Ten Days on the High Seas

Column April 2019

After having been on an adventurous bus tour around the South Island with 30 other exchange students back in October, I was looking for a travel offer on the North Island for the upcoming autumn holidays that was primarily aimed at locals. I was really lucky to get a spot as a sailing trainee on the Spirit of New Zealand. These 10-day cruises are very popular amongst young Kiwis.

The journey started at the wharf up in Auckland. 39 young peers waited eagerly for this adventure to come to a start. On board of the “Spirit of New Zealand”, a fifty-meter-long three-master, we were welcomed by a crew of twelve sailors. After shoving away all our luggage into drawers in the accommodation, the anchor was pulled up and off we went. Each trainee was given a berth number that determined ones sleeping spot as well as the group division for all of the sailing. Ten consecutive numbers formed a watch, i.e. a sailing team. At the beginning of the trip we had to hand in our phones and take part in a safety talk. When we finally left New Zealand’s largest city behind us, the excitement was written all over the faces of the participants, curious to see what was going to happen in the next couple of days.

Relaxing was not an option for the next ten days. Everyone had to muck in right away, because without raising the sails, we would not be getting anywhere. This procedure though required a lot of teamwork, coordination and knowhow. The names of the sails and ropes that had to be used were not only confusing to me as a foreigner. The ship was divided into four sailing stations which we changed daily so that after eight days we could operate all sails without any instructions from the crew.

Every day we had to get up at 6:30 in the morning. Five minutes later the whole crew was on deck ready for the morning warm-up. This included a jump into the ice-cold water. I got used to the drill pretty quickly, however the sea still didn’t feel any warmer on the ninth day. Besides the daily sails we also went ashore. We paddle to the coast with the rafts that we had on board, climbed up mountains and had a barbie at the crackling bonfire. So, we got to know each other better and had a lot of fun.

On Day Nine the trainees had to take over the ship and return it to the wharf safely. I was elected to be one of the navigators for this day. After some calculations on the sea charts, we entered the rout into the GPS system and made sure that our captain did not stray from course.

Unfortunately, farewell approached soon. After ten unforgettable and instructive days on the high seas, tears were shed. I have made 38 new friends and didn’t miss my phone for a single second.

SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE VOYAGE 780 - Ten Days on a Sailing Ship

A five-minute montage of impressions from the ten-day sailing trip in the Gulf of Hauraki north of New Zealand's largest metropolis, Auckland.