Dave and Donna Abbott with their teenagers Dito and Wendy when they first sailed to Whangarei in 1995.
Jodi Bryant comes across an American family at the Town Basin who have returned to Whangārei in the same vessel they first sailed here in 30 years ago. They share the changes they have noticed since their departure decades earlier.
When a teenage Dito Abbott first sailed from the United States into Whangārei Harbour with his parents, he embraced local life. Fast-forward 30 years, and the family have returned on the same boat, albeit as three generations. And the changes to the city have “knocked his socks off”.
It was 1995 when the Abbott family — Dave and Donna with their children Dito (David), 15, and Wendy, 17 — arrived aboard Exit Only as part of a world circumnavigation.
An NBA fan, Dito recalls playing on the practice squad with the then-Northland Suns.
“That’s a really generous way of describing what happened… I stood on the court and they dribbled the ball around me,” he says. “I was hoping that the Suns would still be going.”
Music was another passion and the keen drummer came across a man by the name of Jim McMullen who recruited him onto the Otamatea Repertory Theatre.
“He had a lion’s mane of red hair and he convinced me to pursue music at uni, which I did.”
The family spent about two years based in Whangārei while touring the country by vehicle. Their time was marred when the family were in a car accident in Hāwera that rolled their van and left Dave fighting for his life. After multiple surgeries, he was transferred to Whangārei, where he spent almost a year recovering.
While Dito and Wendy returned to the States to attend university — Dito studying music and media and Wendy training as a physician, their parents continued the circumnavigation until 2006.
It was during one of their periodic visits to the boat that Dito brought his now-wife Sarah to meet the parents in 2004. Sarah, 47, and Dito’s kids — Zoe, 13, and Jocelyn, 10 — are currently living at the Town Basin as part of Exit Only’s second circumnavigation. Although it wasn’t supposed to take this long to get here.
“We sold the house in Kentucky and got on the boat in 2019 and left with the goal of sailing to Whangārei. We made it to the Galápagos when New Zealand shut their borders (because of Covid),” Sarah says.
“We were concerned about where we’d go for the cyclone season so we quarantined in Galapagos for 40 days and I was the only one who got off the boat for groceries,” says Dito.
They returned to their parents’ house in Phoenix, where they lived for several months before buying their own house again — which they are now renting out — before making a second attempt. This time, they sailed across the Pacific to Whangārei.
Back in 1995, the Town Basin was only beginning its transformation.
“Oh my goodness, you know when I was a teenager, I bristled at the thought of rules and regulations, so the idea of a council was foreign to me, but you see today the benefits of how you’ve got the great Hātea Loop and how the Basin is blossoming.
We do the Loop every day. That’s one of the benefits of being in the Basin.
We get such a great perspective of Whangārei because everything is happening. You’ve got the markets and the craft fairs and we just did the 5km fun-run. In some ways, you step off the boat, and you wonder what great things are going to happen today.
“This is an incredible cruising community here and it’s only got more so over the years so, from a practical standpoint, Whangārei offers everything and anything you could need. It’s a safe place to store your boat and with a robust community where you can build friendships and you know your boat’s going to be well taken care of when you need to do repairs and maintenance.”
Dave and Donna were living in Saudi Arabia for 16 years, where Dave was working as an eye surgeon, and dreaming of sailing around the world when they purchased their newly-built 12m Privilege 39 catamaran in 1993 from France.
When leaving Saudi Arabia you receive an exit/re-entry visa if returning. When you finally leave it reads: “Exit Only” and that became the name of their new home.
Recalls Donna, 78: “We were used to living outside the US but had not done blue water sailing for over one day so everything was new and different but we loved to travel so it was a natural for us.”
A school teacher by trade, she was well-equipped to home-school her kids — “Until they got to high math and chemistry, then I was in trouble.” Technology has played a huge role in the changes they have noticed since their first worldwide endeavour.
“This trip has been a lot different because communication has been made easy with Starlink.
When we did the first circumnavigation, we didn’t have computers, the contact we had was on radio so the first thing we did when we got to an island was go to a bank and draw out some local money and find a pay phone to call our parents and say we’re alive.
Nowadays, we’re using GPS devices and Starlink and you designate five people and all you do is push a button and they know instantly where we are and that everything’s okay.”
Another benefit of this trip, says Dave, 76, is having physical help on the boat.
“When we did it last time, I had to climb the masts and deal to the engine, so this time, I just point to the mast and point to the engine and Dito does it.”
Though Exit Only has been adapted over the years, she’s been a solid craft in getting the family to their destinations safely.
Says Dave: “Back in the day they built cats really robust and this cat has stood the test of time really well. It’s been a really strong boat. We have taken very good care of her and she has taken very good care of us.”
In addition to sailing, the family’s other passion is global terrain adventures driving Land Rover Defenders (follow them on overlanduni.com) and they own several of these at various locations around the world, including Whangārei, where a 1995 model with a mileage reading of only 70km has sat in a storage shed since their last visit.
“A New Zealand friend from back in the 90s registered it as an off-road vehicle and kept the registration alive for all these years,” says Dave. “I think everyone was having a raffle and placing bets over whether we’d be back. We came back.
“We’ve pushed it out of the storage facility and washed it off and we’re having it brought back to life. It’s gonna need a really big maintenance and going over every major system with a fine-tooth comb to make it expedition-ready and they may have to give me a tranquiliser when I find out the end result.”
The family have also purchased a car to explore more of the country but, meanwhile, Jocelyn has been attending Whangārei Primary School for a couple of weeks to experience life in a Kiwi school.
“She’s been loving it. She’s been doing the kapa haka, Tutukaka Surf School and every day we’re excited to see what amazing new things she’s done,” Dito says, conceding that she may have got the wrong impression of school life by attending in the fun final weeks before holidays.
He continues, “As a cruising kid myself, there’s been so many things about the lifestyle that I wanted to pass on to my kids to broaden their horizons about foreign places and being able to test your limits, so that’s one of the best parts.
“Something I love about New Zealand is you guys do a fantastic job of exposing kids to the opportunity to take risks and also learn their limits and test themselves. I’ve also really loved how they’ve incorporated teaching Māori to kids here.
“You can see this does feel like there’s been a shift here and I don’t know if I didn’t perceive it as a 15-year-old but it feels like they’re making an effort to embrace diversity and I love that they’re helping the Māori kids and non-Māori kids to connect and to value each other’s culture. That’s exactly what I want for my daughters — is to see the world as one big place.”
The family, who arrived November 1, plan to stay here through the cyclone season until May, though Dito, who is an author (ditoabbott.com) and videographer and Sarah, a physician’s associate, have been looking for work opportunities.
“So many times you go to places and it’s not as great as you remember, but New Zealand has just knocked our socks off, it’s been such a wonderful experience and we’re grateful for the opportunity to come here, it really does stand out.”
# The Abbott’s journey and adventures can be followed at: maxingout.com
Pita Tipene is standing in the council’s Te Raki Māori constituency.