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The Minaret sailed into Auckland from Whangarei in
February carrying a personal but very public messsage. As the
anchor was tossed over a police catamaran roared up for a close
inspection and then roared off again. Minaret was around Auckland
for a week or so before heading off to carry her message elsewhere..
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Close up of 'The Minaret' public messsage.
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The Minaret (above) sailed into Auckland from Whangarei in
February carrying a personal but very public messsage. As the
anchor was tossed over a police catamaran roared up for a close
inspection and then roared off again. Minaret was around Auckland
for a week or so before heading off to carry her message elsewhere..
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Scott Watson photographed by the police on 8 January 1998.
This photo was used in an early identification montage but no-one
identified him from it as the mystery man. The police replaced
it with another full length shot without result - but then went
on to construct a montage around the blink photo. Success!
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Furneaux Lodge with its jetty stretching out into the bay
at the head of Endeavour Inlet. On the night of 31 December
1997 there were upward of 150 boats moored here.
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The ‘mystery man’ had three or four day-old stubble
and shoulder length hair. This photo of Watson was taken that
night on the boat next door, the Mina Cornelia, just before
he went ashore to the party, freshly shaven and with short hair.
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A hundred and seventy-six scratches were found on the lower
surface of Blade's forward cabin hatch cover. The hatch was
sited above the bunk in the cabin. The prosecution thrust was
that the scratches had been made by Olivia in a frantic attempt
to escape from the boat. I remember reading the stories very
closely and in my mind directing an actress imprisoned in a
boat cabin to scratch the hatch cover in panic and fear of a
man up above. It never worked. I could never convert the scratching
into any form of human behavour. Both book and film describe
a better, alternative cause of the scratches.
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When Blade was pulled from the water by the police on 12 January
1997 there were a series of wide brush marks on a cleaned section
of the hull. The Crown case was that these marks were caused
by bodies rubbing up against the hull when Watson threw them
overboard in Cook Strait. The Crown case was also that he had
weighted the bodies so that they would sink to the bottom. See
Chapter 4, Trial By Trickery.
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In February 2003, Hunter and his film crew (cameraman Mike
O’Connor and sound recordist Don Anderson) took Blade
from five miles out in Cook Strait to little Erie Bay, tucked
away off Tory Channel, to see if she could make the trip in
half an hour, as the prosecution case demanded. It was always
a forlorn and vain hope. The distance between the location in
Cook Strait and Erie Bay is eleven miles. Blade would have to
do twenty two knots. The laws of physics and hydrodynamics dictate
that her maximum hull speed is 6.3 knots.
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In February 2003, Hunter and his film crew (cameraman Mike
O’Connor and sound recordist Don Anderson) took Blade
from five miles out in Cook Strait to little Erie Bay, tucked
away off Tory Channel, to see if she could make the trip in
half an hour, as the prosecution case demanded. It was always
a forlorn and vain hope. The distance between the location in
Cook Strait and Erie Bay is eleven miles. Blade would have to
do twenty two knots. The laws of physics and hydrodynamics dictate
that her maximum hull speed is 6.3 knots.
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In February 2003, Hunter and his film crew (cameraman Mike
O’Connor and sound recordist Don Anderson) took Blade
from five miles out in Cook Strait to little Erie Bay, tucked
away off Tory Channel, to see if she could make the trip in
half an hour, as the prosecution case demanded. It was always
a forlorn and vain hope. The distance between the location in
Cook Strait and Erie Bay is eleven miles. Blade would have to
do twenty two knots. The laws of physics and hydrodynamics dictate
that her maximum hull speed is 6.3 knots.
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In February 2003, Hunter and his film crew (cameraman Mike
O’Connor and sound recordist Don Anderson) took Blade
from five miles out in Cook Strait to little Erie Bay, tucked
away off Tory Channel, to see if she could make the trip in
half an hour, as the prosecution case demanded. It was always
a forlorn and vain hope. The distance between the location in
Cook Strait and Erie Bay is eleven miles. Blade would have to
do twenty two knots. The laws of physics and hydrodynamics dictate
that her maximum hull speed is 6.3 knots.
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In February 2003, Hunter and his film crew (cameraman Mike
O’Connor and sound recordist Don Anderson) took Blade
from five miles out in Cook Strait to little Erie Bay, tucked
away off Tory Channel, to see if she could make the trip in
half an hour, as the prosecution case demanded. It was always
a forlorn and vain hope. The distance between the location in
Cook Strait and Erie Bay is eleven miles. Blade would have to
do twenty two knots. The laws of physics and hydrodynamics dictate
that her maximum hull speed is 6.3 knots.
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In February 2003, Hunter and his film crew (cameraman Mike
O’Connor and sound recordist Don Anderson) took Blade
from five miles out in Cook Strait to little Erie Bay, tucked
away off Tory Channel, to see if she could make the trip in
half an hour, as the prosecution case demanded. It was always
a forlorn and vain hope. The distance between the location in
Cook Strait and Erie Bay is eleven miles. Blade would have to
do twenty two knots. The laws of physics and hydrodynamics dictate
that her maximum hull speed is 6.3 knots.
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Keith Hunter and skipper Peter Beech in Tory Channel during
Blade’s time trial from Cook Strait to Erie Bay. Beech
is well known in the area as a leading figure in the fight to
protect Tory Channel from the damage caused by high speed Interisland
ferries. He agreed to skipper Blade of the trip on the basis
that he would drive her as if he were in a hurry , but without
making demands on the motor that would cause it damage. He was
not acquainted with any of the families concerned in the case
and had no view as to Scott Watson guilt or innocence.
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Keith Hunter and skipper Peter Beech in Tory Channel during
Blade’s time trial from Cook Strait to Erie Bay. Beech
is well known in the area as a leading figure in the fight to
protect Tory Channel from the damage caused by high speed Interisland
ferries. He agreed to skipper Blade of the trip on the basis
that he would drive her as if he were in a hurry , but without
making demands on the motor that would cause it damage. He was
not acquainted with any of the families concerned in the case
and had no view as to Scott Watson guilt or innocence.
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Blade, the Crown's substitute for a 40 foot ketch.
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