Uploaded Photos – 30/7, 29/7 & 28/7

It’s been fun sorting through the photos and videos of our trans-Tasman voyage of the past couple of weeks. A chance to re-live some of the moments – the highs and the lows – and to bring the NZ2020 blog – spanning more than 18 months and some 170 separate posts since January last year – to some form of completion.

The “After Shot” – Sam, Harm, Rob and Matt – happy to be home

With our clearance through Australian Customs and Quarantine on Tuesday morning (3 August) at Westernport, still fresh in my mind, it’s hard NOT to reflect again on the Government resources allocated to the occasion. In total … six armed Borderforce Officers, a helicopter, a sniffer dog and two bio security officers … all for one small yacht returning home from New Zealand

It got me thinking … did we really present such a “threat” to national security? … and after doing a quick Web-Search, it would seem that “innocent looking” yachts feature quite prominently as the modern-day drug smuggler’s vehicle of choice. Who would have thought??

The Australian Border Force public newsroom Australian Border Force – Newsroom is full of drug-bust related stories, including a video of their newly trained COVIF-19 detector dogs; including a black Labrador that looks just like the one that came aboard Chimere.

Here are a few more links to stories that feature boats in the importation of drugs …

How a Sydney man’s plot to import 500kg of cocaine in a yacht was thwarted

Port Fairy’s link to $60m international drug bust revealed

Fifth man arrested over alleged plot to smuggle 186kg cocaine into Australia by boat

Yachtsmen’s foibles lead to drug arrest

So, there you have it …

… given what really goes on in the big wide world … our voyage from Opua, at the ‘wrong’ time of year, to an ‘unusual’ first point of entry, obviously rang a few bells in the law enforcement arena.

MORE PHOTOS UPLOADED

Three more daily blogs have now been updated with photos … just click on the links below to see all the photos for Friday 30^th July, Thursday 29^th July and Wednesday 28^th July …

Here are a few shots from each day to whet your appetite …

The Wind is Finally Going Our Way

Friday 30 July 2021

100 Miles North East of Gabo Island