What a hectic Sunday! After the ceremonies at dawn and at the site of the old Warrior, the day had already seemed long. But by 11am, I was in my bare feet, helping pull the Waka Nui ashore in beautiful Matauri Bay, the masts of the Rainbow Warrior just visible near the Cavalli Islands - then a party of us headed by back to Auckland, where we had a reception at the St. James Hall, on Queens St.
We had a very early start this morning - and I mean early. We were tumbled out of our bunks 5am, to prepare for the day ahead. Last night we had a bit of a party on board - the crews of the other yachts in our flotilla came on board, as did lots of people from around Whangaroa. With all the talk and music and food on deck, many of us had seen the wrong side of midnight.
Hello planet earth, Xavier speaking, live from the new Rainbow Warrior. It's the most famous boat of the Greenpeace fleet, back on sea, stronger than ever, and faithful to its commitment to keep on struggling for a better and greener world. We're here somewhere north of New Zealand, to commemorate the bombing of the old Rainbow Warrior.
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A sunny lunchtime - just passing Cape Brett at the southern end of the Bay of Islands. We’re all gathered in the wheelhouse of Henk Haazen's expedition yacht Tiama for lunch, after a rather snotty night coming up from Auckland. When Ruby and I came up on watch at 0400 this morning, John summed things up as 'extremely unpleasant', which was extremely accurate - screeching rain squalls, low visibility, and spray washing over the cabin top into the cockpit, inevitably ending up down the back of the neck.
Tomorrow it is 20 years since the Rainbow Warrior and Fernando got killed by an act of (French) state-sponsored terrorism.
We just sailed past Matauri Bay, where the Warrior was laid to rest. All kinds of thought are racing through my mind.
To 1973 when I first went to Moruroa and met Francis Sanford, the Tahitian delegate to the French parliament and a tireless fighter to stop the tests.
It's Saturday morning, a clear and sunny day as we head north towards Matauri Bay. This is my first time on the Rainbow Warrior. Hey, it's my first time on a boat and I feel very privileged to be here and to be part of an incredible group that is about to commemorate one of the landmark occasions in Greenpeace's history. The bombing of the Rainbow Warrior was like a wakeup call to the world - and the world still remembers. In recent weeks, I have been telling people that I would be sailing on the second Rainbow Warrior as part of the marking of the bombing of the first one. I have not met a single person, of any age, who has not heard of what happened back in 1985. Most people are staggered that twenty years has passed since it happened . ‘Was it really twenty years ago?' they say. It seems like just yesterday. Recalling what happened also helps people renew their resolve to keep on fighting against environmental injustice - in whatever form it takes.
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Pete, you were skipper of the Rainbow Warrior when it was attacked in Auckland harbour in 1985. You must have mixed feelings about coming back here to commemorate the it, twenty years later?
Hey, any excuse for a party dude!...Twenty years ago was not a happy time for us. I am enjoying seeing a number of old shipmates who I have not seen in years.
As someone who campaigned against nuclear testing in the past, what does it feel like to be now a crew member of the Rainbow Warrior, 20 years later?
The success of Greenpeace as a major international organization is an accepted fact now, but for me the biggest contrast compares not 20, but 30 years ago, when I was first involved with Greenpeace, sailing to Mururoa Atoll. Back then, all peace and environment organizations were fringe shoestring organizations, and there was no reason to believe that Greenpeace's future would be any different.
So what's it like to be on board the Rainbow Warrior?
It is an absolutely amazing feeling to be crew on a ship that has a history like the Rainbow Warrior. Even though I wasn't yet born when the first Warrior was bombed, I can feel the reverberations of the attack through the people on board who was there when it happened and in the Rainbow Warrior itself.
The Rainbow Warrior pulls away from Prince's Wharf, Auckland, accompanied by tug boats, yachts and sailing ships and cheers from the quayside. It's July 8th, two days short of twenty years since its predecessor was sunk at nearby Marsden Wharf as it prepared to sail to Moruroa in protest to French nuclear testing. Fernando Pereira, the photographer on board, died tragically in the incident.
On board are 28 people, amongst them Pete Willcox and Martini Gotje, skipper and 1st mate, respectively, of the original Warrior in 1985. Marelle Pereira - daughter of Fernando, and her partner, Matt.
In the 27 years that the Rainbow Warrior has sailed the oceans of the world it has touched many people's hearts.
On this page you can read people's memories of the Warrior and also post your own ...
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