Videos
Sailing Vanuatu to New Caledonia (Part 1)
We share with you the first part of our sail from Port Vila, Vanuatu to Noumea, New Caledonia. There's a lot of emotions in this episode so please hang in there while we share them with you.
Preparing to leave Vanuatu
n this video we share with you some of the things we do when we prepare to go offshore. There's always a lot to do and not having access to a car often makes the simplest tasks a bit more challenging (for example, buying groceries).
FOUR THINGS to do in Efate, Vanuatu
we’ve taken this opportunity to see Efate by land and drive the 125 km around Efate. Today we will be visiting the Pepeyo Cultural village, the Blue Lagoon, the Siviri Caves, and a local coffee factory that produces coffee from beans sourced from Tanna.
LOOKING INTO THE CRATER OF AN ACTIVE VOLCANO
Mt Yasur is 365 m above sea level and has an approximately 400 m wide crater. It is the most accessible active volcano in the world and is said to have been active for at least 800 years since before Captain Cook observed its ash eruptions in 1774.
Our FIRST DOUBLE-HANDED OCEAN PASSAGE: SAILING FIJ
It’s now time for us to say goodbye to Fiji and continue sailing west to our next destination, the beautiful country of Vanuatu. This will be our biggest challenge yet because this will be our first ocean crossing with only the two of us aboard.
Time to meet us: Who are we?
We’re Adam and Vicki. After spending 3 years sailing within New Zealand & preparing for offshore sailing, we sailed our 40 ft sailboat Te Tāiko from New Zealand to Fiji & enjoyed the beauty and tranquility Fiji has to offer. We've now said goodbye to Fiji
Sailing to Navadra & Vanua Levu Islands Fiji: SO M
Today, we’d be sailing here to Navadra and Vanua Levu Islands, approximately 9 nautical miles south of the Yasawa Islands.
Fixing our ANCHOR PROBLEMS and a DAY TRIP to NADI,
We’re back at Musket Cove where we’ve been passing our time while waiting for a weather window to sail from Fiji to Vanuatu. Although we’ve been enjoying our time here, we need to head into Vuda Marina to sort out an issue we’re having with our anchor.
Sailing the Yasawa Islands, Fiji (Part 2)
We’re currently sailing along the Yasawa Islands, an island chain that stretches 80 km across Viti Levu’s northwest coast. Our journey started in Yolobi Bay off Waya Island and we have since made our way up the chain of islands stopping in Somosomo.
Sailing the YASAWA ISLANDS in WESTERN FIJI
The Yasawa Islands consists of approximately 20 volcanic islands which stretch 80 km across Viti Levu’s northwest coast and are best known for where the film Blue Lagoon was filmed.
Sailing from Musket Cove to Vuda Marina, Fiji
Musket Cove is a sailor's dream when you have laundry, grocery, showering, and socialising facilities in an anchorage so it's not hard to see why Musket Cove is a favourite for many sailors.
Sailing from Makogai Island to Musket Cove, Fiji
We sail up the Broad Passage and enter the Vitu Levu’s northern reef at Nananū Passage. The sail from Makogai to Nananū-i-rai was 53 nautical miles.
Sailing to TWO REMOTE ISLANDS IN EASTERN FIJI
We will be sailing from Vanua Levu to Vitu Levu, and along the way, we will be stopping at Koro and Makogai Islands before making our way up the Broad Passage and eventually entering Vitu Levu’s northern reef.
Sailing from SAVUSAVU to the RAINBOW REEF, FIJI
After sailing 1200 nautical miles from New Zealand, we finally arrived in Savusavu, Fiji and since clearing customs, we have been waiting almost a week in Nawi Island Marina for our cruising permit. With cruising permit in hand, it's time to go!
Sailing from NEW ZEALAND to FIJI: 1200 NAUTICAL MI
We are currently sailing 1200 NM from Opua, New Zealand to Savusavu, Fiji and this is my and Tāiko’s first offshore passage
Sailing from NEW ZEALAND to FIJI: 1200 NAUTICAL MI
Anyone who is about to or who has done an offshore passage before I’m sure can appreciate how Adam is feeling. There’s a saying in the sailing community that says ‘the hardest part is letting go the dock lines’.
Sailing from Auckland to Bay of Islands, New Zeala
We finally finish our lap of the Hauraki Gulf and head back to the Bay of Islands completing Tāiko's shakedown cruise.
We FAILED with our PROPSPEED APPLICATION
After waiting all week for the right conditions to apply the Propspeed, things were not in our favour. We think it's fair to say that our Propspeed application was a massive failure.
Our CAT 1 and upgrades journey
Join us in this video as we share with you our journey with CAT 1 and other upgrades we have chosen to do.
Sailing from Coromandel to Rotoroa Island Hauraki
In this episode we sail from Oamaru Bay off the Coromandel Peninsula to Rotoroa Island, south of Waiheke Island.
How many boat jobs can be done in a day?
Will Adam ever get a break from doing boat jobs? How many can he do in a day?
SAILING from Great Barrier Island to Coromandel
our time at Aotea is sadly coming to an end. Today we wake up here and for our last day on Aotea, we decide to trade our keel for wheels, driving from Port Fitzroy to Tryphena. If you haven’t yet, click the subscribe button and the notification bell and j
How we provision with pickles!
Since moving aboard our sailboat, we have learned many new skills one of which is learning to pickle and preserve food. This has been good for us because it allows us to keep food for longer particularly when fridge space is limited.
VISITING A PREDATOR FREE SANCTUARY: Great Barrier
We've been exploring the various anchorages that Port Fitzroy, Great Barrier Island has to offer. In this episode, we anchor in Port Fitzroy and dinghy cruise to Glenfern Sanctuary, a predator free sanctuary on Great Barrier Island, New Zealand.
The EMERGENCY STEERING SYSTEMS on our boat
In this video, we share with you the emergency steering systems we have on our boat if we loose our wheel steering or our rudder!
We can only see this place at HIGH TIDE
Explore Great Barrier Island's Kiwiriki Bay's deltas with us. We can't think of a word that adequately describes just how beautiful this place is. Enjoy!
Installing cleats on a boat
Our sailboat has never had midship cleats, watch Adam drill holes in our boat...
THE BEST anchorage for sailors
A perfect place for sailors who are anchored in remote locations but have everything that they need!
Would you trust these lifelines?
A much needed upgrade to our lifelines.
Passing Cape Brett to starboard
Now that we’ve completed our first coastal sailing passage together, it is time for us to start the next step of our journey and pass Cape Brett to Starboard. We sail down to Great Barrier Island beginning Tāiko’s shakedown cruise.
Sailing 30 nautical miles down the coast
It's time to sail south again!
Getting supplies in a REMOTE location
We have sailed up the coast, 30 nautical mile, to Whangaroa Harbour, in Northland New Zealand where we spend some time relaxing.
My FIRST COASTAL passage on our sailboat
We've been living aboard our sailboat for almost two years now and Vicki has never done a coastal passage in her. Why?
SKIPPER'S BOOT CAMP:Practicing our Man Overboard 2
We continue with our practicing of our man overboard drill. In the last video, we practiced retrieving the dan buoy under sail and engine, together and single-handed as well as our hoving to.
SKIPPER'S BOOT CAMP: Practicing our Man Overboard
Welcome to another Skipper's Boot Camp video.
It's about to get VERY WINDY
The time has come again for us to leave the marina and spend a few weeks living on anchor. True New Zealand style though, there always seems to be another low pressure system coming.
Driving from Napier to Whakatāne on the North Isla
Having to travel around the East Coast for work, we take the opportunity to show you just how beautiful the East Coast is driving from Napier to Whakatāne. It’s been 6 months since Cyclone Gabrielle caused widespread devastation to this area.
Time to meet Sailing Te Tāiko: Who are we?
We've been documenting our journey since 2021 and we thought now would be a good time to introduce who we are in a short video. If you are wanting to follow us in our journey, please consider subscribing to your YouTube channel. It's absolutely free!
UNEXPECTED BOAT HAULOUT: Fixing two MAJOR problems
Skipper makes a sudden decision for us to haul out to fix two major problems we've had on Tāiko.
WHERE HAVE WE BEEN? | Channel update
It's been a while since our last YouTube video so we thought we should give you a quick update to explain why. If you're still subscribed to our channel, thanks for sticking with us. Stay tuned because we have a lot of awesome content coming your way!
Sailing STORM TRYSAIL | Skipper's BOOT CAMP
Since becoming full time liveaboards on our sail boat, Adam has always planned for us to be practising something so that should the time come for us to need to do something, then we know how to do it rather than feeling anxious and unsure of what to do.
Sun, Sails, and Socialising (the 3 essential S')
One of the best things about sailing is you can be as sociable as you like. Whether you choose to stay in a secluded anchorage to yourself or hang out with friends and other sailors, sailboats give you the freedom to choose.
Walking from Okiato to Russell one step at a time
From walking through native forest to wetlands and through mangroves, this walk has something for everyone. It took us 6 hours to walk the 8 km track but we rewarded ourselves for our efforts by visiting Hōne's Garden, of course!
Preparing our boat (and us) for a cyclone
Preparing our sailing boat and us for Cyclone Gabrielle coming to New Zealand.
Upwind sailing in Bay of Islands, New Zealand
Well, I think the title says it all. If we were to wait for favourable downwind sailing conditions, we would never sail anywhere in New Zealand!
Sailing & anchoring in a VERY DEEP cove in NZ!
Deep Water Cove – we guess the clue is in the name! No kidding, it is deep and what does Adam do…well goes snorkelling of course!
How we fill our sailboat's EMPTY water tanks!
We ran out of water on our sailboat but fortunately for us we have a custom made rain catcher and New Zealand has plenty of rain!
Visiting Moturua Island,Bay of Islands New Zealand
Come along with us as we sail to and explore Moturua Island.Could this be the most idyllic island in the Bay of Islands New Zealand?
From strong winds to no winds: A slow sail
Although Tāiko sails really well upwind, it seems everywhere we sail to in New Zealand is upwind. Beating into the swell with salt water spraying over Tāiko's bow and side decks can be fun (and challenging at times).
Our first experience of a storm on a mooring ball
Well, it wouldn't be New Zealand if we didn't have a low pressure coming through every couple weeks. With a big one on its way, it's time to tie up to the mooring ball.
Back to living ON THE HOOK!
Well, the time has come for us to leave the marina and start enjoying some of the New Zealand spring. We couldn't wait to be back out exploring the Bay of Islands.
What we've learned 12 months living on our boat!
12 months on, life is very different & a lot of the initial anxieties & concerns we had are now replaced with other challenges. Join us as we share with you some of our highlights, challenges, and learnings we've had over the last year.
ONE of the BEST THINGS to see in Rarotonga
We were so unbelievably lucky to meet Stan, founder and owner of the Te Ara museum in Rarotonga who kindly gave his time to speak with us and tell us the story of Te Ara. We were so captivated by Stan and his story and we know you will be too.
Rarotonga: The jewel of the South Pacific
After a few days of enjoying Aitutatki and its beautiful lagoon, we head back to Rarotonga to enjoy a few days there. Rarotonga, a jewel of the South Pacific is one of the islands in the Cook Islands and is just 32 km round.
The TOP thing to do in Aitutaki!
We sail with Captain Ted from Sailing Aitutaki around the world's most beautiful lagoon using nothing but wind and sails.
A trip to Aitutaki: An island paradise
The Cook Islands hold a very special place for the both of us. Many of our most memorable moments have been in the Cook Islands.
A review of our major electrical upgrades
In this video, we share with you a number of electrical upgrades that we have undertaken on Te Tāiko since we bought her.
It's time to get out of here!
We've been really busy getting Tāiko ready for a few weeks to be on anchor...BUT stay tuned...there's lots of stuff coming. Thanks for watching. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for real time updates
No water maker but a rain catcher instead!
One of the many projects we are doing aboard Tāiko before we leave the marina is testing our custom made rain catcher. We had this made back in March 2022 when all the boat jobs were being undertaken.
SOLO SAILING 25 NAUTICAL MILES in Bay of Islands
We've always sailed Te Tāiko double-handed, and until recently, we've been hand steering almost everywhere we've sailed to while waiting to have our autopilot installed. In this video, Adam sails Tāiko single-handed.
Sailing Tahiti to New Zealand: FIRST OCEAN PASSAGE
This video covers the yacht delivery that I crewed on from Tahiti to New Zealand in May 2022. I reflect on six main learnings I took away from the trip. I hope enjoy the video!
Brook Waimārama Sanctuary & Ohau Point Seal Colony
We do a road trip on the South Island of New Zealand and see a beautiful forest sanctuary, beaches and LOTS of seals!
Tiritiri Matangi: The anchorage that HAS IT ALL!
Join us in this episode as we sail to Tiritiri Matangi in the Hauraki Gulf in New Zealand. Tiritiri Matangi is an island sanctuary that provides refuge for many of our native species, some of which can no longer be found on the mainland.
Out with the old and in with the new! Repowering
Join us in this episode as we take on our biggest boat jobs yet from installing a new Beta 45T engine to replacing seacocks.
STORM ANCHORING at Rotoroa Island
In this video we spend a few days anchored off Rotoroa Island in the Hauraki Gulf waiting for severe gales to pass. Some weather was predicted and some not...
Sailing to an island sanctuary in New Zealand
we spend a few days anchored off Rotoroa Island in the Hauraki Gulf. Rotoroa Island used to be an alcohol rehabilitation center owned and operated by the Salvation Army but now is an island sanctuary.
Sailing Auckland to the Bay of Islands New Zealand
After spending the summer sailing the Haruaki Gulf, it's time to sail on. We sail Te Tākio 125 nautical miles north from central Auckland to Opua in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand.
A quick update whilst anchored in STRONG winds!
We're anchored off Home Bay, an anchorage off Rotoroa Island and Adam shares with you what we've been doing and what our plans are. Hopefully you can hear him in the strong winds.
Sailing to Squadron's Bay in the Coromandel
We sail to and anchor in Squadron's Bay, an anchorage in the beautiful Te Kouma Harbour in the Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand.
STRONG WINDS & Lazy summer days in New Zealand
It's been an unusual summer with lots of strong easterly winds. We set sail for Ponui Island in the Hauraki Gulf and anchor in Chamberlain's Bay. A great spot while we wait for strong winds to pass.
Why we moved onto our boat (OUR STORY)
Everyone has a moment in life where you take a pause and reflect on your life and whether you are doing what is right for you. For us, we had one of these moments where asked are we happy?
A snapshot of our sailing adventures so far!
When we visited Rotoroa Island, we saw the 'Flying is overrated' sign with the weka bird and we couldn't agree more.
Dolphins join us sailing!
When the ocean delivers, it really delivers. When dolphins choose to ride alongside sailboats, it's the most amazing experience. One we never get tired of seeing.
We’ve become full time liveaboards!
We're looking forward to what this lifestyle brings and we hope you join us for the journey and adventure.
A SNEAKY glimpse of our new Beta Marine 45T engine
For those who love engines here is a short video showing you our new engine running! It's a Beta45 Turbo. We were fortunate enough that the suppliers were giving it a trial run and kindly grabbed this video for us!
Preparing for mast climbing and adventure sports!
In this episode join us as we try our new ATN mast climber and Adam reminisces over previous adventure sport activities!
We visit A REAL TREASURE ISLAND in New Zealand!
Join us as we visit one of New Zealand's most popular tourist attractions, go for a winter sail, and visit Tiritiri Matangi.
Hobie 16 and keel boat sailing in New Zealand
As we go through a second level 4 lockdown in Aotearoa New Zealand, we take the time to reflect on our earlier sailing days when we owned Ogorogo (a Hobie 16) and Eva May (a Nova 28).
How to and how not to sew fitted sheets for squabs
Watch to see how not to sew fitted sheets for sailboat squabs. As we prepare to become fulltime liveaboard sailors, we're starting to learn some self-sufficiency.
New AGM batter install on our sailboat
Adam replaces our flooded lead acid batteries with AGM batteries. We have an update on our teak deck refurbishing as well as putting in new clutches. Also, find out why we are not yet living on Te Tāiko full time.
Our MAIDEN sail: Sailing in New Zealand
Join us on our maiden sail on Te Tāiko, our Chico40 sailing vessel as we sail to various anchorages in the Hauraki Gulf.
UPGRADES on our sailboat!
We complete some more boat work to get Te Tāiko ready for her first sail with us! THE NMEA 2000 network is in connecting all of our instruments! The Rocna 20kg anchor is on and the new sail cover is fitted plus more!
Installing composting head on our sailboat: Part 2
We're not fans of the traditional head systems. We think they require a lot of maintenance, often smell if not maintained properly, & we definitely don't want to have to unblock pipes. That's why we have decided to install a composting head on our boat.
Installing composting head on our sailboat: Part 1
We're not fans of the traditional head systems. We think they require a lot of maintenance, often smell if not maintained properly, & we definitely don't want to have to unblock pipes. That's why we have decided to install a composting head on our boat.
Our NEW sailboat (FULL BOAT TOUR)
Adam introduces Te Tāiko, our new Chico 40 Ocean going sailing vessel. Tour includes a walkthrough of Te Tāiko, footage of haul out and coverage of boat upgrades.
Goodbye Eva May (Nova 28)
Watch this episode to find out why we are saying goodbye to Eva May and our future plans.