Classroom on the water

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Tolaga Bay school students took the opportunity to gain NCEA credits through a more hands-on approach — sailing the Tairawhiti Waka Hourua and interviewing locals about Tuia 250. Reporter Maika Akroyd sailed with them to learn more.

The saying “teamwork makes the dream work” is certainly true for the eco-warrior group of 10 Tolaga Bay students who have immersed themselves in Tuia 250 interviews, histories, water safety education and even sailing the Tairawhiti Waka Hourua.

The Year 11 to 13 students have set out over the past nine weeks, as part of their NCEA curriculum, to study “an event” and decided to look into Tuia 250 — the recent commemorations of 250 years after the first encounter between Maori and Europeans, histories that Aotearoa recognised and events that Tairawhiti hosted.

The students call themselves The Eco Warriors because of how they look after the environment in Tolaga Bay, including scrub cutting, planting native trees, looking after waterways, eradicating pests and more.

“Around this time, a lot of people would think to cover the Rugby World Cup for their event,” said kaiako (teacher) Gerry Smith.

“But not these kids — they’ve chosen Tuia 250, after having known little about it. It’s in their own backyard, so it’s really great for them to learn about it and be a part of it.”

Over the nine weeks the students had learned multiple views surrounding the 1769 arrival of Lieutenant James Cook and the crew of the Endeavour.

Ms Smith said some of the students started out not knowing what Tuia 250 stood for but as they looked into it and met people with different views, they learned quickly what it was all about.

“The students interviewed one lady who said, with some emotion, that her tipuna were among the first people ‘slaughtered by Cook’. I thanked her for telling them that — because now they understand part of their history,” Ms Smith said.

Kaiako had a surprise up their sleevesAs well as learning about their history, the Tolaga Bay students loved the opportunity to learn to sail on the Tairawhiti Waka Hourua.

On Monday, the students boarded the waka for the last time as part of their studies and were in for a treat as the kaiako (teachers) had a surprise up their sleeves.

The educators aboard were Chris McMaster, Vicky Blank, Ngahuia Mita, Jorge Sanchez Lopez and kaiako Gerry Smith.

With the students at different stations, the waka hourua left Gisborne’s harbour on a beautifully sunny morning to sail around Turanganui-a-Kiwa/Poverty Bay.

Their knees bent and bracing themselves, students Ruaumoko Pewhairangi Te Hau and Billy-Ray Rangiwai started on the hoe that is about eight metres long.

Using the hoe was “pretty flipping hard work,” Ms Blank said.

“Usually, a couple of people are on it, pushing it to keep the waka on course. When you have wind on the sails as well it’s so much power to control, so when we’re not using the hoe and just using the sails, it’s a lot more relaxing.”

Once in open waters, away from the bustle of Gisborne’s port and its booming forestry business, it was all hands on deck.

The motor was cut and the students were pulling ropes, yelling instructions out in unison, tying knots they had learned throughout the nine weeks and adding extra layers due to the wind having picked up.

Student Tanaya Tiopira said she had enjoyed the opportunity to learn how to sail. She was the only girl willing to explore the “outside classroom” of the waka hourua.

Ms Smith said the classroom on the water was a chance for the students to learn hands-on and “a chance for them to learn for themselves”.

The waka had the traditional two sails up, main and mizzen sails, though it does have a third that can by hoisted if the wind is tame.

The sails also double as art canvases for local designers. They display the mangopare (hammerhead shark) to represent prolific East Coast kowhaiwhai designs, and stars to symbolise Te Ika Nui o te Rangi (The Milky Way) and star navigation.

The kaiako met together and hatched a plan to see how the students would get on without their help.

Enthusiastic about the challenge, Mr Sanchez Lopez said “we are thinking we want them to give it a go — it was just so much fun last time”.

Miss Mita gathered the students together and set the challenge before them.

“What we’re going to do now is tie our hoe down (so it was no longer in the water steering the waka), and see how we can direct our waka through the movement of our sails.”

Student Liam Ngerengere said the kaiako had left the students to sail by themselves before, and he was confident they could do it again.

“It’s a good opportunity to see who has been paying attention and it will show who has been listening.”

The students had the job of tacking, something Mr McMaster described as “sailing into and then through the wind”.

“It was used by Maori ancestors and even the Vikings to get the waka or ship moving, which changed the game when it came to discovering land.

“Tacking is difficult but can be done by these students. We use it when the wind direction isn’t in our favour,” he said.

With students Ethan Hayes and Ptolemey Niania working the mast, Michael Tiopira and his sister Tanaya on the ropes that controlled the hull and Ojasis (O.J.) Ngerengere and Ethan Mitchell on the ropes that worked the centreboards up and down, the kaiako hid away in the whare on top of the waka and watched as the students worked together.

“Standing by for tacking,” they all yelled, “. . . tacking.”

Mr McMaster said he had to bite his tongue and was happy to see the students achieve what he was thinking just after he thought it.

“I’d think in my head ‘pull those ropes’, or ‘quick do that’ and then they’d do it. I tell you, they’ve learned really fast these guys.

“There’s a lot of physics and power behind this,” he said.

“It’s good for them to learn how the sails work without the hoe.”

Mr Sanchez Lopez, who is originally from Spain, said he had been sailing all his life and on the Tairawhiti waka for about three months. He constantly questioned the students and challenged them to problem-solve — eg “If we do this, what’s the waka going to do?” and “I’ll give you this wero (challenge) . . . you reckon it’s gonna work?”

Miss Mita was one of the crew members who sailed the waka down from Auckland two years ago. She complimented the vessel on its ability to pick up wind, and said it was different from the other tall ships that came into Gisborne over Tuia 250.

“This waka is really receptive to the wind. It can be going six knots with only eight knots of wind present — some tall ships need about 18 knots of wind to be going as fast as we do.”

When she and the students sailed to and from Tolaga Bay on the Tairawhiti, the waka reached 10-11 knots. They were also treated to seeing three pods of dolphins.

Throughout the nine weeks, the students learned Maori chants, karakia and waiata, how to sail, how to interview, and all the emergency procedures on the waka — what to do in a “man overboard” situation and how to act in the event of a fire on board.

O.J. said he had sore hands from the sheet-lines that were responsible for moving the centre boards up and down to help with steering the waka, but ultimately he was happy to be part of the group that got to sail and learn about the waka.

Ms Blank said that it had been an “honour and a privilege” to teach and to sail with the students.