KAIKOURA CHARTER TRIP
November 24th 2007
A phone call by John H early Saturday morning confirmed the trip and a rendezvous at South Bay marina of 7.00 am. Ten divers John H, Bob, Paul, Ross, Bryan, Mark H, Clare, Dan, John N and myself each with 2 dive tanks and gear boarded the charter boat Nemesis, a cray boat which pots for crays when not booked for charter work further North than our destination the Bushet Shoals.
The weather was great and the sight of hundreds of dolphins along the coast line, cruising in our wake was a great start to the morning. The 1 ½ hr trip flew by, I was buddied up with Dan in the first group of 6. Our descent to the bottom was along side bull kelp stretching the 20m to the surface.
The visibility was good and it didn't take long before the first crays were dispatched into the catch bags. Other fish life we encountered included blue cod, leather jackets, sea and butterfly perch, and terahki.
The crays were easy to catch preferring to hide out of the inaccessible caves that's they usually occupy. With the safety stop, surfacing and climbing aboard done the count up and measure of the crays begun. With 5 more needed Bob and Claire had a 2nd dive and the impressive sight of our limit of crays was obtained. They weren't big but tasted great later that night. A quick fish where mainly sea perch and the odd blue cod were kept and we were heading back to South Bay.
The deckie cleaned up the fish, a few stories were told with the odd Speight's, all in all a great trip with some great memories.
Thanks to all the organizers, your efforts are much appreciated by all.
Mark Kerr
