Miracle of Opua as man appears to walk on water during king tide

Kim Borgstrom, from Fairwind Yacht Charters, appears to walk on water as he walks on a gangway leading to the marina inside Opua Wharf during a king tide yesterday morning. Photo / Shell Wilson

It's hardly the miracle on the Sea of Galilee, but an Opua man's "walk on water" has still excited Bay of Islands locals.

''I thought 'That's rad, you don't see a man walking on water every day','' Bay local Shell Wilson said of her thoughts when she saw Kim Borgstrom, from Fairwind Yacht Charters in Opua, seemingly walking on water yesterday morning.

Ms Wilson was having coffee with a friend about 9.30am yesterday when she looked down and saw Mr Borgstrom appearing to walk on water as a king tide lapped over gangways leading to the marina inside Opua Wharf.

Mr Borgstrom joked that walking on water was the only miracle he could perform as he had yet to perfect the art of parting the sea.

''So I'm no Moses, although I'm not Jesus either.''

The gangway leads to the marina where the company's yachts are moored and, while the watery walk may look unusual, it's becoming far more common. The company has been operating from the site for about 15 years and he had lived in the Bay far longer.

''It's not that uncommon now. We have big tides like this about two or three times a year now where it comes up to or over the gangway, but this time somebody was there to capture that magic moment.

''It's keeping the gangway clean I suppose, but it seems to be happening more often now than in the past. It used to be a one-off, but now it's far more often,'' Mr Borgstrom said.

The king tide is the remnants of the full moon we had this week.

Jesus walking on water is one of the miracles of Jesus recounted in the New Testament. The disciples saw Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee. They were frightened, thinking they were seeing a spirit, but Jesus told them not to be afraid.

After changeable weather this week it looks like more of the same this weekend. Today is forecast to have cloudy periods and sunny spells with occasional rain from afternoon. Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy with occasional rain, especially from afternoon.