Endeavour captain visits Marlborough ahead of Tuia 250 commemorations
Wednesday, 17 July 2019
A sea dog with 50 years experience under canvas will captain a historic vessel during national Tuia 250 commemorations.
Australian man John Dikkenberg will captain the HM Bark Endeavour, a replica of Captain Cook's ship from the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney, during its three-month trip to New Zealand later this year.
The ship is part of a flotilla which will take part in national commemorations at four of Cook's landing places in New Zealand - Gisborne, Meretoto/Ship Cove, the Bay of Islands, and the Coromandel Peninsula.
Dikkenberg visited Marlborough on Monday with other seafarers to scope out areas where the flotilla would berth.
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He said the journey would be 'one of [his] career highlights'.
'I'm excited to celebrate a thousand years of maritime history. To sail the Endeavour is a great privilege,' he said.
The HM Bark Endeavour has four canons, instead of the 10 Cook had on his ship, and 16 crew members.
True to tradition, crew members aboard the tall ship could navigate by the stars, and taught those skills to passengers.
Dikkenberg and his crew had spent about 18 months preparing one of the world's most accurate replica vessels for it's three-month tour around New Zealand.
Joining the HM Bark Endeavour will be the Spirit of New Zealand from Tamaki Makaurau/Auckland and the Fa'afaite i te Ao Mā'ohi, a va'a moana from Pape'ete, Tahiti.
Two waka hourua (double-hulled canoes) - the Haunui from Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland and the Ngahiraka Mai Tawhiti from Tauranga - will also be in the flotilla.
Dikkenberg said his ship would sail at seven knots, or about 13kmh, to ensure all flotilla vessels sailed at the same speed.
HM Bark Endeavour first mate Anthony Longhurst had visited Waitohi/Picton three times during his 20-year career on the tall ship, and was looking forward to his fourth.
'It will be nothing but a career highlight,' Longhurst said.
While Dikkenberg was responsible for getting a ship from 'point A to point B', Longhurst, as first mate, was responsible for organising the crew.
Ministry of Culture and Heritage voyage kaitiaki, or guardian, Jack Thatcher's job is to organise the logistics for the flotilla's journey.
Thatcher, who is of Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāti Pukenga descent, and also has some European lineage, said Tuia 250 was an opportunity to 'celebrate our history and share it with the country alongside European history. That's what it's all about, the founding of our dual nation.'
Tōtaranui 250 Trust co-chair Raymond Smith, of Ngāti Kuia, said he would be the kaitiaki of Ngāti Kuia's waka, which would be one of several local vessels to escort the flotilla around the Marlborough Sounds.
Ngāti Kuia would also recognise the Tahitian vessel Fa'afaite i te Ao Mā'ohi when it arrived in Tōtaranui/Queen Charlotte Sound as part of the flotilla on November 21, to acknowledge 'hundreds of years of lost connection'.
'I'm very excited to be a part of it. It's a once in a lifetime chance to celebrate New Zealand's navigation history.'
Smith began building Ngāti Kuia's waka three years ago.
Applications had opened for two Marlburians to join the flotilla during its Tōtaranui/Queen Charlotte Sound leg - for free.
The 10-day-long journey would see successful applicants travel from November 12 to 22 on flotilla vessels, and taking part in a pōwhiri at Meretoto/Ship Cove on November 21.
A seat on the HM Bark Endeavour was available to women over 19-years old, while men over 19-years old could apply for a seat on Waka Ngahiraka Mai Tawhiti.
Interested candidates could apply to www.totaranui250.co.nz/apply-to-the-flotilla. Applications close on July 23.