Back Into It – 900 Km Done

Thursday, 5 March provided the first opportunity to get back on the water after three days forced ashore by a relentless southerly. 

Despite a swell still rolling through, Jono logged a strong day of progress – covering more than 27km and spending eight and a half hours in the water. His effort pushed the total distance of the Swim4TheOcean mission past the 900km mark. 

At early light the team transited to the last marked GPS point well offshore before Jono set off again, tracking south toward Māhia Peninsula – better known to many as the home of Rocket Lab’s launch site, where rockets regularly lift small satellites into orbit from this remote stretch of coast. 

Jono entered the water at 7:06am for a four-hour stint, dropping the pin just after 10am. Trialling a new schedule, he took a four-hour break between swim shifts – resting on the support boat rather than returning ashore. 

On-water Lead Andy Tuke explained the approach: “We’re going to try something different – a slow transit back toward Gisborne and Jono’s going to try and sleep on board the StabiX.” 

Jono went back in at 2:12pm and swam through until 6:44pm. 

Andy reported during the afternoon swim: “It’s been a great afternoon – we’re nearly three hours into the swim. There’s still a bit of swell rolling through and a sea breeze developing.” 

After the swim Jono said the second stint had been tougher: “I felt the cold a little bit more than I did this morning. I had an upset belly, so I revisited the contents of my stomach a couple of times – and that makes you a bit more sensitive to everything else. We decided to call it at 15km and come back out tomorrow.” 

Hamish Willcox, who was part of Jono’s Swim4TheGulf support crew in 2023, has joined the team for this stretch and has been impressed. 

“It’s really slick. It’s great to be out here watching the operation. I can’t believe how well-oiled it is – but I guess you’re six weeks deep into a marathon swim so it’s awesome.” 

Having previously sailed this coastline, he also knows what lies ahead. “This coast becomes more and more inhospitable the further south you go. From East Cape you’ve got Gisborne where we are now, then Napier – and that’s about it. After that you’re looking at roughly 300km to the bottom and there’s not a lot there… a couple of rocks you can tuck in behind where the cray boats launch from, but mostly it’s beach landings. No harbours, no towns.” 

During the weather break a community stopover was held on Monday, 2 March at Midway Surf Life Saving Club – it was well attended despite atrocious weather. 

The crew reported that Gisborne hospitality was outstanding, with fishers, surfers, swimmers, schools and kura all turning out – representing a wide cross-section of local ocean lovers. 

The PredictWind live tracker shows Jono has now covered 912.7km. Based on the projected total route of 1,387.53km, approximately 474.8km remains to Wellington. 

Follow Jono’s progress on the live tracker and sign the call for action at Swim4TheOcean  

Total distance covered: 912.7km

Projected distance to go: 474.8km 

Swim’s at a glance – 5 March 

Swim 1 

Time: 3 hours 59 mins 
Distance: 12.15km 
Average speed: 3.00km/h 

Swim 2

Time: 4 hours 32 mins 
Distance: 15.07km 
Average speed: 3.3km/h