was fully booked. That necessitated this descent into the icy harbor depths.
Bottom Cleaning in Dunedin
I was already cold to start with and our ride out of the harbor required this attire…
No, this wouldn’t be my first venture into the water down in the roaring forties. I’d get mostly in, once by necessity and once by choice. At Stewart Island, backing to a mooring to tie up our stern was the reason for the necessary plunge. Well, not really a plunge: I was able to lay in the dinghy and lean over with my mask and snorkel on to untangle the line in the prop.
Shortly after we’d arrived at Stewart Island, a fisherman gave us a bag of beautiful trumpeter fish fillets and two abalone (called by their Māori name here – Pāua). Wow. He also told us that they were plentiful and at low tide, we wouldn’t even have to get in the water. A light bulb went on. Maybe I could use my propeller untangling technique?
The next day at low tide, off we went in the dinghy. I didn’t see any at the first spot. At the next spot, I found one and dropped it. At the third spot, I stuck my face in the water and below me was a rock with about eight abalone, all out in the open. I was able to grab two large ones on the first plunge and that was all we needed.
Burr! But so worth it. Even the difficult preparation was worth it. The good news is that I could get warmed up with the vigorous pounding required.
On a walk a few days later with people we’d met on a boat called Sur-reel, we learned that I was a fool. An upper body plunge was not required. They showed us that by simply wading among the rocks off the beach at low tide, we could bend down and secure an abalone dinner.
I was so happy to have abalone again, I seriously thought about moving to Stewart Island. Subsequently, a couple days of rain nixed that idea.
For a little while, I thought this might be the only view I’d get of New Zealand’s true South Island. But the sun would come out again, we’d get more abalone and I’d start making house-hunting plans. -Rich
