Tucker Thompson on the Bay of Islands

The Tucker Thompson is a replica of an 1810 square rigged, eight sailed, schooner. It was started by Tucker and finished by his son who also helped build the replica of the Bounty. It is now operated as a trust and in the summer they do day tours to make money so in the winter they can take out youth a week at a time to teach them skills and leadership. 

Our Captain

It was a good day for sailing; cloudy, lots of wind and an 'eager to be helpful' group.  Some learned how to raise sails, climb rigging, crawl out on on the bow spit, and even steer.  We were a full crowd and I was content to watch.  

This guy told me he recently had two hip replacements and wanted to test out how well they worked. When he came back from walking the rigging and sitting on the bowsprit he was so happy, an important day for him

The bay is huge, filled with almost 150 islands. It would have been a challenge for the early explorers to navigate and survey them.  

We landed on an island that has been predator proofed and turned into a nature trust.  We could walk to the other side looking for the birds, swim off the beach or just hang out while they prepared lunch on deck.  Then we sailed back to Russell and the ferry back to Paihia.  

The best part of the day was when three young Orcas swam along with us but I had my wide angle lens on so the image will have to be in our minds eye.