The museum board chairman and University of Otago physics professor attempted to swim across the cold and unpredictable Cook Strait in January, but strong currents and wind conditions on the day meant he had to abandon the marathon 22km-26km swim from Wellington to the Marlborough Sounds after about eight hours.
The 56-year-old will now take part in the RealNZ Whakatipu Legend event tomorrow, where swimmers will dive from the TSS Earnslaw steamship in Frankton Arm, and swim a 4km course back to Queenstown Bay.
‘‘It's just 4km, so this one will be a lot easier.
‘‘To be brutally honest, from my perspective, it's just an opportunity to go out there and have a bit of fun.’’
Prof Hutchinson said the swim aimed to highlight the critical importance of museums, history and protecting New Zealand’s past, and the financial pressure that many museums are under in the present economic climate.
He said Otago had an ‘‘exceptionally rich history’’, particularly during the gold-rush era, and this had allowed the museum to acquire a vast and internationally significant collection of more than 1.5 million items.
However, the museum was a charitable trust and only received modest support from ratepayers, and little to no direct central government funding, and this left major financial gaps when it came to essential infrastructure, capital investment and collection care, he said.
One of the most urgent needs at present was the installation of further fire sprinklers, to protect the museum’s ‘‘irreplaceable collections’’.
He aims to raise $50,000 on his Givealittle page, and has already raised $28,134.
He said there had also been several donations towards the cause from sources outside the Givealittle campaign.
It was hoped the money raised would go towards the estimated $2million cost of the sprinkler project.
‘‘Obviously, $50,000 is a little bit of a drop in the bucket, but it will move us forward and allow us to get on with the planning stages for the internal work for the sprinkler system, at least.’’
