Matt Gentry, skipper of the Florence Nightingale, who saw the Enchanter at Three Kings gives evidence. Photo / NZME

'It was rough as s***': Evidence given about weather on day of Enchanter tragedy

Author: Shannon Pitman,
Publish Date: Wed, 8 May 2024, 1:12PM

- Evidence is being heard about the weather conditions three days into the three-week trial for Enchanter skipper Lance Goodhew.
- Goodhew faces a single charge of breaching his duties as a worker on the vessel and in doing so, allegedly exposing individuals to a risk of death or serious injury.
- The Enchanter was hired by a group of friends for a game fishing trip to the Three Kings Islands in March 2022.
- The fishing boat capsized at North Cape, killing Geoffrey James Allen, 72, Michael Patrick Lovett, 72, Richard Eldon Bright, 63, Mark Keith Walker, 41 and Mark Kenneth Sanders, 43.

The skipper of a cray fishing vessel working in rugged Far North waters has described “horrendous” weather conditions on the day the Enchanter capsized.

Enchanter’s skipper, Lance Goodhew, is facing one charge in the Whangārei District Court of allegedly breaching his duties as a skipper, which resulted in the death of five men.

The men spent three days fishing at the Three Kings Islands before heading south to North Cape, where they anchored on March 20, 2022.

A significant front of bad weather had just passed, leaving behind a wake of sea patterns Maritime New Zealand believed were too dangerous for Goodhew to be operating in.

Skipper of the Florence Nightingale, Matt Gentry, was called to give evidence and told the court he was a regular to the Three Kings Islands and North Cape and knew the area well.

Gentry and his crew often worked in the area laying crayfish pots and had been there for three days leading up to March 20.

When in the Three Kings, the vessel relies on a combination of data from weather systems tracking from the Kaipara and North Cape.

Gentry said the weather updates he would receive from his boss Nat Davey on the mainland were the most accurate as there was no internet at the Three Kings.

Under examination-in-chief by Sam McMullan for Maritime NZ, Gentry told the court the weather was so rough on March 20, he anchored at Cascade Bay off Manawatāwhi /Great Island.

He said he travelled up to North West Bay but the weather was so bad he had to turn back.

“I knew the weather was going to be building, I got warned and told it was my call to make and got told ‘Don’t go out and be a hero it’s your call’,” Gentry said.

Gentry said he saw the Enchanter anchored at Little Bear Bay as he headed around Great Island in the morning, but when he came back they were gone.

Gentry gave evidence he did not go to the Prince Islands and made the decision to stay in Cascade Bay as the swell was around 3 metres.

“It was rough as s***, it was horrendous, I wouldn’t put my workers through that,” Gentry said.

The state of the weather between Great Island and Princes Island has been under scrutiny in the trial. Photo / Topomap

However, Goodhew’s lawyer, Fletcher Pilditch KC, produced navigational data from the Automatic Identification System (AIS) showing the Nightingale moving around Great Island between 7am and 4pm on March 20.

The Nightingale was also tracked crossing over to Princes Island and slightly northeast of Princes Island, putting him in the ocean.

“Your evidence has been that the weather was so bad you couldn’t possibly go out fishing. But here you are, going right out to the 100m mark,” Pilditch put to Gentry

“You told us you didn’t leave Cascade Bay, it can’t have been that bad if you left?”

Gentry accepted that if the navigational system had plotted him there, he must have been there and although he could not recall being at Princes Islands, maintained the weather was appalling on March 20, 2022.

The prosecution will call an expert from MetOcean to give evidence on the weather that day.

Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.

This article was originally published on the NZ Herald here.