Blake team look to high seas as Govt joins crew

Sir Peter Blake's global environmental missions would probably continue with an Arctic voyage next year, says blakexpeditions spokesman Alan Sefton.

Sir Peter's yacht, Seamaster, was due to end its expedition to South America in February before heading to Bermuda for a refit in March and April next year.

Mr Sefton said the first priority had been to organise the funeral for Sir Peter and look after his family, the crew of Seamaster, their families and the shore crew in the jungle in Brazil and get Seamaster to a safe harbour.

He said blakexpeditions was still assessing the future of the programme, but he was encouraged by Prime Minister Helen Clark's hint that the Government might become involved in Sir Peter's environmental work.

Helen Clark told 30,000 mourners at a memorial service in Auckland Domain on Sunday that there would be no better way of honouring Sir Peter's legacy than to find ways of supporting the work he began.

"The Government has begun exploring with blakexpeditions how that may be done," she said.

"New Zealanders share Sir Peter's great love for the natural environment.

"It would be a fitting tribute for Sir Peter for a broadly based partnership to carry on the environmental work about which he was so passionate to the end."

Helen Clark said blakexpeditions would talk to its sponsors about repackaging it to carry on without Sir Peter but maintaining his vision to highlight world environmental threats.

"What we have said is to count the Government in.

"If we can keep the whole package together, if we can channel public donations then into an appeal around that, that might be a way forward."

Mr Sefton, a close friend and business partner of Sir Peter, said it was early days and blakexpeditions had had only brief discussions with the Prime Minister.

"The intention is that everyone is going to go away for a week or whatever and get our heads up and start communicating about what might be achieved."

But at this stage Seamaster would probably continue with its schedule to head to the Arctic in June to negotiate the North-West Passage around the top of Canada in September and October, Mr Sefton said.

The passage is a treacherous sea link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

The passage runs through the Arctic Islands of Canada 800km north of the Arctic Circle and only 2000km from the North Pole.

The 1400km east-west route runs from Baffin Island to the Beaufort Sea through a field of thousands of icebergs, and into the Pacific through the Bering Strait, which separates Siberia from Alaska.

The passage was discovered in the mid-19th century but was not negotiated until Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen made it between 1903 and 1906.

Mr Sefton said Seamaster was scheduled to be in New Zealand late next year after navigating the passage.

Its trip to New Zealand, where it was due to undergo a major refit at the end of next year, was scheduled to take it through the coral reefs in Australia.

Seamaster is in Grenada in the Caribbean, where a skeleton crew is looking after the yacht.

Mr Sefton said Seamaster may be moved to Antigua in January for maintenance.

- NZPA

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Peter Blake, 1948-2001