It is somehow both reassuring and disconcerting to arrive on a navy ship and see half the sailors wearing sea sickness patches behind their ears.
But then again they had dealt with 4m swells off Fiordland the day before and I was already learning to appreciate a non-moving foothold only 10 minutes after boarding HMNZS Hawea on Wednesday.
Hawea is one of the four new patrol vessels that are swiftly shaping up to be the star purchases of the Government's naval fleet renewal project, Project Protector.
I would like to say that as I approached Hawea I was awed by its mean grey angles.
But it was dark and I was rather preoccupied with not being thrown from one of the navy's new RIBs (rigid inflatable boats) as I launched myself at a rope ladder hanging over the side of Hawea while she cruised on a 2m swell off Bluff.
It was not until somewhere off Nugget Pt, running at 24 knots in 2.5m swells, with winds gusting at times more than 50 knots, that I learned the second load of day-trippers had remained seated while a davit plucked the boat, passengers and all, out of the water and placed it on the deck.
That right there was well worth the half a million price tag.
Two customs officers and two biosecurity officers from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry had been on the ship for several days as it journeyed from its home port Westport.
At Bluff they were joined by the media, three Fisheries officers and two Department of Conservation staff for the eight-hour trip to Dunedin.
Hawea and its three sister inshore patrol vessels (IPV) are essentially patrol, surveillance and support vessels for Customs, Fisheries, Police, Doc, Maf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the New Zealand Defence Force and Maritime New Zealand.
They will work in the area from New Zealand's shoreline to about 200 nautical miles (370km) out, spending about 240 days at sea each year.
In most cases their work will involve boarding operations to check vessels are not illegally in New Zealand waters or have illegal goods or people on board; and undertaking maritime security patrols, surveillance work and search and rescue missions.
Interagency is the way to go, says one of the Customs officers on board.
There is no way each department could afford a vessel - Hawea and her three sisters Pukaki, Rotoiti and Taupo cost $90m each - capable of what the IPV can do.
Compared with the previous naval patrol craft, Hawea is faster, more convenient - the RIB makes boarding other vessels much easier - has more sophisticated equipment and systems, has a longer range, and with its fin stabilisers is able to handle rough waters a lot better, he says.
The Fishery and Doc officers who boarded with us at Bluff also liked what they saw.
Doc staff particularly looked forward to travelling to the sub-antarctic islands, for which purpose a ship the size and with the sea-going capability of Hawea would be ideal, they said.
While there is some potential another vessel might be armed, there are more than 30 hand-held weapons on board, ranging from machine guns to pistols and batons, but they will rarely be used within the Exclusive Economic Zone.
Only police officers allowed to board vessels armed within New Zealand's territorial waters.
The largest weapons are three .50-calibre machine guns that can be mounted on deck.
But, while Hawea may be grey, it is not designed to be a warship and, in reality, the likelihood of being attacked is not high, commanding officer Lieutenant Grant Judson (28) reminds us.
Hawea is Lt Judson's second command - he previously spent 12 months in command of HMNZS Kiwi - and it is an honour to be commanding one of the new ships, he says.
It may be a "mean-looking machine", but Hawea is not designed for battle, although it has electrical and machinery backups on backups, should any damage be sustained.
This trip - Hawea spent some time in her home port last week, before travelling down the West Coast to Bluff, stopping for some boarding tasks with Customs and Biosecurity officers in the Sounds on the way - has meant they have been able to work out some of the quirks of the ship.
It has been a useful session in terms of learning how the sophisticated systems respond to various situations.
Te Anau man Petty Officer Daniel Dewhurst (28), who is in charge of the electrical equipment on board, says because much of Hawea's electrical equipment is new to the navy, the first two months have been "a huge learning curve" for the crew.
"It's been very challenging, especially with this weather and the bouncing around while we are still trying to learn everything."
The IPVs are based on a Tenix-designed search and rescue vessel successfully in service with the Philippines Coast Guard since 2000.
The ship has fully automated control and navigation systems, powerful engines, modern communications and surveillance systems and active stabilisers.
It is powered by two V12 diesel motors and, being almost totally dependent on electrical systems, there are three large generators.
It has a top speed of 25 knots, compared with a top speed of about 12 knots in the previous navy patrol boats, and its range is 3000 nautical miles at 24 knots, but it could travel 7000nm - that is three times the distance to Australia, says Chief Petty Officer and Engineer Officer Peter Hill (36).
Able to store a total of 75,000 litres of standard automotive diesel in three tanks, at 24 knots Hawea consumes about 1200 litres of diesel per hour.
The ship also has the capacity to produce its own fresh water through an osmosis system which can turn 4 litres of seawater into 4 litres of fresh water every minute.
The ship stores 10,000 litres of fresh water.
While the ship can go further than its contract called for, that is tempered by the fact only enough food for about 10 days at the most can be stored on board.
"That's probably the ship's biggest limitation."
Life at sea on board Hawea appears to be relatively comfortable.
Junior crew sleep three persons to a quarters and each accommodation quarters has its own en suite.
Officers have their own quarters and the commanding officer has a cabin near the bridge in which he often works from a series of computers.
There is a ship's office with fax machine and computers, a laundry and two mess rooms for junior and senior rates.
In the messes there are facilities for making drinks as well as watching DVDs or television.
Two chefs feed up to 36 people three times a day, including usually at least two hot meals a day.
On our trip we had lamb shanks in red wine sauce and crayfish with garlic butter, with a choice of veges and salads for lunch.
Crayfish is not normal fodder for the navy, I was assured.
The ship's divers had caught a few in a quiet moment somewhere off Fiordland the day before.
Sadly, my tummy was not quite up to it, but luckily, I had a stauncher stomach than others.
It was a great trip and the ship's company was as accommodating as you could ask for.
The next time we get the chance to check out one of our new purchases for the navy, hopefully it will HMNZS Otago.
HMNZS Hawea
> One of the navy's four new patrol vessels.
> Displacement: 340 tonnes.
> Length overall: 55m.
> Beam: 9m.
> Speed: 25 knots.
> Range: 3000nm to 7000nm.
> Complement: Core ship's company = 20; Government agencies = 4; Additional personnel if needed = 12.
> Built in Whangarei.
> Launched December 2007.
> Commissioned May 2009.
> The first Hawea was a Loch-class frigate in service between 1948 and 1957.
