Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Every day an adventure for long-distance sailor

By Marcus Logan
Bay of Plenty Times·
18 Jul, 2014 01:00 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Rob Gibson arrives after a four-month journey from the Caribbean. Photo/Supplied

Rob Gibson arrives after a four-month journey from the Caribbean. Photo/Supplied

Tauranga's Rob Gibson has just completed the journey of a lifetime, sailing more than 16,000km from the Caribbean to New Zealand on a 13-metre yacht.

Earlier this year, Mr Gibson, his former boatmaster student, John de Boer, and his son, Stephen de Boer, embarked on the trip to return the Nautonnier yacht they had bought back to New Zealand.

The voyage took the Tauranga man from the British Virgin Islands to Puerto Rico, Cuba, Jamaica, Panama, the Galapagos Islands, the Marquesas Islands and Tahiti before returning to Marsden Cove in Whangarei. The four-month expedition included some of the longest sailing passages possible between two points in the world. Between the Galapagos Islands and the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia, the crew spent 28 days at sea with no sight of land, clocking more than 6500km of travel in one sitting.

However, Mr Gibson said the biggest challenge arose when the three-man team was cut to two for the final leg of the trip.

Work commitments meant Stephen de Boer had to fly home, leaving the two experienced boaties to tackle a 23-day passage from Tahiti to New Zealand. "I was pretty concerned about it. It's a long way for two people to sail, but we managed to make it okay," said Mr Gibson. "We took turns at steering and keeping watch, four hours on, four hours off."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

It was not all hard work though. During their travels, the crew had many stopovers and chances to experience different cultures and sights.

"The places we went to weren't your tourist hotspots. We saw the countries as they actually were. I really enjoyed San Juan in Puerto Rico, the Spanish forts were amazing and the history of the place is just incredible," Mr Gibson said.

"The Galapagos Islands were extremely interesting for the wildlife, especially the tortoises, iguanas and seals. At one stage we actually had to shoo seals off our boat so we could get back into the cockpit."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mr Gibson said he was lucky to have had the opportunity to go places he wouldn't have seen otherwise. "If I were to go on an overseas trip I doubt whether I would choose to go to Cuba, Puerto Rico, Panama and I certainly wouldn't have gone to the Galapagos. Every day was an adventure."

Discover more

Sailing: Barnett, Merton win series race

31 Jul 10:56 PM
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

'Needs to be killed': Gang president allegedly ordered fatal attack on fellow member

03 Jul 08:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Oh hell, yeah': Pensioner moves from leaky caravan to new elder village

03 Jul 07:32 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Heavy rain warnings: BoP acts like 'scoop' for wild weather

02 Jul 09:19 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

'Needs to be killed': Gang president allegedly ordered fatal attack on fellow member

'Needs to be killed': Gang president allegedly ordered fatal attack on fellow member

03 Jul 08:00 AM

After nearly three weeks of evidence, counsel have begun delivering closing statements.

'Oh hell, yeah': Pensioner moves from leaky caravan to new elder village

'Oh hell, yeah': Pensioner moves from leaky caravan to new elder village

03 Jul 07:32 AM
Heavy rain warnings: BoP acts like 'scoop' for wild weather

Heavy rain warnings: BoP acts like 'scoop' for wild weather

02 Jul 09:19 PM
'Scary stuff': Locals on crash corner fear it will take a death to get it fixed

'Scary stuff': Locals on crash corner fear it will take a death to get it fixed

02 Jul 09:11 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP