Sun’s out, guns n’ buns out!

Silver Fern’s Skipper, JohnBoi trying his earnest to catch up to Te Kaihōpara

Many bucket lists were simultaneously ticked off as Te Kaihōpara and her daring crew approached North Minerva Reef’s northern bay in the wee hours of the day. The wind Gods decided to give us a break from our scintillating semi-close-reaching run through the night, as the crew pulled up their socks and almost perfected the in-boom furling system to get the main and mizzen sails away in record speed with exemplary efficiency.

The previous night’s watch, leading up to this moment, had been harder on some, than the rest. I had witnessed one particular crew member (who shall remain unnamed), in a half asleep daze, spill the contents of her water bottle and then scramble to the floor, hopelessly trying to scoop back the water into the bottle whilst sadly whispering to herself ‘my electrolytes’. Okay, it was Becks and I laughed at her for at least fifteen minutes.

As an Indian, I’m glad I don’t need to devote any time or effort of my existence in trying to get a ‘tan’

As we dropped the anchor in an excellent spot expertly scoped out by our Skipper, the beers and wine started flowing freely as the crew were able to get a taste of things to come (in Fiji) by jumping into the inviting turquoise-blue waters. As I left the fearless trio of Debbie, Mo and Barry to snorkel the various surrounding reefs, Jason took Peter, Becks, Andy, Rob and Matt for a reconnaissance mission on the tender in order to plan out our nocturnal crayfish hunting plans.

In the meantime, Kat and I decided to swim around the yacht. It was a great moment for me to re-enter the ocean for the first time since my diving misadventure in Hobart last January. As the waves welcomed me back with a salty kiss, I came to the sudden realisation that there was no one onboard Te Kaihōpara! Horrific memories of the movie, ‘Open Water 2: Adrift’ came flooding back. Obviously, yours truly was smarter than the protagonists of the aforementioned movie and had lowered both the side ladder and back ladder into the water well in advance. I clambered back onto Te Kaihōpara, glad that she wasn’t all alone anymore.

Vanilla Ice would be proud of us!

The remainder of the crew returned from their side quests and waxed eloquent about Te Kaihōpara’s eager to please ‘ice maker’. Jason also quietly commissioned our water maker, icing off a great day! Peter revealed his gangster origins as Rob blew everyone away with some remarkable tuna melt. Sunset was one for the record books as Matt and Andy took responsibility. Kat turned potato-savant with her salad and Mo made sure we didn’t miss out on our greens,  with a beautiful rendition of broccoli salad for the weary hearted. Any normal landlubber would’ve decided to hit the sack after the day that had been, but our crew were only just getting started.

Matt and Andy decided to carry on their fishing adventures in the dark as Kat had a second wind and decided to haul Me, Jason, Debbie, Becks and Barry off for a crayfish hunt. I went along to join the adventure as long as I didn’t enter the cold water. As we reached the hunting grounds via tender, I stayed onboard it, keeping a close look out on the lights our hunters carried in the dark. Bored of this activity within thirty seconds, I looked up to admire the night sky and practised my ‘award’ acceptance speech. The award is irrelevant, but I do believe we must all have a well rehearsed award acceptance speech ready, incase someone finally recognises the raw talent that exists within all of us, on some red letter day in the future.

I think I’ve seen someone’s idea of paradise, it dwells in the North Minerva Reef

Sadly, neither our Crayfish hunters nor our night fisherman had any luck. Andy picked up the mood, by sharing a bottle of excellent single malt whiskey with the crew. As I write these words, Te Kaihōpara sways gently in the night. I hope to take another look at the stars, before I too, decide to call an end to a most beautiful day.

- Arjun Thimmaya, Chief Mate, Te Kaihōpara