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A yacht donated by the sister of its late owner will soon be sailing the South Pacific on a humanitarian and conservation mission.
Tom Sowerby, an enthusiastic 23-year-old English sailor, was halfway through a world circumnavigation and en route to New Zealand when he lost his life in
a free-diving accident in Bora Bora last year.
A skilled yachtsman and diver, Sowerby loved cruising the world's oceans but had been growing increasingly concerned about the condition of the marine environment.
It was this love of the sea and concern for its future that motivated Sowerby's sister, Alice, to donate the long-term use of his 11m Sweden Yacht 340, Magic Roundabout, to OceansWatch.
OceansWatch is a new not-for-profit marine conservation and humanitarian trust. Established in 2007 by a group of sailors and divers concerned about marine environments and their associated coastal communities, it is based in Whangarei but has a diverse worldwide membership, including doctors, dentists, marine biologists and engineers, divers, international development specialists, midwives, scientists and even tourism operators.
OceansWatch works in partnership with the global yachting community as well as individuals.
Spokeswoman Jane Pares says: "By linking ... island communities to those who are actively involved in marine research, education, humanitarian work and conservation, we hope to be able to offer practical solutions to their problems."
Magic Roundabout, which is currently undergoing a refit , will join the trust's yacht management programme, a partnership with owners who want their boats to be involved in environmental and humanitarian projects.
Initially it will be involved in projects in Vanuatu, Tonga and Papua New Guinea, where OceansWatch will be working on marine conservation and education projects in conjunction with organisations such as Reef Check and Project Marc (Medical Assistance to Remote Communities).
OceansWatch members' yachts will also distribute resources to local schools and items such as reading glasses to local communities, under the guidance of the local Red Cross.
When ready, Magic Roundabout's first port of call will be Vanuatu, where it will be involved in checking coral depletion and working with the Department of Fisheries looking for effects of overfishing, global warming and the taking of tropical fish for use in aquariums in more affluent societies.
After that it will sail for Madang on the northeast coast of Papua New Guinea where Robert Puis, the local OceansWatch representative, has requested help. In his community on nearby Karkar Island, raw sewage from the local high school is being discharged on to the reef.
Magic Roundabout's crew will work with the Red Cross and Puis to determine what resources will best help the solve the problem.
Magic Roundabout will then head to the Solomon Islands before returning to Vanuatu and then sailing back to New Zealand.
Once back in her new "home waters", Magic Roundabout will spend the summer as a sail training-ship, as more of the trust's divers learn to sail.
