Maritime Carol

The bow dipped, the bilge alarm came on and we were obviously taking on water...   Three years ago contract skipper Brian Climo departed Westhaven on a routine dolphin & whale watching trip.     Dreamweaver's thirty six passengers and four crew had heard the safety briefing, seen the life jacket demonstration and a trip report had been given.       The 23rd February, 2015 was no different than any other Dreamweaver charter and they were soon steaming around North Head towards TiriTiri Matangi.    The crew had worked together before and at the end of each trip they'd socialize over a beer or two.    After thirty five years at sea, Brian knew the Hauraki Gulf well and was confident of his skills as a skipper.    He knew Dreamweaver had a current Survey Certificate but didn't know that her bow section had previously been repaired three times.     As the day progressed, lun...

Attaining and keeping your Skipper's ticket is essential for a successful maritime career.   Its also true that learning doesn't stop because we have our Skipper's ticket. Here's five lessons I learnt - on my first trip: Before I'd even sat my Skipper's ticket I was asked to take a boat out to the Barrier if the owner (also in the class) didn't pass the exam.   Sure enough, he failed and I passed. Lesson 1 - NEVER let anyone ' use your Skipper's ticket' if they don't have one. So we depart Marsden Wharf on a Friday night for a 3 day fishing charter.   The fumes were terrible and we arrived at Nagles Cove at 2am. Lesson 2  - Check the maintenance is up to date & survey current.   After a couple of days, the weather turned bad and we were hold up in Whangaparapara. Lesson 3 - Check all listed safety equipment & spare parts are on board.  The ice started melting, the fish (& men) started to stink, ...