Voyage of Dolce Vita 

Phil and Jackie Wright

Left Mana August 2000    Arrived Back August 2006

70 friends waved us off from the wharf by the clubhouse. Some thought we were brave, others crazy, some didn’t expect to see us again.  After a hard year getting ready, we were off!   We took the plunge!

We spent a year in Turkey - friendly people, great seasonal produce like cherries and figs, and good anchorages.  The Cook Islands, Israel and Spain came a close second.

The most frightening experience was being followed and approached by a large wooden boat off Yemen - the piracy area.  Just bored fishermen wanting to swap a tuna for ‘Whatever’ - a carton of cigarettes!

Don’t fear crossing oceans.  After reaching the Pacific Islands from New Zealand, the hardest work is done.  From then on too little wind is a greater problem than too much.  The 27 days we took from the Galapagos to French Polynesia was a wonderful sail.

After 6 years, we crossed our outward track sailing from Tonga to Opua.

Follow the dream if you have one.  This trip is one of the biggest achievements of our lives!

Anyone wanting more information about our journey or would like cruising guides covering the East of Australia or further afield is welcome to contact us ​​​​​​​

Voyage map for Dolce Vita below.

Voyage of Tara III

John Kerr & Jane Tucker     Departed 1998   returned 2010

Tara III: 36 ft LOA Built of double diagonal kauri in Auckland and launched 1970

The stars aligned for us in 1998 to set off on a great adventure.

We began with a shakedown cruise to Tonga and Fiji, and then, satisfied we were not going to throw each other overboard at the first crisis, we headed north then ever westward. After 12 years of living, travelling and exploring on Tara, we found ourselves arriving back in New Zealand (making landfall in Nelson) thus proving that the world is indeed round!

Many people ask about the ocean crossings and the experience of being out of sight of land for up to three weeks. For us these were mostly magical times, with our only cares those of keeping watch, the sails filled – or reefed – and ourselves fed and rested. Life becomes as simple as it gets. Having said that, probably our scariest experience was being in serious danger of being run down by a merchant vessel in the mid Atlantic.  And believe me, the stars at night hundreds of miles from anywhere are a sight without compare.

It’s hard to pick favourite places, though spending three years based in Turkey says a lot about our affections, and taking Tara through the French canals and reaching the giddying altitude of 1200 feet must have been some sort of record. But the best lesson was of the universal kindness of strangers.

Voyage map of Tara III below.