Clancy Twine sent in this email with attached photos, from former shipmate Duncan Montgomery. Seems that Duncan is still bobbing up and down around the Kiwi Coast.

Hi Clancy,

I was wondering how Montys party went? I nearly went over for it but ended up going back to the ship - a bad move as we nearly lost her on the Manakau Bar west coast of New Zealand.

We ended up aground on the bar having the shit beaten out of us by eight metre swells! I really thought, “Well, this it, the end, time to leave the planet,” but luckily she came off. The rudder snapped off so we had no steering and drifted for two days until the New Plymouth tug got to us. Owing to the weather conditions he could only hold us in position until the company charted a big oil rig tender to tow us into New Plymouth. When we reached New Plymouth the port was closed because of the bad weather so we went to anchor off in a five metre swell and fifty knot wind. We had seven shackles out on the anchor cable and the engines going ahead but we still drifted two miles during the night! The saga continued for six and a half days!

I’m sending you some photos, you can see what’s left of our rudder.

Cheers,

Duncan