Below decks
With her upswept bow and full sails the R Tucker Thompson plowing boldly through the seas looks for all the world like she has just sailed in from the nineteenth century.
She is a Tall Ship. The romantic definition of Tall Ship: “A sailing ship whose sails can be seen over the horizon before you see the ship”. As she draws near, her wind filled sails creates a feeling of majesty, awe and wonderment.
The Tucker is in fact a product of the last quarter of the twentieth century. She was built in a land noted for tough uncompromising sailors. A land with a tradition of innovation, where the population has an economy based on what the soil can produce. Excellent craftsmen with tools and material at hand built the Tucker. Many times they were forced to use the building techniques of earlier centuries. The final product is a safe, wonderful, and beautiful ship steeped, in rugged tradition.
The Tucker is built to sail. She is a gaff rigged, square tops’l schooner. Gaff rigged means that her mainsail has four sides; square tops’l refers to the two square topsails. Schooner, in this case, means that of her two masts, the forward mast is shorter than the aft. She was designed according to the traditions of a North American Halibut schooner.
To build her in modern times, required resourcefulness of her builders. For example, they needed over one hundred pulleys but couldn’t afford to buy them. So they manufactured their own out of wood using one hundred year old designs. For the connections of the spar to the mast they used a wishbone with leather gaskets, not the universal joints of modern sailing ships. To adjust tension to the rigging, a double pulley device called ‘dead eyes’ served instead of turnbuckles. The deck is sealed with pitch (tar), the same material used by the fisherman Apostle, Peter. She has a hull of steel making her very strong and dry below. Her lofty rig is of varnished Oregon spars. The soft feeling weathered gray deck is of kwila, as are her protective bulwarks. She has enough brass to keep the trainees busy and protect the traditions of the 1800′s. Her seagoing compliment is fifteen, eleven single bunks and two cabins accommodating four more. The head has a shower and basin. The dining salon, supported by a galley, is capable of feeding the crew of fifteen.
Few amenities not available in the mid 19th century were installed on the Tucker. A sailor from 1890 would not feel out of place on her deck. The compromises to tradition are a diesel to push her along in times of little or no wind, modern communication equipment, global positioning indicators, modern life rafts and safety devices, depth finders and radar. However, despite modern devices, the sailors still have to pull lines, raise and lower sails, and constantly balance the sails and helm with the wind. Foul weather has to be faced unprotected, other than personal foul weather gear, much as our earlier ancestors.
| Length overall | 26 metres/85 ft |
| Beam | 4.9 metres/16 ft |
| Length on Deck | 18.3 metres/60 feet |
| Draft | 2.6 metres/8 ft 6″ |
| Displacement | 60 tonnes |
| Engine | 180 horsepower John Deere diesel |
| Total sail area | 179 sq metres/3000 sq ft |
| Day charter capacity | 47 passengers |
Welcoming Rainbow Warrior III
On 9th January 2013, the new Rainbow Warrior arrived at Matauri Bay to pay respects to the original Rainbow Warrior sunk by the French back in 1985. She now lies off the Cavalli Islands, and Ngati Kura are her kaitiaki (guardians). As kaitiaki of the original vessel it was only fitting that they blessed the new Rainbow Warrior to continue the work of Greenpeace. The R. Tucker Thompson was there too. The Tucker’s history with Greenpeace is long and in 1995 we headed up to Mururoa with Rainbow Warrior II as part of the peace flotilla to...
read moreA family reunion
We had a special family reunion on board today! Tucker Thompson’s two daughters Kelly and Karuna, along with Karuna’s husband and children, came sailing with us. It’s been over 12 years since they stepped on board the ship that bears their father’s name and they were impressed with the amount of work that’s been done over the past 5 years or so to keep the ship in good condition. Sadly Tod wasn’t on board today but we all remarked on the family likeness. And although Tod wasn’t there we did have Riley...
read moreA very special gift
Yesterday we were given an amazing gift, a true taonga or treasure! Norm and Donna Lewis are regular visitors to the Bay and friends of the ship who often sail with us. Donna’s Dad grew up here in the Bay, sailing down the Kawakawa River, before he headed off to Auckland but his family still live here. As a child, she regularly visited and although she and Norm live in Queensland, she hopes one day to return here to live. Norm is a scrimshaw carver, very talented and seems quite at home here too! He has been supplying Captain Uncle Steve...
read moreVisit to Little Munro Bay
This Labour Weekend’s trip to Little Munro Bay was a momentous milestone in the Tucker’s logbook. After Robert Tucker Thompson’s untimely death in 1978, our ship’s hull laid unfinished here for four years. Russell Harris and Tucker’s son, Tod, famously moved the hull to Mangawhai and built it into the ship we know and love today. After 30 years and much adventuring around the world, the Pacific and New Zealand’s waters, the R Tucker Thompson made her first return visit to this, her conceptual and spiritual...
read moreHaving fun in Whangarei
Well, we have been having heaps of fun in Whangarei this week! Whangarei Heads School children turned up all dressed as pirates (awesome, guys), our coffee run was with brisk sou’westerlies so we screamed down the harbour at over 9 knots, and last night’s sail with the team at Northport was great fun as well. If you haven’t booked your Christmas party, it’s not too late as we still have a few dates available. A huge thank you to Andy from Flutes and his cohorts for organising a lot of the Whangarei end of things –...
read moreThe Tucker comes to Whangarei!
Come Sailing on a Square Rig! Join Northland’s own tall ship on her visit to the Whangarei Harbour Whangarei 16-24 October 2012 A number of opportunities to join the R. Tucker Thompson on one of our Harbour sailings! Available sailings: “Coffee Run” – 9.30-11.30am Friday 19 October 2012 @ $20 *** FULL *** “Sunday Sail” 1-3pm 21 October 2012 @ $20 ** * FULL *** “2 Hour Charters” – 4-6pm – min 30x pax –$20 Book Now: info@tucker.co.nz or ph 0800...
read moreBending the Mains’l
Our new Mains’l arrived a couple of weeks ago, but rather than put it on straight away, we wanted to getting the blacking of the standing rig to dry properly to prevent tar getting on the new canvas and well as replace some of the leather chafe gear to protect the new sail. So yesterday Captain Uncle Steve took it down to the ship and what a beautiful clean, creamy large sail it is! Somewhat serendipitously, at the same time Ross Johnson turned up. Ross is the son of our long-standing sail maker Rick Johnson who sadly died suddenly a...
read moreMaintenance complete: phew!
As always it was a massive effort getting maintenance finished in time for the first youth voyage of spring. This year was no exception but it did appear that the work had been completed …. a far cry from 2010 when we ran out of time to reinstate the aft seating and they set to sea with no seats behind the helm! We had limited funds this year but we seem to have done an amazing amount of work given the money available and some wonderful help from a number of volunteers. Here’s what’s been achieved: We’ve replaced the...
read moreNew Mains’l underway
While the storm raged last weekend, something exciting was happening inside the Emirates Team New Zealand sail loft down in Viaduct Basin. The Tucker’s new mains’l was being cut and stitched. This unusual turn of events was thanks to Ross Blackman, who is not only part of Emirates Team New Zealand but also Chair of Far North Holdings Ltd, sponsors of a youth development voyage. When he came on board to meet the youngsters after their 7-day voyage, he noticed the very poor state of our Mains’l. As a professional sail maker...
read moreRain, rain, go way!
We half way through maintenance and it would be fair to say that the weather has not been kind! Yesterday was the first day in recent memory that we had blue skies and sun all day. It gave our crew member Marsha Baker the chance to some work in the rigging. Otherwise we have been bombarded by squalls and whipped by wind. Despite this, a canopy has been set up so that work can continue on the hatch repairs and cabin top replacement. This is progressing slowly but looking good as the inevitable cold and wet weather delays drying of glue and...
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