The crew woke up baying for adventure as the sun refused to get up and play. Infrequent showers were expertly dodged as Te Kaihōpara’s motley crew tucked into some energising chocolate bars and managed to get ashore at Man O’ War Bay. The tempting scent of fish pies motivated even the laziest of the bunch, (no one in particular!) to hike up to a nearby restaurant. Alas! No one had any cash! Ross quickly turned saviour with his digital wallet, as Mick finally nodded along in approval of something being good about the digital revolution of mankind.

I prepped the boat for an evening passage and fixed up a quick lunch for the returning expeditionists, as they came back from their exploratory mission. Lifting the tender back into its cradle required the entire crew’s combined efforts as my baby was safely tied down to Te Kaihōpara. Ross had picked up a small sea shell for me, as a souvenir which I cherished fondly for about an hour before promptly misplacing. Maybe Te Kaihōpara wanted it a whole lot more than me!

The headsail was all that was required as we managed to give the Iron sail a bit of rest and notched up a very respectable nine knots on our way to the glorious Great Barrier Island also known as Aotea. Sometimes, a moment is so beautiful that taking a picture might just ruin it. That was true for the moon last night and I restrained myself for doing the obvious and just tried to revel in the moment. They say the sun and the moon are cursed lovers, destined to follow each other till the end of time, never being able to meet. Last night felt like the moon was serenading its eternal lover one more time. As the crew tucked in to a sheltered cove at the Great Barrier Island around midnight, Te Kaihōpara swayed away in the night, awaiting the sunshine of the day.

- Arjun Thimmaya, Chief Mate, Te Kaihōpara