Altezza Voyages

Sail

30 Dec 2023

The Altezza is a 50-foot Beneteau Océanis sailing yacht belonging to Skipper John Aiken and Anne Power. Altezza translates roughly to Noble Lady, and she is docked in Bayswater, Auckland. Known as the City of Sails, the city’s rich maritime heritage means there are thousands of boats here and the sailing culture is as strong as anywhere.

I’ve been aboard this boat twice now - a three day trip to Waiheke Island and a seven day circumnavigation of Great Barrier Island - both times having increasingly memorable experiences that have provided adventures on the sea with a new kind of feeling remote from being surrounded only by water as far as you can see in every direction for multiple days.

Returning from my second trip on the boat left me feeling fortunate to have spent this time away with friends, and I wanted to record these photos to look back on, and hopefully add to.

 

My first time on the Altezza was earlier this year, in February 2023, when visiting New Zealand on a holiday for the wedding of my close friends, Mai and Jess. That trip cemented my desire to move to this country, pushing away the worries and moving the decision over the line. Returning to England, I set about sorting through and getting the possessions I needed shipped out, organising visas and plane tickets, then I took the plunge and left my job.

During that holiday, I spent three days on the boat, on and around Waiheke Island. There were nine of us onboard in total, mostly friends from the ski club during our university days, the majority of us having flown over from London, but we hadn’t seen each other in a while, so we enjoyed the reunion. From Auckland, we sailed and spent our first night tucked in a bay off Rakino Island. The sail there was pretty choppy for a first-timer like myself and I found myself focusing on the horizon and concentrating on not doing anything to encourage any seasickness. Still jetlagged, thankfully we had more settled water the next few days and we relaxed in the calm waters of Waiheke Island. We fished for dinner, had a moonlight BBQ, swam and SUP’d off the boat, walked to a winery on the island, drank beers on the deck and got excited about the wedding. It was so much fun.

There were a lot of firsts for me during that first trip, and I started to understand the allure of sailing, it was a completely new world to me and I instantly gained a new appreciation for how tricky and encompassing sailing was. I had my first go at steering a ship, thankfully didn’t get too seasick, and attempted to figure out and learn some of the lingo.

Waiheke Island group photos

Returning to New Zealand later in 2023 on a longer-term basis, I had the fortunate opportunity to spend more time on Altezza with the Aiken’s, this time heading further afield, to a large island off the Coromandel coastline. I found myself back in Bayswater on a Friday night, loading up supplies for a full week on the boat heading out to Great Barrier Island. There would be seven humans and two dogs on board, one of which is a 12 week old puppy! We were all set for an interesting and fun week. We planned to circumnavigate the island and along the way stop for some fishing, diving, snorkelling and playing with the dogs. After a wet day setting up, and an overcast first day, the forecast was set to be fine. This longer week of cruising allowed me to see what life on the water is really like, find my sea legs, and experience some new water-based activities.

We left Bayswater Marina early on day one, around 06.00, as we planned to cross the Hauraki Gulf and head all the way to Great Barrier Island in one hit. I stayed in bed a little too long and the choppy waters outside the city had me feeling queasy, so I spent the rest of the morning sitting on the back of the boat, focusing on the horizon so I didn’t get any worse. Lesson learnt quickly - as soon as we’re moving, if the water is choppy, get up and out of the cabin. We pulled into a bay on Port Fitzroy inside the island, had a quick swim and then out went to fish for dinner. Five medium snapper was just about enough for us so we pulled in the lines and got to work filleting and cooking them.

Early in the morning of day two we relocated Altezza to Smokehouse Bay for breakfast, then on to Kaiarara Bay and shuttled on the dinghy to the island for a run! This ended up being a long, hot and sweaty 15km trail run with 800 metres vert! I swam back to the boat and cloud rolled in for the night, but it was New Year’s Eve so it wouldn’t dampen spirits! Tomorrow is also Mai’s birthday so we had cocktails on the deck during sunset, closing out another special day at sea.

After Mai’s birthday breakfast and swim we continued our circumnavigation and sailed over the top, pit-stopping in Nagal Cove and then on to Arid Island, a tiny island to the east of Great Barrier. We went fishing for dinner earlier than usual and were very glad of it, as we caught a mega haul of fifteen snapper, some pretty big ones, too! That was more than enough and John had his work cut out filleting them all in time for dinner and before it got dark. The atmosphere was buzzing on the deck, we were all pulling fish out of the water left right and centre!

Day four we woke to another fine day of sunshine, and particularly calm, glassy waters. John motored the boat around the island looking for a suitable dive spot, then kitted up with Sarah and Mai before heading down for around 45 minutes. After lunch and a dog toilet run to the nearest beach, we headed back out to set up a second dive so Jess could go down. Another peaceful evening and dinner on board but some wind rolled in so we had a slightly rocky night’s sleep.

Continuing south, we stopped at Medlands Beach and Kaitoke Beach on the west coast of Great Barrier, where we dropped Matt and Sarah off so they could fly home to Wellington. This was the most people we’d seen in days I was happy to get back on the boat! We dropped anchor for the night in Harataonga Bay hoping for some shelter from the forecasted turbulent night ahead.

The forecast was accurate and we woke early to move on to quieter waters, then all napped. After the slow start, Mai, Jess and John dived, and I snorkelled and saw loads of bright blue fish and a big stingray! John refilled the tanks again and had a second dive, then we got the BBQ out on the back of the boat during sunset.

For our last day, we were away from the bay at 05.30 to make a steady trip across the Hauraki Gulf and back to Auckland. There was a light breeze, so could just about get a sail up for a steady cruise for a few hours heading west across the Gulf. Making good time we pulled into Home Bay on Motutapu Island for a break and swim, then on to Auckland to finish up the trip.

Sea life initially felt pretty alien to me, but after a few days I settled in and became accustomed to to the nuances. 

Sailing brings a new type of freedom.

Not being able to see land as far as the eye can see in every direction brought a new type of vulnerability. There really isn’t anyone for quite some distance if we get into trouble. However, having three or four doctors on the boat and John having sailed these waters for 50 odd years quickly quelled that feeling.

Life on a boat is fairly nonstop, there’s always something to do. 

Great Barrier Island group photos

Since my last trip on the boat, John and Anne made the epic sail out to Fiji, and in preparation for that, the boat got some updates. It now has a rear cab and internet!

Further info

See more at: 

Useful links:

Short films:

Related reading:
- Swell: A Sailing Surfer’s Voyage of Awakening, Liz Clark
- 180 Degrees South - Conquerors of the Useless, Patagonia

Continue exploring