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Derek Preece, who was a skilful boat builder and ocean sailor and whose love of the sea saw him embark on a five-year journey sailing around the world, passed away recently.
Preece's appreciation of safety saw him become a Yachting New Zealand boat inspector, a role he filled for many years. He resigned only last year.
But his association with sailing goes back a long way.
In 1969, he bought an ocean-going Kauri ketch, the original Hibiscus, which he stripped down to the bare hull and rebuilt. He taught himself to navigate with a sextant, and in 1978 took six months off from teaching and sailed with good friend Graham Hathway to Tahiti with one other crewman.
The passage took 28 days. Graham kept the daily log, the tone becoming more and more despondent. Then one morning Derek suggested Graham should search the horizon for an island that, by his calculation, should be there. It was, and the tone of the log changed dramatically. Apparently, neither crewman actually believed Derek could navigate!. It was the first of many ocean passages for Derek, who was often joined by his wife Dorothy.
In 1983, while running two businesses, Derek built another Woollacott-designed ship, from baulks of kauri fetched from Lanes Timber Mill in Northland. Derek wanted to build a traditional carvel-planked vessel before that skill was lost forever. With crewman Graham’s help, the family cruised the Solomon Islands in 1984. That was the maiden voyage of Hibiscus 111.
Derek was also involved with the planning and building of the Whitianga Marina, right from its inception. It was a major project for the town, made possible by a small but determined local committee. It was a great source of pride for all concerned when in May 1995 the project came in on time, and under budget. Derek and Dot just had time to put Hibiscus in the marina to load up with stores before they left on their five-year voyage around the world.
Hibiscus 111 served them well. They came home in 2000, full of adventure stories which, fortunately, people seemed to enjoy listening to, again and again. Eight years ago Derek and Dot moved to the Whitianga Waterways with their next yacht, the 25-tonne Ahurangi on the dock, and just kept on going: to the Pacific, Tasmania and back to the Pacific again. Two years ago Derek undertook his last trip to the Pacific.
