Laying a wreath at the final resting place of the old Rainbow Warrior (C) Greenpeace / Walsh
It's 7:30am, and we're up, and getting breakfast, and cleaning the ship. It's a busy morning, and no one is idle. Stuart, Logan and Chris head ashore in the Wakanui semi-inflatable to pick up Bunny McDiarmid, campaign director of GP NZ, a local journalist and some visitors.
The weather is fantastic - blue skies dotted with distant clouds, and the sea is pretty calm. It may be winter in New Zealand, but here off the coast of Northland, we're in shorts and t-shirts.
When the visitors arrive, we sail to where the first Rainbow Warrior was scuttled in 1987. The wreck has become an artificial reef teeming with aquatic life, and is a popular destination for scuba divers.
Then, a red and green floral wreath passes among the crew before being thrown into the waters of Matauri Bay by Bunny, and Frans, the captain. The wreath was made with a mixture of native and non-native plants to represent the multi-national crew.
Some of us are circling the ship in Wakanui - including videographer David 'Wooley' Woolford, photographer Roger Grace, and a local journalist. As we come across the bow of the Rainbow Warrior II, I'm struck by two things. First of all, I'm impressed by how noble the ship looks, with the Cavalli Islands in the background, between the blue sea and sky. Then I think 'hey, I live here, on this ship!'.
We spend the night at anchor, here in Matauri Bay. It's kind of strange to think of two Rainbow Warriors in the same place... one bobbing about on the surface, full of humans, and another, 20 metres or so below, inhabited by fish.
Dave Walsh
Web Editor, SV Rainbow Warriow
Comments
i still find it incredulous how they thought they could get away with blowing up the RW1 and no-one noticing.
