Hi Russell and other PAS people! First time caller here but Russell you’ve been a big influence on my life since a friend introduced me to your Friday emailer in the mid 90’s. I’ve always found your intelligent and nuanced views on a whole variety of topics really interesting.

I am (was?) a commercial airline pilot in Papua New Guinea so my income prospects have inverted in a small space amount of time. I fear aviation won’t ever recover from this so I have to consider the prospect of never flying an aircraft again. It’s pretty scary trying to think about how to make a living in the future for me.

Isolation is going well so far, in fact I feel very guilty about the beauty of my surroundings. I live on my boat, an 86 year old cutter built in Port Chalmers. She was the Lyttleton Harbour Board Pilot Boat for nearly 50 years. We are anchored near Man O War bay at the eastern end of Waiheke. There are about a dozen other live aboard sailing vessels in the bay. Saw a beautiful sunrise over Coromandel this morning. Exercise will be walks on the shore and swimming off the boat while the water is still warm enough.

We will stay put as far as practicable but will eventually have to move to better shelter if the wind changes and possibly a trip to oneroa or coromandel for supplies in a few weeks.