"I can’t leave Port Chalmers because there might be a ship moving that I’ve got to photograph," he said.
Most of his holidays, if not "most of the time", was spent photographing ships — and while he loved his family very much, he did not really wish to be elsewhere.
"My camping days are over ... I hate being away from the sea."
The 85-year-old retired schoolteacher and nautical historian has documented about 10,000 new vessels pulling into Otago Harbour over the past 63 years.
Photographing ships was his "passion in life" — a passion started by his late friend Doug Wright, a former Otago Daily Times shipping columnist and "an incredible person for remembering facts and figures", Mr Bain said.
Mr Wright had already begun photographing ships just after World War 2, and Mr Bain joined him in 1961.
"It was from then that we decided we’d try and capture every ship that was new to the harbour."
Both men lived in Port Chalmers and had an interest in ships, and realised the vessels arriving at port were an important record to keep.
Mr Wright and other friends would cover the ships while he was overseas, but when Mr Wright died in 2013, he decided to try to keep his commitment to his friend, Mr Bain said.
Mr Bain estimated he had photographed about 15,000 different ships on colour slides, including those overseas, but could not pin down how many he had taken in black and white.
He had photographed about 10,000 vessels in Otago Harbour, he said.
However, his hobby "does cause concern with the family".
"My daughters and all the grandchildren, who are all grown up with babies, they’re all the way up at Lake Wānaka, which they do every Christmas and play with their toys on the lakes and that.
"We can never go because I’ve got to stay and look out for ships, so we get left with the pets."
His wife was "extremely tolerant" of his passion for photographing ships, while the rest of his family "think I’m mad", Mr Bain said.
"I don’t see any of my children or grandchildren or great-grandchildren taking over the hobby."
Port Otago executive assistant Jodi Taylor said Norwegian Sun’s arrival on Monday was the third of 12 maiden voyages to Port Chalmers this cruise season.
