Te Matau a Maui's mission hit by Cyclone Gita

Crew of three waka preparing to leave Napier inner harbour yesterday on the rearranged voyage to Wellington. Photo / Paul Taylor

Hawke's Bay-based waka Te Matau a Maui has had to bail out of the opening of the New Zealand Festival's Waka Odyssey in Wellington to avoid the major storm which hit the Cook Strait this week.

Te Matau a Maui was one of seven of the ocean-going, twin-hulled, rigged waka horua which had been heading for the capital when their entry to Wellington Harbour was blocked by the storm and the huge seas.

Sailing from the West Quay moorings in the Napier inner harbour on February 15, captains and crew of Te Matau a Maui, Apia-based waka Gaualofa and Auckland-based Haunui were aware of the likely need to ride out the storm off the south Wairarapa coast near Cape Palliser.

But two days later the three waka were heading back to Napier accompanied by two Tauranga waka, Hinemoana and Ngahiraka-mai-Tawhiti.

All five berthed in Napier, but three headed back to Wellington on Wednesday, Hinemoana's departure yesterday leaving only Te Matau a Maui and Hinemoana.

Te Matau a Maui crew have had to focus on other commitments, including its ocean plastics net-trawl research trip to the Chathams, having gathered considerable items from the sea on the aborted Wellington mission while others gathered items from the shore.

The opening of A Waka Odyssey is being planned for early tonight with a fleet of seven waka horua, eight waka taua (war canoes) and the smaller waka ama having been scheduled to sail up the harbour.

Towage was being organised to be used if necessary for the waka to arrive in time, the waka spending a week in the capital, providing free day sails and with crew also running educational programmes on shore, covering the specialties of each vessel and crew.