Monday 17 January More scallops

Our hot tip on where to find scallops was on the nose and off the island of Otata. We did the usual descent down the anchor chain to 10m and follow it out to the anchor. Visibility was poor so I swam within site of the chain and David was within site of me to give us best sweep coverage. We went up one side and came back down the other picking up the biggest we could find. It didn't take long.

Raw material

With the forecast promising bad weather from tonight we got our kit quickly stowed and continued on to safe harbour on the south side of Waiheke island. David helmed through the drizzle while I shucked. This is our third haul bringing the total to 120 harvested so far. We had half of today's catch for dinner gently poached in garlic, butter and white wine with bread to mop up the juices. So fresh and so sweet. Divine.