A fleet of sail boats have been gifted to the Vava’u Blue Water School in Neiafu, for Tongan youth to learn how to sail. The Vava'u community is fundraising to ship the boats from New Zealand to Vava'u.

The boats were donated by Opua Business Association (OBA), based in New Zealand, who wanted to share the joy and love of sailing and to make a difference for young people.

An expat New Zealander, Greg Just, from Café Tropicana in Neiafu runs the Blue Water School [2], teaching water safety and skills at no cost, and will ensure local kids enjoy the boats.

The boats were originally gifted to OBA from the Kerikeri Cruising Club after upgrading their 'learn to sail' boats. 

They needed significant maintenance and refurbishment, and a group of volunteers collaborated to renovate the boats.

The Bay of Islands Boatyard team sanded and painted the hulls, and local yachtie Jeff (Stubbie) Knewstubb donated his time to reassemble the boats.

Local sailmakers North Sails, Doyle Sails and Wills Sailmakers provided the sailcloth, cut and stitched the sails, and added the sponsors' signwriting.

Cater Marine donated much of the required hardware, with other members of the OBA sponsoring new rigs.

The container to bring the sail boats to Tonga was purchased by fundraising activities at the annual Blue Water Festival in Vava’u.

More fundraising events will be held to help ship the container to Vava’u.