Fishing boat sailed into gale, jury told

The skipper of a fishing vessel who set sail in a gale is on trial over the loss of a crewman and the boat.

Antony Andrew Hodgson, aged 33, of Pt Chevalier, is accused under the Maritime Transport Act of causing unnecessary risk to the St Peter and to his sole crew mate, Allen (Archie) Wilkings, 39, also of Pt Chevalier.

Prosecutor David Colbert told the Auckland District Court this week that Hodgson set out from Auckland Harbour for a week's fishing on January 6, 2003.

After a couple of days' fishing they headed for Tryphena Harbour, having caught a mere quarter of a load of fish.

Mr Colbert told the jury and Judge Fred McElrea that the weather was deteriorating and the Meteorological Service issued a gale warning.

The sea was predicted to be rough with 2m swells, rain and poor visibility.

The Crown maintained that Hodgson did not want to get stuck in Tryphena. "He decided he needed to catch some more fish as they hadn't had much of a catch so far," said Mr Colbert.

He said that Hodgson listened to the weather forecast and also spoke to a friend on another boat who, Hodgson said, told him the weather was not too bad.

According to the Crown, Hodgson decided to steam across Colville Channel to Happy Jack Island to try to catch some more snapper, leaving about 9.30am on January 8.

"He lashed things down, checked the bilges, checked the vessel's oils and generally made ready," Mr Colbert said. Hodgson sailed into a gale in the Colville Channel. The waves were up to 3m and the wind was at 49 knots.

The St Peter was on auto-pilot and the starboard wheelhouse door was lashed open.

According to Hodgson, the boat was hit by a 2.5m to 3m wave on its port side which caused it to lean 40 degrees before coming back up with a 20 degree list.

Hodgson told investigators of the Maritime Safety Authority that he then took the vessel off auto-pilot.

However, after he started to turn another wave, smaller than the first, lifted the stern and the St Peter capsized.

As water poured through the wheelhouse door Hodgson and Mr Wilkings escaped and swam to the surface.

Hodgson managed to scramble on to the upturned hull but Mr Wilkings was lost.

Eventually, Hodgson was able to climb into the vessel's liferaft and was rescued the following day.

The trial is expected to last all week.