Ngahiraka captain Jack Thatcher, senior navigator, said being based down at the viaduct had given the crew a chance to talk to Emirates Team New Zealand members - mostly the groups shot the breeze, sailors talk, he joked.
He is hoping for a good push from westerly winds on the first leg. Crew members will understand what being alone on the ocean and navigating by the stars, ocean currents, birds and marine life will be like once the waka pass Great Barrier, Mr Thatcher said.
"The biggest challenge will be Sunday morning because we'll be out of sight of land...that's when the enormity of what they're about to do will hit home. But they need to realise that we've just done ten months of training and they'll be good.
"We're following te ara kumara [the migration of kumara] some have suggested we might keep going to South America, not this trip but there's every chance we'll do that in the future."
Stanley Conrad is captaining Te Aurere which is crewed by men only, while its sister-ship has a mix of women and men.
Te Aurere and Ngahiraka
* 17.5 metre long
* Made of kauri, weigh between 7-11 tonnes
* Expected to take six to eight weeks to reach Rapanui/Easter Island
* Travelling up to 100 nautical miles a day
* Crewed by 23 18-62 year-olds
