Intrepid travellers set sail for San Diego

Four Tauranga men will set sail on a traditional Maori canoe from Auckland's Viaduct harbour today in a year-long voyage across the Pacific.
The canoe, Te Matau a Maui, is one of five making the 32,000km journey from New Zealand to San Diego, taking in Hawaii, Tahiti and the Solomon Islands and not returning home until June 2012.
The aim of the voyage is to raise awareness about the problems facing the ocean with a scientific focus on acidification, dead zones and noise pollution and how they affect marine life.
On the waka, they will have no running water or fossil fuel-burning engines, apart from natural gas which is used for cooking. Solar power is used for energy and the crew navigate by the stars.
Tauranga skipper Frank Te Mihinui Kawe says the journey is about rekindling Pacific relationships as well as ensuring traditional navigating is kept alive.
The first leg will take them to Fakarava in the Tuamotu Islands of French Polynesia where they will meet with two other canoes from Tahiti and Rarotonga.
"All waka will crew about 14-16 people at a time through each leg of the journey," Mr Kawe said.
The voyage has been financed by German organisation Okeanos, which funds scientific projects devoted to promoting awareness of marine conservation.
"We are very fortunate to be able to fund this type of journey, which is truly unique to Maori and Pacific Island people [and] that we are able to promote environmental awareness along the way is a big bonus for us," Okeanos' Magnus Danbolt said.
Experienced celestial navigator Jack Thatcher and Mr Kawe have been training their crew on safety procedures and traditional ways of Polynesian sailing in and around the Tauranga Harbour since 2009.
"We are expected to carry the same equipment that a normal yacht will have to carry to ensure the safety of crew and vessel, which is mandatory for all vessels seeking an ocean passage," Mr Thatcher said.
The canoe expect to reach Fakarava within three weeks.
Other Tauranga crew Mahara Nicholas and Kiharoa Nuku will carry on as far as Hawaii and the Americas.
Track the voyage at www.pacificvoyagers.org.