The sleek lines of Moon River sliced through the tranquil waters of Whangaroa Harbour in Northland, New Zealand. Our ketch glided effortlessly, her sails catching the last of the sea breeze as we steered her towards Rere Bay, a favorite anchorage, the culmination of our annual pilgrimage north. The picture-perfect scene that seemed plucked from a sailor’s dream was aptly described by Captain R A Cruise in 1820: “The interior is lined with lofty hills, richly wooded; and close to the western shore is a series of huge rocks, rising in the most fantastic shapes to an immense height, from the tops of which tumble many cascades that lose themselves among the innumerable trees and shrubs with which the bases of those stupendous piles are profusely covered.” Neither time nor man has left a mark on the northwestern arm of the harbor. This harbor holds so many memories, diving for scallops with dad, wakeboarding with university friends, New Year’s celebrations on Whangaroa Houseboats, getting lost on waterfall walks, and more recently this bay sheltered us during a 60-knot ex-tropical cyclone. As the boys sail their Opti around the bay, one can lose all track of time and truly live in the moment, this was, and still is the dream.
THE KETCH
Not out of place in this “singular and beautifully romantic place”, Moon River, our Herreshoff Mobjack ketch, is not just any sailboat. Designed by the legendary L. (Lewis) Francis Herreshoff in 1935, with modifications to the design drawn up by famous New Zealand yacht designer, the late Laurie Davidson, and meticulously constructed by Kerry Alexander in Browns Bay, Auckland, this vessel is a testament to timeless elegance and superior craftsmanship. Launched in 1979 soon after the introduction of former Prime Minister Robert Muldoon’s 20 percent boat tax, she is heavily built with a laminated keelson, laminated ribs—one fore and aft—edge-glued planking, plus triple diagonal skins of strong NZ kauri glued, fastened and all glassed over.
New Zealand has long had a love affair with Herreshoff designs, most commonly the H28, which has similar classic lines. These boats are dependable and seaworthy. Albeit a little sluggish compared to the modern equivalent.
Moon River was conceived as a labor of love and named A Place in the Sun, she was built to explore the islands of Fiji during the 80s, with adventurous charter guests, and Api the trusted Fijian guide who we met all these years later in 2019, his delightful traditional bungalow adorned with A Place in the Sun photos and memorabilia.
We are privileged to be the third custodians of Moon River, my husband Richie and I both grew up with the Hauraki Gulf on our doorstep, and our fondest memories are times spent in the great outdoors of New Zealand with our large, close knit families. We have four boys Jackson (12), Tasman (11), Mckinley (9) and Hawken (7) and we hoped that growing up as crew on a family boat would foster a close friendship, independence and sense of adventure, and just as importantly a love of the ocean, nature and the great outdoors.
THE DREAM
What better way to see New Zealand than from the sea? It’s a speck in the South Pacific Ocean where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean and sub-tropical waters conveying ex-tropical cyclones in the winterless north meet subantarctic roaring forties to the south. New Zealand is renowned for its dramatic, diverse coastline, stretching over 15,000 km featuring pristine sandy beaches, rugged cliffs, secluded coves, wide expansive bays, stunning fjords and sheltered harbors.
We didn’t begin our sailing journey with lofty dreams of offshore sailing, it started with a shared goal to spend as much time adventuring, exploring and creating memories with our boys as possible. I had a real love of sailing that stemmed from family sailing trips in the Hauraki, racing my beautiful wooden starling #1061 out of Torbay Yacht Club, along with stories of my dad and his brothers racing mullet boats and a beautiful K-class, Kitenui, and mum and dad spending New Year’s rafted up, 15 yachts deep at the iconic Kingfish Lodge, Whangaroa.
A primary school education in The City of Sails in the 1980’s, meant history lessons on the arrival of the great wakas, Peter Blakes’ red socks campaigns and the ecology of the Hauraki Gulf, this, along with dad’s bedtime tales of riding whales, crossing oceans and taking on pirates in the far north, was my inspiration. Our children were keen spectators during the 36th edition of the America’s Cup held in Auckland 2021, supporting the current generation of NZ sailing legends, and are also avid readers inspired by the sailing-themed adventures in Jon Tucker’s “Those Kids” series, so getting them out on the water was a breeze.
A growing list of yachts was making its way onto Richie’s TradeMe watchlist, and as so often happens in our partnership, once Richie was onboard with an idea, the dream would gather momentum. Progress was made and before I knew it we were actually looking at yachts from Opua to Tauranga.
Before long, we were “yachties” and gearing up for our first summer expedition from Pier 21 in Auckland up the stunning east coast of the North Island with stops at Mahurangi, Kawau, Smugglers Cove, Tutukaka, Poor Knights, Whangamumu, the Bay of Islands and the Cavalli Islands ending at Whangaroa Harbour, a safe haven and our spiritual home, with the family cabin around the corner at probably the “best beach in NZ”, a summer of surf, diving, sailing, adventure and exploration lay ahead.
THE BOAT
Choosing Moon River was a decision driven by heritage, heart and head. Moon River was the first yacht we viewed, located at Gulf Harbour Marina, she was well loved and not just offshore capable, but built to cross oceans. Every other yacht we viewed was compared to Moon River and came up wanting. The Herreshoff Mobjack ketch is featured in Sensible Cruising Designs by L. Francis Herreshoff, and is known for being dry and comfortable in a seaway, and with its elegant lines and robust build, Moon River was more than just a boat; it was a little piece of NZ maritime history.
During my teenage years my family owned Regal, another NZ-built kauri Mobjack, and Richie had spent many summers aboard his grandparents’ H28 Ocelot before they embarked on the figure eight of New Zealand in their late 60s, the memories of these adventures combined with the familiarity of the yacht made it seem less daunting, as first-time yacht owners. The romance of owning a beautiful wooden classic was irresistible, and Moon River, with her impeccable craftsmanship and storied past, was the perfect vessel to continue that legacy.
Besides falling in love with Moon River, she was a vessel that had recently achieved CAT1, was within our modest budget, and was the only boat we had viewed that had already been offshore. While as a couple with a young family we did not yet intend to sail offshore, I had just read Daughters of the Wind by David Lewis, so had some plans of my own formulating. However, at this point I was happy to have convinced Richie to start looking at boats, it was a bit of a shock when we put an offer in on Moon River and it was accepted.
We were pretty green when purchasing Moon River, we arranged a pre-purchase survey which found a few items of work that needed to be taken care of, we also found out we would have to replace the standing rigging in the near future, especially if we wanted to go offshore.
In all other areas, the survey was glowing, Moon River is 15 m (49.2 ft) LOA, has a maximum beam of 3.85 m (12.6 ft) and draws 1.83 m (6 ft). She was repowered with a new 110 hp Yanmar 4JH4-HTE, which has proven itself to be an absolute asset in a few high stress situations, and getting around in the equatorial doldrums over the top of Papua New Guinea and around the unpredictable winds and strong currents of Indonesia. Moon River holds 575 L (152 gal) of diesel and 1200 L (317 gal) of water, and much to our surprise also has two hidden tanks, that we have been told were for rum and port! I think all three owners of Moon River have enjoyed a few parties on board, and despite not having the large cockpits and saloons found in the more popular cruising catamarans, we have had over 45 people on board, and many memorable evenings entertaining!
Learning to sail Moon River was an adventure in itself. Despite our time spent on the water in our youth, owning and captaining your own yacht is a whole new ball game, especially with young children on board. Being able to sail in fact seems to be the easiest part.
CONCLUSION
As we reflect on eight years as the proud owners of Moon River, we are filled with a sense of accomplishment and appreciation, while still feeling like we have very much to learn. Throughout this journey, we’ve encountered numerous misadventures and challenges, each has taught us something new about ourselves and our floating home. As a couple we undertook the daunting task of preparing both a yacht and our children for this grand adventure.
The journey has taken us on two epic offshore voyages, from exploring the South Pacific to venturing as far as Western Indonesia, where we are still going strong. Our respect for the power and unpredictability of mother nature remains ever-present, and we take pride in our ability to learn, adapt and cope with some truly intense situations. Most rewarding of all, our children are becoming independent learners, fearless sailors and passionate conservationists. Our journey has strengthened our family and deepened our appreciation for how vast and diverse our world is and we really have only scratched the surface.
Great story and well written, too. My wife and I cruised with out three children on our 48′ ketch for just one year but it had a profound impact on all of us. Now our children are middle-aged adults and they still talk about how important that time was together. I wish you fair winds, calm seas and exciting adventures.