An Ode to Captain Cook

Tasi waves a warm goodbye to New Zealand’s South Island

Te Kaihōpara and I were brimming with feverish excitement as we welcomed onboard our new set of crew members for an adventurous sail from Picton to Auckland, along the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island.

Our Skipper for this adventure would be the avid podcaster and local sailing superstar, David Hows. Interestingly enough, David is the sole reason Te Kaihōpara and I have managed to become such good friends over the last few months. A surprise last-minute entrant to our crew would be Iain Wright, a man from the land of William Wallace (one of my personal heroes), who would be training to join us as a Chief Mate.

The Aranui steams by on her Cook Strait crossing

Furthermore, our crew would include, (in no particular order) Barry Nicholls, a recent Yachtmaster Offshore (Sail) graduate and a lean mean fighting machine in the galley. Joining him was Kevin Iles, who was armed with a rakish smile and a penchant for adventure; Luca Morgan, the youngest of the crew with the camera equipment fit for an Alexander McQueen runway show; Gaynor Stanley, Luca’s mother and an avid admirer of the moon. Joining them were Tasi Hill, who definitely impressed Te Kaihōpara and I with her matching luggage bags and Daniel Brown, a geezer who grew up in one of my favourite cities in the world, ‘London-baby’!

Late entrants to the party were Shane Gerraty, a biker and rebel without a cause & Kester Crellin, a veteran of quite a few sailing adventures himself.

Part mountain goat - part cow, overall funky creatures for sure

A dinner party was hosted by Te Kaihōpara, as all three crews broke bread together, before the commencement of an adventure of a lifetime. Jess, who would be skippering Salt Lines for the first time, had managed to convince her mother to come along as a moral support figure/ guinea pig crew. She was to take her crew along the west coast of the North Island to a classified location. Te Kaihōpara and Silver Fern (skippered by Matt Harvey, finally fighting fit again) were to race each other all the way to Auckland. Te Kaihōpara and I were a bit emotional to say goodbye to Picton Marina and its beautiful stingrays. But I’m sure we’ll be back in no time (special shoutout to Mark & Grahame in the Picton Marina office for all their help and support!)

One last sight of the South Island

Te Kaihōpara looked her finest as we set sail with her main and mizzen sails up. A long awaited night passage excited all as we finally got down to some actual offshore sailing after a long hiatus. As I write this, we’re heading towards Cape Paliser,  the south eastern tip of the North Island, before we commence our journey up the North Island’s east coast to Auckland. Our hunt for some wind seems futile at the moment, but at least the iron sail is making sure that were are keeping our speed up, with our friends on Silver Fern in convoy. Lets see how things unfold over the next few days!

- Arjun Thimmaya, Chief Mate, Te Kaihōpara