Our People

It is our people who make the Trust so special. Our crew not only look after the young people on their voyages, giving them an experience of a lifetime, but also during summer, they share their enthusiasm and passion for the work we do with our tourism guests.

Behind the scenes there are our Trustees and a small group of people (who are mostly part time) who keep the organisation ticking over. Most of them are multi-skilled, picking up what needs to be done as and when required. All of us are united in our respect for the ship and how she has the ability to change lives.

He aha te mea nui o te ao
What is the most important thing in the world?
He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata
It is the people, it is the people, it is the people

Māori whakatauki (Māori proverb)

Jo Lynch

Chief Executive

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Jo Lynch – Chief Executive

Jo.lynch@tucker.co.nz

Jo Lynch is our Chief Executive. Her background is in the ski industry, youth development through travel, business strategy and marketing. She has held many leadership roles in the outdoors and marketing and she combines a wide range of skills to lead our programme. Jo is of Ngati Wai and Pakeha descent and grew up in Northland. She spent 25 years chasing snow and has returned to Te Tai Tokerau to work with youth and the good people on The Good Ship.

Sophie Camplin

Youth Coordinator

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Sophie Camplin – Youth Coordinator

Sophie job-shares our youth programmes with Pauline, and looks after the adminstrative side of the youth development voyages. A young mother of two girls, Sophie started her career with the R. Tucker Thompson as Deckhand. She then progressed to Master, where she was responsible for skippering tourism sailings as well as the youth development voyages. She therefore knows the ship and how the Trust operates extremely well. With two young daughters to look after, Sophie now works mostly from home, juggling a number of roles to ensure that berths are filled with the right students on any given voyage.

accounts@tucker.co.nz

Terry Dunn

Relief Master

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Terry Dunn – Relief Master

Terry grew up in Wellington, learning to sail in extreme conditions and spending his formative years in the Sea Scouts rowing around on pitch black nights playing Smugglers and sinking the enemy. He has never lost his love of just “playing around in boats”. He moved to the Bay of Islands in his twenties and purchased the classic gaff cutter Aorere. It was also the start of many years cruising the Bay of Islands, the Northland coast and offshore voyages to the Pacific.
In 1990 he started Great Escape Yacht Charters and Sailing School teaching to provide affordable sailing options in the Bay. Over the years he operated a fleet of 14 yachts, passing on his enthusiasm and love of sailing to Kiwis and international visitors alike.
After he and his wife Cindy sold Great Escape, he joined R Tucker Thompson as a relief skipper and he is a welcome addition for our youth voyages and day sails alike.

Magnus O’Grady

Operations Manager

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Magnus O’Grady – Operations Assistant

Magnus worked for the Trust in 2017 as a deckhand, and is excited to be back.

From then, he operated and owns New Zealand Sea Kayak Adventures (currently in post-covid hibernation), before setting sail with his wife and 2-year old daughter around the world.

Magnus grew up watching the Tucker sail around the bay, and fits right in with our kaupapa and whanau. His enthusiasm, energy and eagerness makes him the man for the job.

operations@tucker.co.nz

Frank Allica

Relief Master

Peter Murphy

Master

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Peter Murphy – Master

Peter Murphy has been sailing since he was a boy, and has worked on boats for over 30 years. Having worked in all corners of the marine industry, he began his career in sail training and has since then moved to being a delivery captain for vessels all around the world. Originally from the States, New Zealand is now his home with his partner and two young daughters. Peter and his whanau have dropped anchor in the Bay of Islands, and now reside here on their 52 ft Junk Rig Schooner.

Peter says he loves teaching people to sail, and as a father himself, he’s the perfect fit to get our Trainees inspired out on the water. Our Tucker whanau is growing, and we’re so proud to bring on Peter along with his extensive knowledge.

Piper Grant

Deckhand

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Piper Grant – Deckhand

Piper is a young musician based in the Bay of Islands. Her passions include songwriting and performing music, sailing on the R. Tucker Thompson, and writing novels. She has sailed for six years at the Bay of Islands Yacht Club in small boats such as Open Skiffs, Starling and R.S. Fevas. In November 2020 Piper was a trainee on the Tucker, and is thrilled to now be a crew member.

Andre Aslund

Deckhand

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Andre Aslund – Deckhand

Andre has gone from a trainee in 2020 to a volunteer, and now an employee. Andre has the most extraordinary balance and agility; he climbs the rigging with ease and is comfortable aloft sorting sails and trainees. His ability to get up and sort things out is an awesome asset for us! We appreciate his quiet humour, his epic pizzas and his enormous contribution to our organisation.

Tom Macfarlane

Crew / Deckhand

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Tom Macfarlane – Crew/Deckhand

Tom is one of our crew members and our conservation warrior. He’s a multi-talented member of our team and has an impressive background in Outdoor Education, research and Science Communication. With an honours degree in physical education and an impressive knowledge of Tikanga Māori, he has a lot of experience under his belt. His aim is to “keep doing everything possible in the now towards being a good ancestor for those to come in the future”.

Zhané Harvey

Crew / Deckhand

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Zhané Harvey – Crew/Deckhand

Zhané Harvey is one of our crew members. She loves the outdoors has a background in outdoor education. She moved to the bay for the job and is making the most of her new surroundings, often out kayaking and exploring. Having worked as a whitewater instructor and glacier guide, we know she’s a great addition to take our trainees on new adventures.

Kymbali Dender

Crew / Deckhand

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Kymbali Dender – Crew/Deckhand

Kymbali is one of our crew members. She moved to the bay recently after finishing a bachelors in Marine Biology. She completed an adult 10-day trainee trip on the Spirit of New Zealand and fell in love with tall ships, this sparked her volunteering time with the Spirit as a watch assistant. She’s also a Girl Guide Leader, and has worked with young kiwi girls aged 9-17 to develop them through outdoor and leadership activities.

Guy Cunningham

Casual Crew

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Guy Cunningham – Relief Crew

Guy Cunningham tags in to sail on our Youth Voyages from time to time. He has had a career in the Police force and he is a master of working closely with our youth. Guy sails in a local sailing race each Sunday, with a competitive bunch who often podium. Guy has a keen intuition for helping the kids on board our Youth Voyages: he has insight, wisdom and a wealth of experience working in tough situations. He is a straight shooter, a man of few words, but is always on-point. And it’s always handy having a Policeman on board! We are stoked to have Guy sail with us.

Rangi Ferris

Bosun

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Rangi Ferris – Bosun

Rangi is a shipwright and rigger and he works with us as our Bosun. He is passionate about square-rig sailing, woodwork, carpentry and steam engines, but mostly about working on traditional vessels. He came to us after spending 6 years at the Maritime Museum in Auckland, where he worked maintaining their fleet of vessels. Rangi’s Mum is from the USA and his Dad is from NZ; he grew up in Port Townsend, home of the Wooden Boat Festival. He is a sailing instructor and has his maritime qualifications. Rangi has his own boat and spends time working on both his boat and ours. We are very lucky to have Rangi in our team taking care of The Good Ship.

bosun@tucker.co.nz

Sophie Adams

Youth Manager

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Sophie Adams – Youth Manager

Sophie is responsible for liaising with schools and community groups explaining how our youth development voyages help students to make positive changes in their lives. Sophie has a background in business, marketing, management and more recently she has held the role as the Internship Manager and Quality Assurance Coordinator for QRC here in Paihia. She is a member of the Senior Management Team there and we are incredibly lucky to have her bring these skills to our organisation.

Sophie.adams@tucker.co.nz

Arihi Reihana

Crew / Deckhand

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Arihi Reihana – Crew / Deckhand

Arihi has has a successful and impressive 19 year career with the New Zealand Defence Force in the Army. Of Ngāpuhi descent, she recently moved to back Kawakawa, Northland with her whānau.

Formerly known as Sergeant Arihi Reihana, she spent most of her career training soldiers and spent many years overseas, including Egypt to serve in the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) on peacekeeping responsibilities. She was responsible for survey of the weapon line and calculating firing data for the weapons, L119 105mm Light Gun and the L16 81mm Mortar.

She was also deployed to Afghanistan, East Timor and has been on overseas exercises in Hawaii and Alaska. It’s fair to say, she has some stories to tell.

Arihi says that she’s most looking forward to working with our rangatahi, developing new skills and re-connecting with her whenua. She’s a kind soul, with determination to work with rangatahi, and helping our youth push through mental and physical boundaries.

We’re so stoked to have her on board with us, and we know she’ll be such an inspiration to our rangatahi on board our Youth Voyages and out in the community. Welcome Arihi!

Marcel De Wilde

Master

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Marcel De Wilde – Master

Marcel comes to us from the Spirit of New Zealand. He lives and breathes the sailing ocean life, sailing since he was 8 years old, he lives on his own boat, now in the Bay of Islands and previously in the Auckland harbour. Sailing is his absolute passion, as is working with youth, Marcel is excited to merge his love for sailing with a really cool career in youth development as our skipper.

Trustees

Tim Yeates

Chairman

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Tim Yeates – Chairman

Tim has spent his entire working life within the marine industry. His first working experiences were on motor ships and and as a Deckhand on board the R. Tucker Thompson. From there, Tim was the Operations Manager of Marine Contractors Limited for eight years, based in the Bay of Islands. Tim then spent two years as Construction Manager for Northland Piling and Contracting (based in Opua). This company, which he now co-owns, now trades as Total Marine Services Limited. Tim can attest to his extensive experience in salvage work and construction knowledge.

Lance Edwards

Trustee

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Lance Edwards – Trainee

Lance has been involved in the youth sector for the past 30 years and has a great understanding of pastoral care for young adults. He’s a strong advocate for youth and an active member of his community, a keen rugby player and team leader. With a background in coaching and operations for Work Ready NZ, QRC Tai Tokerau and more, he’s dedicated to fostering growth. Lance is passionate about his work and will bring his skills of working in education, youth programmes and training to improving outcomes for our youth.

Mike Simm

Trustee

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Mike Simm – Trustee

Mike is an experienced company director/trustee. Chair of Northland Youth Development Trust and former Deputy Chair of Top Energy. Former Executive Director Fullers Bay of Islands, member NZ Tourism Board, member of NZ Conservation Authority, Chair of Enterprise Northland and Destination Northland. He is a Kerikeri resident.

Suz Te Tai

Trustee

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Suz Te Tai – Trustee

Suz is currently the Pakaiahi (Kaiwhakahaere Matua) of the new and innovative Nga Kaitiaki o te Ahi marae-based programme at Karetu Marae. Prior to this she has worked alongside Pou Herenga Tangata at He Iwi Kotahi Tatou Trust in Moerewa for seven years, initially as a Whanau Ora Navigator.
In 2014 she completed Te Tohu Huanga Maori (PGDipBus Māori Development) at the University of Auckland Business School. She has a wealth of life and work experience across Te Kohanga Reo, Kura Kaupapa Maori, Adult & Community Education, Out of School Care, Moerewa Senior School support and the New Zealand Education Institute.
As a keen outdoors advocate weaving experiences based in, and caring for, the Taiao Suz has been a huge driver in this area for whānau, hapū and community. Suz is a highly respected leader within her hapu, Ngati Manu and at Te Karetu Marae. She is the Chair of the Karetu Maori Committee and a Trustee of Te Mana Moana o Ngati Manu Trust, Te Mana Moana o Ngati Rongo ki Mahurangi Trust and the Ngati Manu Rangatira Trust. She is also the Hikuwai Harawene Tupuna Representative on Te Tāhuhu Nui o Ngāti Manu (PSGE).

Jon Moore

Trustee

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Jon Moore – Trustee

Jon is a motivated businessman, with extensive experience in the maritime and tourism industry. He has managed multiple companies in New Zealand and currently acts as the Chief Execute Officer for Northport Ltd, Marsden Point. As a boatie himself, he has spent his life on the water, and understands the industry inside and out. Jon will be a great asset to our business operations, and will provide valuable insight and advice into management and operations of our Trust.

Karen Gilbert-Smith

Trustee

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Karen Gilbert-Smith – Trustee

Karen is the current Principal of Whangarei Boys High School and CEO to their Board of Trustees. Amongst the impressive range of work, she has led teaching and learning initiatives to improve outcomes for Māori and Pasifika students and built partnerships with local community, hapu and OBA. Passionate about her community, youth and education, her years of experience in the education system will prove valuable to the Trust to ensure we help all our trainees reach their individual potential.

Work for us

If you are interested in working for us, you will need to be a New Zealand citizen, resident or have a valid work visa. Check our Jobs page for any new job openings, or email a cover letter and CV info@tucker.co.nz.

We are looking for people who have alignment with our values and have the right personality to support our work with young people.

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