Vaka Marumaru Atua has departed for Palmerston Island on a chartered trip to collect the Project Working Group (PWG) who are working with the island community to address the rat problem.

Prior to their departure yesterday, Captain Deon Wong said they had to wait for the weather system to clear as there had been rough conditions on the open sea.  

The crew have been busy in between voyages as there was always a lot of work to do on the vaka, a lot of grind, and it was all about learning and teaching, he said.

With nine crew on board, there would be three watches of three during the voyage, seven passengers will be picked up from Palmerston.

“We’ve got two new crew on this trip and we’ve got the old salty sea dogs, and if the weather goes well, we should arrive to Palmerston by Thursday afternoon,” Wong said.

First time voyagers Kas Silk and Te Ariki Gardiner are sailing on Marumaru Atua.

Gardiner connected with the vaka crew in January while on a four month visit to Rarotonga with his family after the Auckland floods.

He said by luck, the vaka was on dry dock during the off season, so he took the opportunity to meet the crew and help out with maintenance.

The voyage to Palmerston was even more special for Gardiner since his grandfather James John Marsters is from the island, his grandmother is from the Nia family of Mangaia.

 “I’m looking forward to setting foot on the island my grandfather is from, and I’m hoping we might see a few whales along the way,” Gardiner said.

 “This is my first for any kind of voyage, I’ve never really had a calling for the water, but, that changed during my visit in January.”

Gardiner arrived to Rarotonga three weeks ago after receiving the call the vaka was sailing to Palmerston.

“I did the boat masters course last week and here I am,” he said.

Completing the boat masters course. he said, built his confidence, and he was happy to see experienced old timers on the trip.

“I used to come here for holidays as a kid growing up and I used to think I knew the place.

“But, it wasn’t until I was here this year for months, that I discovered more of the island, it’s such a beautiful place, and my seven-year-old daughter, she loved it.

“Since then there’s been something inside of me that’s just, I just can’t explain, it’s the waters calling me I guess.”

Born and raised on Rarotonga, Kas is the daughter of the late Don and Olly Silk, and hails from Ngapui in Hokianga, Aotearoa New Zealand.

In a social media post, Silk said she was excited to be on the voyage, being out at sea and “being part of that journey our ancestors took many many years ago”.

The vaka Marumaru Atua crew to Palmerston Island are: Captain Deon Wong, Kas Silk, Ian Karika, Tetini Pekepo, Konini Rongo, Oliver Oolders, Te Ariki Gardiner, Pounamu Tipiwai-Chambers and Steven Daniels.

When the vaka returns, there is a school holiday programme with the Kōrero O Te `Ōrau environment programme which will involve the vaka sailing to Mangaia.