Set Sail on a Tall Ship from
New Zealand to Easter Island

By Max Hartshorne
GoNOMAD Editor

Tall ship sailing is the ideal synthesis of seaborne adventure, exotic exploration and timeless romance. On the Søren Larsen your active participation adds to the authenticity of the experience. There's a professional crew of 11, but you're invited to join in and take a turn at the helm or (if you feel up to it) climb the rigging to set the topsails and standing watch.

The brigantine Søren Larsen - former star of the Onedin Line BBC TV series - is one of the world’s most distinguished ocean going square riggers and offers you the chance to experience blue water ocean sailing or island cruising. She was built in Denmark in 1949 and worked as a cargo ship in the Baltic until 1972. Now her voyages are all for pleasure.

Based in New Zealand, she earns her keep giving paying passengers the experience of square-rigger sailing. With just nine cabins, voyages sell out far in advance. Visit this link for a list of voyages and see where this fine ship can take you.

New Zealand to Easter Island

Experience a true ocean sailing adventure under square rig from Auckland, New Zealand to Easter Island, in the South Pacific. Relive the classic days of sail with Søren Larsen as she harnesses the world’s trade winds for this ocean adventure. Sail in the wake of the ancient Polynesian navigators and pioneering voyages of Captain Cook aboard this magnificently restored square-rigger. Blue water sailing on an authentic tall ship to the famously remote Pacific island of Rapa Nuie. For more details visit this link

The Kingdom of Tonga

Tropical island cruising through the Kingdom of Tonga and southern Fiji , in the South Pacific. Sailing between the these two island nations is as much about exploring remote destinations untouched by modern tourism, and encounters with local village cultures, as about sailing a square rigger. You will call at remote island communities, discover isolated lagoons and explore ashore to experience the culture of the islands. Plus there are plenty of opportunities to snorkel and swim.

 

Patrick O'Brian's Legacy

David Mills of The Times of London recently wrote about the sailing experience, comparing it to the famous series of nautical adventure books by Patrick O'Brian.

"It was my first morning aboard the Soren Larsen. We had spent the night anchored in Smugglers Cove, Whangarei Heads, off the northeast coast of New Zealand, and were about to spend five days sailing around the islands of the Hauraki Gulf.

I’m not sure whether I was indulging a fantasy, a midlife crisis or coming to terms with our national identity. A psychologist would say my reasons were overdetermined; my wife just says I’m pretentious. Having found the film version of "Master and Commander" fantastically exciting, I decided there are two essential characteristics to being English: the ability to fly a Spitfire and to sail a square-rigged ship. I had done neither.

A famous Movie Ship

"If you have a dream of sailing ships, then the Soren Larsen has probably figured in your imagination already, for she was the ship in The Onedin Line cleaving the waves to the strains of Khachaturian: and if that’s not your era, she has also appeared in The French Lieutenant’s Woman and, more recently, Shackleton."

To learn more about these trips and over 700 other affordable adventures, contact Adventure Center at tripinfo@adventurecenter.com, 1-800-228-8747 or visit our newly updated website at adventurecenter.com.

Read the entire article by David Mills in the Times of London about the Soren Larsen.

Visit Adventure Center at adventurecenter.com

Read more GoNOMAD stories about New Zealand. Search our directory for tours in New Zealand.

 

 

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