I stumbled across the news article omne Saturday morning in May 2024. “Reluctant sale by passionate owners” it said, followed by the 48-year story story of this grand lady of the ocean. Her timeless character and charm caught my eye and my mind went into overdrive. Would Sea Breeze III fit into Ocean Sailing Expeditions? She’s a 105 foot motor vessel and we are a sailing business… to are we?

We love exploring and heading out on new adventures with like minded people. Is it just about the sailing or does it go deeper than that? Ten weeks later, Sea Breeze III was under contract and 4 months later we settled the purchase and started working on the plans to bring her back into commercial survey and into an events calendar that would attract a wave of new adventurers.

115 ton of classic motor-yacht, on the hardstand at Oceania Marine in Whangarei

Sea Breeze III was purchased in Brisbane in 2018 by her former owners and underwent $3.3m in upgrades and renovations from 2019 - 2021. She entered commercial charter operations in March 2021 in time for the Americas Cup finals on Auckland Harbour and sadly there she peaked before slowly fading away, as a charter boat parked at Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour, waiting for bookings. The winters can be long and let in Auckland and its hard to make money in any business that relies on summer traffic only.

This 105-foot motor-yacht (small ship really) has too much life left in her, to be resigned to a life of gradual deterioration, like so many classic yachts of old. I’m taking a gamble that there are enough like minded people out there, with a heart for a different kind of hands-on adventure, who love to explore, hike, swim, snorkel and kayak. Who love being out on the ocean or anchored in a quiet bay in any weather. Who don’t want to hang up their boots too early in life, who places to go and a long list of things to experience. Who love being around other like-minded people, from all backgrounds with a common passion for the ocean.

It’s been a hectic few months, with a handful of charters and mini-adventures on the Hauraki Gulf, woven in amongst a long list of maintenance tasks, with the vessel not having been out of the water in almost 4 years. Our second home for our yachts is Oceania Marine in Whangarei, where Clinton and his team work around the clock to deliver high quality workmanship, to keep us on the water.

*Back in the water in Whangarei with 4 more weeks of pre-departure work to do.*

For Sea Breeze III, that has meant almost $250k in work that has included servicing and upgrades to; rudders, propellors, prop shafts, engines, generators, watermakers, electrical systems, steering, refrigeration, fire systems and saftey equipment. Most of the work is invisible to the eye, but critical to safety and reliability at sea. With Sea Breeze III turning 50 in 2026, there is a long road ahead with TLC required to paint, varnish, decks and furnishings over the next 1-2 years to fully restore her, for the next chapter of adventure on the high sea.

Fast-forward 8-months and Sea Breeze III is ready (is a boat ever ready?) to depart on her first ocean crossing in 7 years, with a passage from Whangarei, New Zealand to North Minerva Reef and onto Vuda Marina in Fiji.

David

Welcome to Sea Breeze III