Trio's painful return to scene of Blake's murder

By CATHERINE MASTERS

MACAPA - They stand on the wobbly pier leading to the tiny port headquarters at the mouth of the Amazon River with the dreadful memories of the night their friend and captain was murdered running through their heads.

It was from here that they had made a desperate emergency call on that night of mad panic in December.

And gazing at where Seamaster was moored about 500m off Fazendinha, they remember the frantic mayday call, praying for an outside chance that Sir Peter Blake, shot in the back by pirates, could be revived when their own resuscitation efforts had failed.

But no one answered. When they set out by boat in the dead of night to search for help they had to make themselves heard above a soccer match blaring out on the television.

"It was like an American B grade movie," says Geoff Bullock.

"You couldn't believe it. There were guns and people, it was just horrible."

For Mr Bullock and crew mates Rodger Moore and Leon Sefton, this return to Macapa was gruelling.

The day before they had spent 17 hours at the federal court waiting for their turn to give evidence.

Mr Sefton, after holding himself together throughout the harrowing court hearing, was shattered the next afternoon.

He had had to wait the longest of the three New Zealanders before giving his testimony 11 hours later.

"It was hard to come back to Macapa for all of us," he said. "I found it personally quite tough. It didn't really sink in until we actually arrived here.

"I'm extremely drained. It was a hell of a long day."

Still jet-lagged from a 48-hour flight, Mr Bullock, Mr Sefton and the Brazilian chef on the Seamaster voyage waited in a back room with nothing to read while Mr Moore gave evidence.

Then they were called in one by one.

"It was almost like being sent to prison," says Mr Sefton. "I was exhausted before I got into the court room."

Before Mr Bullock left Auckland he said he never wanted to return to Macapa. At Fazendinha, though, he said they had been given wonderful treatment this time.

But Macapa was not a nice place to be. "It's a Third World town."

The journey from the airport had brought a lot of memories back.

"Memories of Rodger and I driving in an ambulance in the middle of the night down that road shook me up a little bit more than I thought they would."

Both men had been injured. Mr Bullock had a bullet wound to his back that needed 14 stitches and Mr Moore had swelling on his face where he had been hit so hard with a pistol he fell unconscious on the deck.

Mr Bullock says no one will ever know if Sir Peter did the right thing by rushing for his rifle when the bandits boarded his boat.

Sir Peter made a split-second decision to defend crew who had guns held to their heads as the bandits demanded money and watches. This may have cost him his life.

But it may also have saved the lives of the other nine aboard.

"We'll never know," says Mr Bullock. "There are arguments for and against getting firearms but you've every right to protect the ship. Who knows, we might all have been murdered in cold blood if it hadn't taken place."

A BBC documentary is to be made on Sir Peter's life and its makers may ask Mr Bullock to return to Macapa once more.

The Seamaster crew had no comments to make about the court process but thanked the Brazilian authorities and said they were confident justice would be served on the six bandits charged with armed robbery leading to death.

This charge carries 20 to 30 years in jail but the federal judge, Anselmo Goncalves da Silva, told the Herald he has the final call on whether the charge is valid, what might replace it and what the sentence will be.

The bandits are still to present their defence to him, probably later this month, but have already admitted the robbery.

Sir Peter's partner in blakexpeditions and Mr Sefton's father, Alan Sefton, says a return trip to the Amazon is definitely among future plans.

Its beauty and importance to the world's environment meant it had to be preserved for future generations.

According to the blakexpeditions' website, Seamaster is in England, awaiting further plans.

Mr Sefton said the events in Macapa had made blakexpeditions even more determined that Sir Peter's work would go on.

Peter Blake, 1948-2001