Michael Brown told of how he and his family sailed from Lyttelton to Tonga and Fiji, then back again in the early 1990s. He and his wife Sue are both writers, and Michael is an excellent storyteller, who didn’t hide his emotion when relating some of the more moving parts of his narrative.
One day Michael and Sue shared that they’d both been dreaming of making a voyage, and they decided to go ahead, together with their two sons who were aged 10 and 6 at the time they left. Sue had no sailing experience, and Michael’s was limited to a small P class yacht when he was at school. A campaign was launched (mainly by women) to try and stop them taking their children into danger, but they went ahead regardless. They had some practice voyages around the coast, then the family of four set off from Lyttelton.
Mt Pinatubo had recently erupted, which meant the weather in the Pacific was the worst it had been for half a century. Out of Lyttelton they encountered a gale near Kaikoura and their mainsail blew out, so they needed to return to Lyttelton for repairs. Michael related how in a hurricane force storm the only two things above water were his head and the mast. Having survived that felt fantastic, and they kept going into the next gales.
South-west of Tonga they sailed past Ata Island where a group of six Tongan boys had been shipwrecked in1965 and waited 15 months to be rescued. Contrary to the story of The Lord of the Flies these boys had been well organised and were in perfect health. Michael reported that his sons had similarly stepped up and met all challenges while afloat. However, when they were on land they reverted to usual boyish behaviour. The two boys kept daily diaries, and did Correspondence School work while they were away.
Michael and Sue wrote a book about their adventures titled The Taming of the Crew, which is available at Tūranga for in-library use only, and can be purchased from Amazon.
This courageous family of four
weren’t daunted by the risks offshore
Ruth's Reflections 
I don’t know if I would be so brave, I’d be worried about potential storms and bad weather.
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It certainly took a good deal of courage.
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You have a good memory Ruth and must have enjoyed his talk. I, on the other hand, have been tasked with finding a new shower box – done. Then to find a shower head and water mixer for the shower. I am out of my comfort zone ( probably a good thing…) – photographing the capacity of my water cylinder before I go and look at something that will fit my system.
I remain distressed by the cyclone disaster. I have a friend Val in Napier and another in Gisborne. Both affected but okay. Losing your home and belongings must be devastating. And I hope the govt steps up with a clear managed retreat policy. Warmest C🤗
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I take notes during the talks to help me remember. Good luck with the shower box. We had to replace our wet floor shower with a box after the earthquakes.
I am also distressed by the cyclone news, and wonder if you’ve seen Lianne Dalziel’s excellent article in Newsroom today https://www.newsroom.co.nz/lets-seize-the-chance-to-get-critical-land-use-planning-right?utm_source=Newsroom&utm_campaign=e366a2ff18-Daily_Briefing+23.02.2023&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_71de5c4b35-e366a2ff18-97940560
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