Cook Strait. 1884: Lastingham wrecked at Cape Jackson, 18 people killed. 1904: Pelorus Jack was protected by New Zealand law 1909: wrecked in Cook Strait, 75 people killed. 1920: First aeroplane flight across Cook Strait. 1935: Air services began across Cook Strait. 1962: Cook Strait rail ferry service began. 1962: Barrie Devenport swims the strait. 1964: Cook Strait power cables laid. 1968: wrecked at entrance to Wellington harbour, 53 people killed. 1975: First balloon crossing, made by Roland Parsons and Rex Brereton. 1975: Lynne Cox became the first woman to swim the strait. 1979: Paul Caffyn crossed the strait in a sea kayak. 1984: Philip Rush swam the strait both ways. 1984: Meda McKenzie became the first woman to swim the strait both ways. 1990: Stephen Preest made the first crossing and double crossing by hovercraft. 1991: Five new power and communication cables laid 1994: First fast-ferry service began operation across Cook Strait. 2002: Two further communications cables laid. 2005: The retired frigate was sunk off Wellington as an artificial reef. 2008: A resource consent was granted to Neptune Power to install a $10 million experimental underwater tidal stream turbine capable of producing one megawatt. 2008: Energy Pacifica applies for resource consent to install up to 10 marine turbines, each able to produce up to 1.2 MW, near the Cook Strait entrance to Tory Channel. 2013: First crossing made by a paraglider, achieved by Matt Stanford. 2013: Two large earthquakes measuring 6.5 and 6.6 on the Richter Scale struck Cook Strait, causing significant damage in the town of Seddon, with minor to moderate damage in Wellington. 2021: First electric aircraft flight across Cook Strait, from Omaka Aerodrome to Wellington Airport, by Gary Freedman in a Pipistrel Alpha Electro. Geography The strait runs in a general NW-SE direction, with the South Island on the west side and North Island on the east. At its narrowest point, separate Cape Terawhiti in the North Island from Perano Head on Arapaoa Island in the Marlborough Sounds. Perano Head is actually further north than Cape Terawhiti. In good weather one can see clearly across the strait. The west (South Island) coast runs along Cloudy Bay and past the islands and entrances to the Marlborough Sounds. The east (North Island) coast runs along Palliser Bay, crosses the entrance to Wellington harbour, past some Wellington suburbs and continues another to Mākara Beach. The Brothers is a group