Ray Ferenczy loves sailing and being at sea. Photo / Janna Dixon
Ray Ferenczy, volunteer master with the Voyager Maritime Museum and Wahine survivor.
My happy place is on the water. I've been with the Maritime Museum for four years or so, working my way from deckhand, to mate, to captain.
I love being on the sea. There's the technical aspect of sailing heritage ships, and then just being out there with the wind
and the sea and nature, and tackling the various challenges that come up. There's a lot of problem-solving and decision-making to do, particularly when you get into the command side of things. When you've got six good people working as a team it's a lot of fun.
My ideal day on the water is when you get a good stiff breeze coming from the right direction for what you want to do and you can go for it. A lot of it is all action, particularly in the closer areas, where you're doing a lot of manoeuvring. But even on the long boards, as we call them - going up the coast - if the wind is blowing well in the right direction and you're just scooting along, it's exhilarating.
The sea has been a lifelong interest. My first job was with the Union Steamship Company. I started with them about 17, as a junior officer and worked my way up to chief purser. Then I became a branch manager in Fiji.
