Hi everyone. I’d been living aboard Puddle Jumper for three months waiting for the weather to improve. It got to the point where I was fed up with waiting around so I decided to finally get the show on the road and head out to sea. The wind was still strong but the rain had stopped, at least for a few days. It was now or never!

I thought about heading down to Waiheke Island for my first outing but realised it was probably unrealistic as I was incredibly green at this, having never operated any boat on my own other than a dinghy. Instead I opted for Kawau Island, which was close enough so I could reasonably expect to reach it within a day but still far enough to get lost or who knows what. I was excited and absolutely terrified at the same time… This was going to be epic!