A cray fisherman who is a key witness in the Enchanter fishing boat tragedy has admitted getting his story wrong while giving evidence in the trial against Northland skipper Lance Goodhew today.
Matt Gentry from the Florence Nightingale boat was fishing in the Three Kings area off North Cape around the same time the Enchanter fishing boat capsized on March 20, 2022, killing five men.
The skipper who responded to the Enchanter’s mayday call had made regular trips to the Three Kings over the years.
Gentry told the court on the day of the fatal accident the weather was so bad he couldn’t do a full day’s fishing and spent most of the day anchored up. He said all he did was poke the nose of his vessel out and go around North West Bay, returning back to Cascades Bay about midday.
However, defence lawyer Fletcher Pilditch KC produced navigational Automatic Investigation System (AIS) data showing the Nightingale fished between 7am and 4pm the day the Enchanter capsized — leaving Cascades Bay, looping around Great Island, and then heading into the ocean into Princes Islands, before returning to Cascades Bay late afternoon.
“You told us that the weather was so bad you decided to anchor up for the day and do no more fishing. What you said was wrong wasn’t it?” Pilditch asked Gentry.
“That’s what you’re telling me. It wasn’t a full day’s fishing,” said Gentry.
“You fished from seven in the morning till three or four in the afternoon,” said Pilditch.
“Yes, that’s what it’s saying here,” said Gentry.
“Do you accept that’s what you did? Do you accept that what you told us you did yesterday was wrong?” said Pilditch.
“Yes,” replied Gentry.
“So none of that was consistent with the weather was terrible that you couldn’t possibly fish for the rest of the day,”Pilditch said.
Gentry maintained the conditions were “absolutely appalling”.
Maritime New Zealand has charged Goodhew with breaching his duties as a skipper and putting individuals at risk of serious harm or death. It argues the Enchanter should never have left the Three Kings Islands where it was sheltered from the weather.
The weather conditions on the day and the forecasts available play a crucial role in determining whether Goodhew, who is defending the charge, was in the wrong.
Today is day three of a three-week trial and so far the judge has heard evidence from the four surviving passengers and the deckhand.
The men maintain the weather had been improving throughout the day, and swells before the tragedy were between 1.5 and 2 metres and the wind was around 15 knots at the time.
When the wave struck the boat around 8pm, the men were drinking beer and had some lures were in the water. Deckhand Kobe O’Neill was preparing dinner.
The passengers said there was no indication of the rogue wave which capsized the boat. They said the weather pattern was the same in the moments before and after the wave struck.
Goodhew’s first interview with Maritime NZ is now being played out in court.
If convicted, Goodhew faces a fine of up to $150,000.