November 15, 2023

Repairing Parlay Revival at Port Nikau

Port Nikau welcomed YouTube sensations Parlay Revival to Eastpoint Marina last week to complete necessary on-water maintenance before they finished their six-year round-the-world trip in a repaired hurricane-damaged catamaran.

There aren’t many people who would spend their life savings on a hurricane-damaged catamaran to repair and sail around the world, but that’s exactly what Auckland-born Colin MacRae did.

This month, after a 25,000-mile journey that began in 2018, Colin is returning to his hometown. And he’s returning having built a successful YouTube channel – Sailing Parlay Revival – that boasts a quarter of a million followers.

We sat down with Colin to chat about his journey, his return to New Zealand, and the unexpected events that led to his unplanned, but enjoyable, stay at Port Nikau.

Colin grew up in West Auckland and hasn’t returned since he decided to purchase his Lagoon 450 catamaran, Parlay Revival, nearly six years ago. His adventures have been documented on his YouTube channel, where they have had millions of views.

It hasn’t all been smooth sailing. Parlay Revival has been struck by lightning twice, the mainsail has been blown out, and Colin has ended up in hospital in Grenada.

Colin recalls being in Panama during the Covid-19 lockdown. “New Zealand had me on the waiting list to come back into the country for so long that I decided to just stay in Panama,” he tells us. “On land, there were crazy lockdowns, but it was ideal to be on a boat there. We had more freedom on the ocean. We could live off the land and go diving and spearfishing.”

This is Colin’s first time in Whangārei waters. He told us his stay here was unplanned, thanks to an injector pump failure on the way to Auckland. Colin had spoken to a marine engineer who advised him they would have to send the injector pump to Whangārei for repair. Colin decided to sail here instead, and dock at Port Nikau’s Eastpoint Marina while repairs were made.

Parlay Revival arrived at Port Nikau on a Monday, and by Thursday, Diesel Maintenance Whangārei had rebuilt the injector pump.

How has Colin and his crew found Port Nikau?

“It’s been good enough here that we want to come back, and that wasn’t on the original plan,” Colin says. “What I enjoy about a location is the people. It’s super friendly here. Blair Smeal, the Marine Manager, has been great. It’s really tight-knit and has a great community feel. We were even invited to a barbeque one night. It’s been really fun being here.”

You can follow the adventures of Colin and the Parlay Revival crew on YouTube or Instagram.