Flounders in the Catlins

My Dad tells the story of Herb, Gordon Mackie and himself going out spear fishing for flounders in the Catlins Estuary. It has always been a good spot to go floundering. The Estuary is a maze of splintering channels and old oxbows which stretch 2-3 km in each direction. Low tide, and night time is the best time for floundering. The channels are easily seen by moon light. However as the tide comes in, it is easy to become lost and stranded. This is what happened on this particular evening. My Dad said to Herb and Gordon that they would have to swim back to the car as he could not find the route back. At this point both Herb and Gordon declared that they were unable to swim!!

A solution was found whereby Herb and Gordon floated across the channel holding onto the rubber inner tube which supported the 12 volt battery used to power the underwater lights. Dad swam on ahead, started the car and turned on the headlights. All the men had stripped off and somehow carried their clothes above their heads. The description of "all shapes and sizes emerging from the water" is still told today. One has to appreciate the large frame of Herb contrasted to the somewhat skinny frame of Gordon to understand the description. You are probably best to get my Dad's version of this story Bruce. Anyway Herb must have been in his 70's then. I used to do a lot of floundering in my teens and early 20's but don't know that I would care for it much in my 40's. The water temp is 6-8 degrees Celsius. Steve