For many, thoughts at this time of year turn towards overseas holidays or perhaps the attractions of New Zealand’s alpine regions. In the past, my attention pivoted towards our rivers and lakes, and the trout that lived in them. Now, with my 65th birthday behind me, flyfishing is a pastime I intend to take up again– perhaps even this winter – while I’m fit enough to enjoy it.

That said, the reality of producing a boating magazine is that our boating goes on summer and winter – we need to feature boats and boating 12 issue per year. Interestingly, we increasingly review new boats kitted out with heaters and all the facilities required for comfortable winter boating.

Fortunately, being obliged to climb aboard boats year-round has its upsides. For example, while preparing the White Pointer and Haines Hunter reviews for this issue we enjoyed two brilliant winter’s days in stunning surroundings. It reminded me how fortunate we Kiwis are to have these opportunities – and such an amazing environment in which to enjoy them.

Of course, many New Zealanders know this well. They enjoy their boats year-round. Some of them are club stalwarts who race yachts or powerboats, others like to cruise our glorious coastal waters, and many more take advantage of fine days to enjoy some winter boating.

Then there are those selfless folk who give their time to teaching the young and not so young to sail. There are many such people giving their time to a variety of school and club-based water safety or learn to sail programmes right around New Zealand. We feature one such this issue – Kerikeri Learn to Sail with Derry Godbert – and we’ll run a story next issue on Manly Sailing Club’s Youth Sailing programme.

The beneficiaries of such programmes will hopefully become tomorrow’s boating enthusiasts who will carry on New Zealand’s boating traditions. With luck, that will include enjoying their boating 12 months of the year.

Enjoy this month’s issue,

John Eichelsheim
Editor