KEY POINTS:
The Three Kings Islands are a magical place where few people venture to fish recreationally - the currents and rugged bottom deter most of the commercial boys.
You can get three years' worth of "regular" fishing in one day and better all your bests for snapper, kingfish, trevally, terakihi as well as marlin, tuna and tropical species like wahoo and mahimahi. You can catch and release kingfish until you can't lift your arms.
There are few charter boats licensed by the Maritime Safety Authority to take paying customers there. The cost for a six-day trip is $3000 or more, so it's an adventure. And with adventure comes adversity.
That's one of the reasons it's attractive for me, a challenge. I've been there five times and on each occasion we either had to stick around the Far North sheltering from wind or leave the Kings early because of it.
So when we left Mangonui early last Sunday in howling easterlies and bashing into a 2m to 3m swell to get to North Cape it was nothing unusual. With five hardened anglers on charter boat Pursuit, deckie Zane Flutey and skipper Rick Pollock, an old friend, in charge, I was looking forward to record-breaking catches.
We anchored behind cliffs directly below the North Cape lighthouse, the water calm out of the wind, and flicked soft baits around, catching kahawai, trevally, a pig fish, a rat kingfish, heaps of juvenile snapper - something every cast. It was all released, just practice for what we were hoping for.
They'd caught bass, which is my all-time favourite, on the trip before and we were just lifting the first forkfuls to our mouths as darkness fell when everyone felt the boat bump, bump, obviously hitting bottom.
We'd been pushed on to rocks bow-first by a rogue wind swirl, coming almost 180 degrees against the nor'easter. It lifted Pursuit and it surfed over the anchor chain and lodged firmly, rock outcrops both sides. Pollock tried to pull it out using the anchor. It just pulled free. He put it in reverse and we shuddered back a few centimetres, then there was the unnerving bang of props hitting rock and all backwards movement stopped, props sheared.
A radio call was made for assistance. No boats were within three hours steaming. Thankfully, Geoff Lamond on charter boat Outer Limits responded quickly to come to our rescue from Houhora. For three hours, we were rocked side to side by the relatively gentle swell. It wasn't gentle on the boat - creak, creak, creak, crack - then the same back the other way. It would have been tortuous for Pollock listening to his pride and joy being slowly broken up.
The rescue co-ordination centre in Wellington called out the Northland rescue helicopter and we were told to prepare for removal from the boat. They wouldn't have bothered had they sought specific local knowledge of the area and our situation. We were not about to die.
The chopper circled but the pilot decided conditions were too dodgy and they flew out.
Outer Limits arrived. By this time, the wind had turned and blew consistently against us, pushing up a rising swell. Two of its crew rowed in with a tow line. We ditched everything disposable as Outer Limits took up the tow. On a rising tide, it came off easily.
Not so easy was the 11-hour trip to Houhora, into a rolling swell without power, pitching wildly and listening to the rope and bollards creaking and groaning. The rope snapped. Lamond backed up to Pursuit and it was reattached. His seamanship was extraordinary as was that of his crew.
Tied at the wharf at Houhora, the rescuers came aboard Pursuit for a coffee. Lamond's eyeballs were red. I've never seen anyone so physically and mentally exhausted. We all shook his hand in gratitude, thanked him for a job very well done.
One of the guys swore he'd never go on the trip again.
Another was booked to repeat in June but believed his family wouldn't let him. Another survivor and I were out fishing again on the Hauraki Gulf on Thursday. The fish are still biting.
