300 Hours Down As Weather Closes In

Yesterday (Sunday, 1 March) Jono spent 10hours in the water across two swims, covering just under 29km and passing another major milestone: more than 300 hours swimming in the ocean since setting off on his Swim4TheOcean on 5 January. 

Swim one began at 6am from Whāngārā. Four steady hours delivered 10km before 10am. After a short rest ashore, the team headed back out starting at around 2pm for a second push – six more hours in the water, adding close to 19km. 

It was a case of go while you can. A strong southerly was forecast to build above 30 knots, bringing heavy swell from the south, conditions that make forward progress impossible. The bad weather has now set in. 

Leaving from Whāngārā before dawn yesterday, Jono completed the day’s effort and the crew dropped a GPS pin roughly 13km offshore from Gisborne Port to return to when the weather clears. They’re tracking wide across the bay to keep a straight line south and transferred ashore to Gisborne by boat.   

Visibly cold and tired as he climbed aboard the StabiX support boat around 8pm, Jono reflected on the day: 

“It was pretty good, I felt good for most of today. Muscles felt limber and flexible. It was a bit chilly out there. It’s not that cold in the water – about 19 degrees – but you’ve got the wind whipping across your back as well so that definitely cools down the body temp overall. I didn’t help myself because I didn’t wear a cap either, but it’s good practice for later on.” 

“We’re off to Gisborne where we’re going to park up for the next couple of days with a strong southerly blowing through. We’re not going to be able to make any progress in that, so we’re stuck on land for a couple of days, and back into it on Wednesday hopefully.” 

During the afternoon swim, a mollymawk circled close by, the crew capturing the moment on camera. New Zealand is considered the seabird capital of the world. Around 90 seabird species breed here, and Aotearoa is home to all 22 species of albatross globally, including several mollymawk species. 

Many of our seabirds are under threat. Live Ocean supports scientists tracking and monitoring two of our most at-risk – the Tākoketai black petrel and the Toroa Antipodean albatross. Both are sentinel species, and their status is a key indicator of the health of the wider marine ecosystems they inhabit and migrate across. 

The PredictWind live tracker shows Jono has now covered 885.5km. Based on the projected total route of 1,387.53km, approximately 502km remains to Wellington. 

Total distance covered: 885.5km

Projected distance to go: 502.0km 

Swim at a glance – 1 March 

Swim 1 

Time: 4 hours 
Distance: 10.15km 
Average speed: 2.5km/h 

Swim 2

Time: 6 hours 
Distance: 18.78km 
Average speed: 3.1km/h