Bay of Islands: Unforgettable voyage into history

The R Tucker Thompson blends modern technology with centuries-old maritime traditions, such as climbing the rigging. Photo / Northern Advocate

The line where sky and sea meet is blurred by the mist. Sloppy, choppy waves slap the bow and the wind whips up little white horses.

The skipper noses the R Tucker Thompson into the bay. All hands are on deck setting the sails. The square-rigged tops and mainsails are hoisted and the vessel catches the wind, bucking and stretching into its course like a wild steed.

The 11 passengers grin with excitement and anticipation. We are on an amazing five-day journey into the history of Northland, a voyage which the youth sail training schooner R Tucker Thompson does several times a year as a fund-raising exercise.

By the time our vessel returns to harbour, those of us who wish to will have played our part as crew on a sailing ship. We'll have hauled sheets and raised sails, taken the wheel, wound kilometres of rope. The braver will have climbed the rigging, clung to high crossbars, crawled out on to the bowsprit.

We will also have learned about the shaping of the landscape and met ghosts of early Polynesian and European seafarers, warriors, settlers, missionaries, mythmakers and mythtellers, and their descendants.

On one particularly moving occasion, we land at Matauri Bay and climb to the headland where, in the shadow of the Rainbow Warrior monument, a kaumatua shares some mythology and history belonging to local tangata whenua.

Offshore the Cavalli Islands float in a dazzling sea and a flock of seabirds wheel just above the water where, our guide tells us, the Rainbow Warrior lies, causing us to reflect on the beauty of this land and on the price of peace.

The moment is cut short by a sharp rain shower and we dash downhill to the Zodiac and back to the ship for lunch.

As ever, mealtime is approached enthusiastically, because cook Marsha Baker has proved adept at whipping up healthy breakfasts, tasty lunches and filling dinners, not to mention banana cakes and scones to fill any extra gaps, as well as hoisting and trimming sails when needed. But still Matauri Bay lingers in our memories.

Another memorable anchorage is the achingly beautiful western arm of Whangaroa Harbour, which provides amazing protection from the weather.

Back in the early 1800s, seeing trading opportunities literally passing them by - so hidden is the narrow entrance to this harbour - and keen to get their hands on white men's guns and other goods, local Maori would take their waka out into the path of passing sailing ships and entice them in to trade.

Lured by this marketing exercise, in 1809 the sailing ship Boyd, having emptied its cargo of convicts in New South Wales, came to Whangaroa to load kauri spars.

On board was Te Ara, a young rangatira returning home from Sydney, seething with rage over the lack of respect shown him during the voyage.

In revenge, a few days after his homecoming, Te Ara's people sacked and burned the Boyd and massacred the crew. Only a cabin boy, a female passenger and two small children were spared.

Whangaroa township is picture-postcard pretty. The afternoon is spent strolling the foreshore, visiting quaint St Michael's Anglican Church, built in 1883, and the Boyd Gallery, a museum-cum-gift shop tucked into the general store.

On the walls, in paintings, drawings, textiles and carvings, the Boyd burns.

Back on board, skipper Sam Meldrum tells us of a weather warning.

We pull out of the harbour into a roughening sea and Sam decides to run for the Bay. It might be a little uncomfortable, he tells us, but as safe as houses.

The challenge of battling a storm at sea is particularly relished by Rose and David Drown, despite being the oldest among us and the fact that David, a retired pharmacist in his 80s, has Parkinson's disease. Most of the night they spend on deck, meeting the ocean's fury face-to-face, enjoying the adventure

The scene this minor drama plays out in is breathtaking. We have watched a gorgeous sunset. Now, in the moonlight, the surf crashing against cliffs is silver, and mercurial.

The waves are as beautiful and capricious as dolphins. A surreal, entrancing lunar aura spotlights the one sail steadying the ship as she motors into the dark.

We glide into the quiet haven of Waipiro Bay in the wee small hours after yet another amazing experience afloat.

To find out about voyages, see the R Tucker Thompson Sail Training Trust website at www.tucker.co.nz