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13.01.2020 Sailing in the Bay of Islands. Only five days ago we did not know more than a couple of words of sailing vocabulary in German, and none in English, but yesterday we were already part of the crew of Sailing Yacht Pantagruel in the Russell Tall Ship Regatta. Pantagruel is a 100-year-old boat, built in Hamburg, and owned by Micha. It was confiscated during WW2 to serve as a training boat for the Hitler Youth, after the war it went to Poland as a training boat and 23 years ago it came back to Germany. Last year Micha and Joanna crossed the Atlantic and Pacific to take Pantagruel to New Zealand. Thanks to Micha for the invitation to come aboard for the Regatta. Our temporary home is Carola, Jo's own boat, a little 12.6-meter one-mast yacht that sleeps up to six people. The day we joined her, right after the Jamboree, Captain Jo picked up an entirely new crew. So now there are Maike from Germany, Marc from Spain, Andrea from Italy, the two of us and of course Jo from Great Britain. Some of us already have sailing experience, and through Jo's brilliant teaching we quickly learn about hoisting and trimming the sails, manoeuvring the boat and navigation. In the first few days we already got to know our co-sailors pretty well and had a lot of fun, for example at the yacht club party after the regatta, which included a hangi, where food is cooked in the ground in traditional Maori manner, and live music. We are going to enjoy ten more days of life on sea with our crew, cruising around the Bay of Islands and then heading south along the east coast near Whangarei. #scoutbound #nz #newzealand #neuseeland #sailing #bayofislands #russell #yacht #tallship #hangi #pantagruel #dpsg

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