Another beautiful day in the Tasman! Our position is still about the same (37°53’50 S 172°44’00 E).
My picture of what we’d get out here was massive long southern swells and howling winds….but most unexpectedly the weather has been fantastic here as I imagine it has been over most of Aotearoa.
We heard yesterday the support vessel, the Hart Tide, had left New Plymouth and was steaming our way. This sent a frisson of anticipation through the group…what would they do? Did this mean the drilling rig was arriving soon? What would be the best approach to making our protest strong, yet safe?
As it happened, the vessel arrived but stayed at a distance. It watched, waited and perhaps made a few calls then disappeared, leaving us alone again.
This morning I read emails about the Raglan meetings and the plans to gather further support up and down the West coast. It was really heartening to hear what was happening on land and in particular to read of the support Iwi up and down the coast were bringing to the campaign.
This afternoon we spent sometime planning then executing a tricky manoeuvre positioning a 30m banner in the water with two inflatables, and bringing all the yachts scarily close so as to photograph everything together. A little nerve racking but all went well and hopefully you guys are able to see the shot, out here in the internet free sea there is no such luxury!
Cheers
Tim
Skipper, SV Friendship