Mother nature’s farewell to John Rochford was not a kind one. His final crossing as a skipper on the Diamond Harbour-Lyttelton ferry was marked with 40 knot north easterly winds, blustery rain and choppy waters.
"She was a shocking night, but that’s part of the game,” the 67-year-old, who lives in Church Bay, quipped.
But it was nothing compared to what Mother Nature dished up on June 7, 2010.
That was the day of a savage storm which lashed the harbour and sunk two boats at the Lyttelton marina.
Rochford was at the helm of the noon crossing. From Lyttelton the wind was 35 knots, a breeze so to speak.
But by the time passengers were disembarking at Diamond Harbour, the wind had grown to 84 knots, and the sea conditions were horrendous.
But the vessel could not stay tied up or moored in Diamond Harbour because it was likely it would have been badly damaged by the fury being unleashed. So Rochford said he was told to go back to Lyttelton.
Six passengers also decided to make their scheduled trip.
Said Rochford: “I thought, sh*t, I’ve got to get this boat back.”
The south westerly winds meant crossing via the usual route was not an option; instead he steered towards Quail Island then across to Lyttelton.
It typically takes Rochford eight minutes to cross, but it took about 20 on this occasion.
He told the passengers: “We’ll be fine, trust me.”
While the swells were intimidating, the thought of capsizing never crossed Rochford’s mind.
He docked at B-jetty, tied up the ferry as quick as he could and helped the passengers disembark, who thanked him as they got off.
“I was pretty relieved knowing everyone got off safe,” he said.
He was a commercial fisherman in Lyttelton Harbour when a friend left the ferry’s skipper role vacant.
Worn out from years of commercial fishing, Rochford jumped at the opportunity and has skippered the Diamond Harbour to Lyttelton ferry ever since.
“It’s a bloody great place to work, good clean environment and everything just ticks along nice,” he said.
"It’s the experience and the lifestyle, every day is different.”
What he will miss most is the people he has not only met over the years but got to know personally.
He has ferried All Blacks greats Richie McCaw, Kieran Read and Owen Franks, and spoke with them about footy during the crossing.
Rochford was a handy fullback during his senior 18 year club stint with Kaikoura.
He played alongside former All Black Brian Ford, nicknamed the Kaikoura Express for his lightning speed. Ford’s claim to rugby fame – or infamy here in Canterbury – came from his late try for Marlborough in their 13-6 shock victory over Canterbury at Lancaster Park in 1973 to take the Ranfurly Shield.
Marlborough was leading 9-6 when Ford raced down the left hand touch line minutes from fulltime, evaded Fergie McCormick and scored to put the result out of Canterbury’s reach.
Rochford was known as The Rock during his playing days, a name given to him by teammates because he was “solid as a rock” – well before it was coined by United States wrestler Dwayne Johnson.
He had a brief stint playing for Hornby’s division 3 side but played a major role for Diamond Harbour as manager of the senior side for 15 years.
The fact last Wednesday was his final day on the job barely crossed his mind, treating the shift like any other.
"It was a bit weird actually, I couldn’t get my head around it because everything just ticked along,” he said.
Passengers throughout the afternoon were handing him gifts and cakes and hundreds of Facebook users flooded a post from Diamond Harbour Ferry page on his retirement with well wishes.
Rochford said he was proud to receive the appreciation for his work over the past 22 years.
He has spent a big part of his life on boats, starting at 16 as a crew member on a commercial fishing boat in Kaikoura. He brought his boat the Kingfisher to Banks Peninsula about 30 years ago, basing him and his then wife in Teddington.
He took a brief break from commercial fishing to work at Versatile Homes’ garages in Hornby, before moving to Diamond Harbour about 20 years ago and then onto Church Bay 11 years ago with his partner Sheryl Glenn.
Rochford has noticed the amount of passengers on the ferry has increased since he started skippering in 2003.
"The area over here is really getting busier, lots of houses going up and when the weather’s good it’s chocka,” he said.
There have been a number of memorable moments while skippering the ferry.
About 10 years ago on an early morning mid winter crossing, he noticed a person in the water. It was pitch black with the exception of the ferry’s navigation light.
A Korean fisherman had fallen from a trawler, unnoticed by his fellow crew. Rochford saw the Korean waving his hand about 100m away. He was struggling to stay afloat.
It was the first ferry crossing of the day, the wind was about 25 knots but the sea was calm.
Rochford had no passengers or crew on board with him at the time.
He called Lyttelton Port and told them to have an ambulance waiting for him.
He steered the boat towards the fisherman, put it into neutral and pulled him onto the boat by his jacket with some difficulty.
The man was unconscious, unable to communicate with Rochford. He put a blanket over the fisherman and steered the boat back towards the marina.
An ambulance was waiting and took the fisherman to The Princess Margaret Hospital.
"If it wasn’t for me he would’ve definitely drowned,” he said.
He also recalled returning to Lyttelton during a beer festival at Godley House, which he said was notorious for getting out of control.
It was the last crossing of the day and as he disembarked the skipper heard a noise coming from the top of the boat.
"I thought, what the hell is that?. And there's a guy lying down on top of the roof. I didn't even know he was there,” he said.
Security guards ordered the worse for wear passenger who had been at the beer festival down.
"It was quite hilarious,” he said.
In retirement, he is planning on going on more trips in his caravan and joining the local bowls club.
While continuing his involvement with the rugby club, playing tennis and fishing in the harbour.
