Skip to main content

Story: Sailing and windsurfing

South Sea vagabonds

Image
<em>South Sea vagabonds </em>

In 1933 a young unemployed Aucklander, Johnny Wray, built a 35-foot cutter in his back yard. He found material for the boat, Ngataki, all over the Hauraki Gulf. The story of his subsequent cruising in the Pacific, South Sea vagabonds (1939), made him a romantic hero.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: B-K 660-COVER

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Harold Kidd, Sailing and windsurfing – Rapid growth: 1918 to 1940, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/ephemera/7140/south-sea-vagabonds (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Harold Kidd, published 2 March 2009, updated 1 June 2016.