The last days of December of 2009 I had my first experience sailing, it was with Crocodile, an elliot 770, from Auckland to Great Barrier Island, with Clovis. Great Barrier Island is the fourth biggest island in New Zealand and it is 90 km from Auckland. It is one of the top-secret places in NZ and it is a beautiful place where only live 650 people and there is not high school, it has similar landscapes to Tasmania but it is a little more wild. The sailing boat was borrowed to Clovis by a friend of him who went to Australia for new year´s eve with his family.

We went to Great Barrier because we were invited by Edi to start new year with him and his friends! It was a big party with cool people on a camping not far from the beach. It was full moon, lot of drinks and very cool people from all over NZ and some expats.

Because of the weather we had to leave later than we planned but after sailing for 10 hours we dropped the anchor in Great Barrier cost. We did it a little far from where everyone was camping so we walked and hitch-hiked on the evening of the 31st thru an amazing landscape arriving to the camping at around 10 in the night. The morning after the party we returned to the boat but before got there we had a beautiful breakfast in what was probably the only cafe of the island. Later on, we circumnavigated the island to moor again on the other cost, cooking a delicious pasta before we went to sleep. Sleeping in a boat was not to bad.

I had no idea of the risk that the sailing could implicate and all the attention that you have to pay to do everything right. Clovis has lot of experience about it, for me was a good crush course.

We finished the sailing trip with a friend from waiheke and a cargo that passed very very close to us, or we did it to them… I think the sound of the horn is going to stay stock on my sounds memory for a very long time however the experience was so far, AMAZING.

Check some photos

Notes:
First: Great barrier island has the first New Zealand wheelchair golf field…..

Second: Water and wind. From the museum of Wellington: Water is the wild, wet element that constantly shapes our land. As rain it lashes and scours. As ice it freezes and gouges. Water is ruinous in excess-storm and flood damage can be immense. Absence of water can be equally disastrous, when drought-stricken land dries to dust. And, occasionally from out of the blue, a tsunami brings devastation.
About wind one of the best videos that I have seen: Mr W.

Third and final note: I heard that the phrase of those who are dead, those who are alive and saliros was said by Socrates but I could find anything online, so I´m not completely sure he did it.