His total now stands at 996.5km, with just over 391km remaining to Wellington.
Offshore Push – Hard-earned Progress Across Hawke’s Bay
By Live Ocean
10 March '26
Read time: 3 min
Article Summary
Main Points
Jono logged a demanding 6½-hour swim across outer Hawke’s Bay on 10 March, covering nearly 15km despite stubborn adverse currents that kept the 1,000km milestone just out of reach.
After a rough night offshore and stronger-than-forecast winds, the team waited for a safe window before pushing on toward Te Kauwae-a-Māui / Cape Kidnappers.
Jono clocked 15km in the open ocean on Tuesday, 10 March, swimming out of sight of his next landmark as he crosses the outer Hawke’s Bay, bee-lining towards Te Kauwae-a-Māui / Cape Kidnappers.
Progress was hard earned. An average speed of 2.3km/h meant the 1,000km milestone remained just out of reach despite a massive six-and-a-half-hour swim from 10:39am to 5:09pm.
“Progress is slower than we’d hoped. We’ve had a not-ideal current working against us,” said Water Safety Lead Ben Goffin.
The day began after a rough night offshore for the crew. Sloppy conditions meant little sleep as the team drifted at sea before first light.
At dawn they began a slow transit back to the previous GPS mark to assess whether conditions would allow the day’s swim.
“We have a lot more wind than forecast; around 17-18 knots when the forecast was for 7-8,” said On-Water Operations Lead Andy Tuke at around 6:30am. “The way the waves are standing up you could see it was wind against tide, so we weren’t expecting to get Jono in the water before 10 o’clock.”
Eventually the wind eased and the swim window opened.
Sleep had been limited after the support boat StabiX rolled through the night behind the mothership. “When I went on board this morning I asked Jono how he slept and he just said, ‘next question’,” said Tuke.
Once in the water Jono pushed through the conditions, joined at times by friend and support swimmer Olaf Adam. Pods of dolphins also dropped in during the long stretch offshore.
A water temperature of 17.8°C highlights how far south Jono has travelled since entering the water at North Cape on 5 January and that autumn has now arrived.
After the swim the crew transited from the GPS point where Jono exited the water across to Napier.
A southerly wind has now set in, bringing the Swim4TheOcean mission to a brief pause as the team comes ashore to meet locals at a community stopover event in Napier.
The public event will take place from 3:30pm at Perfume Point, Karaka Reserve, Ahuriri.
Conditions permitting, the crew plan to return to the water from Wednesday, 12 March to resume the push south.
The Swim4TheOcean PredictWind live tracker shows Jono has now covered 996.5km. Based on the projected route distance of 1,387.53km, 391.01km remain between the crew and Wellington.
Total distance covered: 996.5km
Projected distance to go: 391.01km
Swim at a glance – 9 March
Swim 1
Time: 6 hours 30 mins
Distance: 14.98km
Average speed: 2.3km/h
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