New Zealand is a stunning sailing country, and in our experience, it continues to deserve its reputation as a must do cruising destination. However, there is one area where its reputation is undeserved, and that is as a place to get work done on your boat. This reputation was built up over many years, but it was our experience, and many other boats too, those standards have slipped. A lot of very unprofessional work was done, and people were let down. This not to say that you can’t get good workmanship, but yachties should not arrive in NZ and assume, because of the good reputation, that they can get quality work done without needing to carefully examine the reputation and qualifications of workers. I strongly urge cruisers to take care of! A possible explanation I have been offered is that the master craftsmen of old are now all working in the superyacht industry.

Robert Highfield

If anyone wishes to comment on this report please contact Noonsite, we will be happy to post your response. [email protected]