HMNZS TAUPO at Mount Maunganui.
At an age where most young men are still carving out their careers, Damian Gibbs is in command of a Navy ship and crew of 20 personnel.
The Bay of Plenty Times spoke to the 27-year-old while on a tour of the HMNZS Taupo after it sailed into Tauranga Harbour for a training exercise yesterday morning.
Sitting in the officer's mess with a picture of Queen Elizabeth looking on, Lt Gibbs shared his story while the crew bustled in the background.
Lieutenant Gibbs, who was born in Tauranga, joined the Navy straight out of school at age 17 and has not looked back.
"I spent two years all up in training then was let loose by myself on a $500 million ship with 30 people. When you're on watch at night it's your responsibility to do the navigating and making sure you're not running into any rocks or colliding with other ships. It's a big responsibility for a 19 or 20-year-old."
From there, Lt Gibbs spent the majority of his time on the HMNZS Te Kaha learning how to sail a ship in and out of a port. He spent six months as second-in-command on board the Hawea and circumnavigated New Zealand, then was posted to the Canterbury as a navigator in time for the Christchurch earthquake where he helped in the relief effort.
Lt Gibbs now spends his days travelling around the country in the compact but surprisingly comfortable Taupo with his crew supporting government agencies with fisheries, customs and surveillance operations.
"It's been an amazing 20 months cruising around New Zealand. You learn a lot about yourself very quickly when things go wrong and you have to look to yourself and make a decision really quickly."
The ship is home to about 20 crew members and four government agency officers, but can carry up to 36 personnel. The cabins are small spaces with bunk beds set on one wall with no more than half a metre between them - the small space made more evident by the dents on the roof where people have banged their heads.
Lt Gibbs said the constant companionship of personnel while living in such tight quarters made for good friendships.
"The amount of travel you get to do is also up there, and the friendships you make. I thought I had friends at school, but you make real friends when you have to live with someone for four months in the same cabin."
The ship was also scattered with a number of communal areas where the crew could relax and spend their limited free time.
The junior ratings mess was one of the larger spaces on the ship and was filled with pictures of the personnel on their travels.
"You get to see some pretty remote places. We stopped in Fiordland once and I was able to just sit back and look around and realise not everyone gets to visit such a special place."
The HMNZS Taupo sails on Sunday.