Tidal flows

That doesn’t look right at all (namely starting close to high).

Because according to the HW chart I’ll start swimming against it.

And 1hr later rhumb line I’m still swimming against it and being set east.

At 3hrs I’m being set even more strongly to the east.

Only 5hrs after HW do I see tide flowing with me.

See what I mean?

I was waiting for someone to mention sharks.

I do think about it. But if I worry too much I won’t swim at all.

I will try to avoid swimming close to boats fishing - for obvious reasons. The challenge is that might be quite hard at this time of year on the kind of day I want to swim ie it will attract lots of fishing action.

Safe time would be 10.00am to 4.00pm when they bask. Early morning/evening they tend to feed.  We were trolling for kings when we got ours,open blue water.    Seaweed is more likely to make you gasp

Seriously though when was the last shark attack in the gulf?? Never heard of anyone getting a bite while swimming.   Happens down south on the paua grounds but think there is plenty of school fish in the gulf.

Good luck,not my cuppa tea but nor is swimming in saltwater unless involuntary. Hate sand/saltwater

Last time was the guy training for an ocean swim . Off the point at Muriwai , he had just set off from Māori Bay and was heading north . Seems like it was a two shark attack , Bronzie and great white but there was confusion about which shark started . Very very sad event that affected the whole community out there . 

I surfed for 35 years in some very sharky spots without a sighting but now I’ve stopped sharks give me the shits …manukau heads  , hokianga heads , Cape  Reinga , Spirits Bay , maunganui bluff , Celtic rockwall forest secret reef spot , 90 mile beach bluff . Also many hundreds of hours solo on Auckland’s westcoast non access beaches , wigmores , whites , Anawhata , oneills and mussels which is about 1K from where the swimmer got attacked . All great white hotspots but I never saw one , bet they saw me though ! . 

i take my hat off to you foggster flailing about out there in the yonder , go well mate and god speedos ! 

I would say Long Bay to Tiri is safer on sharks.

The bronzies are a major bother for fishos. By all accounts (from the Diawa Rep) the bronzies are starting to associate the sound of an outboard with dinner bells. As in they hear a fizz boat turn up and they start waiting for dinner, like a snapper go past whacking it's tail in distress.
That, and my live baiting efforts for kingfish has resulted in 5 out of 5 shark hook ups and zero kingfish (as an aside, I'm thinking of giving up on livebaiting cause of the shark issue. I'm just leaving hooks in them which is uncool).
The eastern side of Tiri, around Shearer Rock, is notorious for sharks. But in saying that I've hooked three on the south side not far from Hobbs Bay.
And Flat Rock is notorious for sharks.
Basically, anywhere fishos frequent will be higher in sharks than somewhere else. There are less prime fisho spots between Long Bay and Tiri. Plenty Around Tiri, between Tiri and Kawau (the 40m line is popular at the moment) and plenty of fishing spots around Kawau. That, and something always happens in Bostaque Bay. Last time we saw a shark pump clean out of the water there, for no apparent reason...

PS, sharks don't like being seen. Spearo's often wear fake eyes printed on their mask strap, so it looks like eyes on the back of their heads. If you are worried about sharks, you could draw eyes on your torso. There are eletro-magnetic shark repellents you can get (Ocean Angler). Not cheap, and people say they don't work - although that is in the context of sharks nicking your catch while spear fishing. That, and they'd be a major pain to swim with. I'd just avoid going near anything that looks like a fishing boat.

Well, the area to the West of Cape Colville, including south a bit and out to Anchorite rock is also super popular for work-ups. That and the tidal streams.

How worried are you about sharks? You don't wear a wetsuit do you? so don't look too much like a seal. I can understand the swimming motion making splashing and attracting attention, but if the vis is good I wouldn't have thought a shark would mistake you for something edible. My understanding is most shark attacks are in surf or water that is otherwise churned up and really shit vis. The vis will be mint at the moment.

From the spearo stories, there is a big difference between being bothered by a shark and being bitten by one. Have you been bothered, or seen any on your other swims? Motuora would have been as sharky as most places I would have thought?

Back to the Colville Channel, there is probably bugger all 'bait n berly' fisho's out there. They'd all be doing deep drops or mechanical jigging I would have thought. On a Tiri to Kawau swim, I would have thought once you are clear of structure at each end there is lower chance of sharks, but I've seen on a calm sunny day there are fisho's everywhere. It can be like a D-Day landing. I should add the comment about sharks turning up to the sound of outboards was specific to the Flat Rock area. That is an epic fishing spot and notorious for sharks.

You could keep your speargun handy on Fogg to get passed to you to poke the sharks away if you are getting bothered, but I guess if one is going to bit you, you wont see it first. My understanding is the ones that let you see them aren't the ones wanting you for dinner.