We love any opportunity to be sailing, especially with a glass of bubbles in hand, so we were thrilled to board the Coral Trekker earlier this month for a Wine & Canapes cruise at sunset.

Coral Trekker is part of the Sydney Harbour Tall Ships fleet. She’s a square-rigged, wooden tall ship with distinctive red sails and an equally colourful history. Her keel was laid in 1939, but the Second World War curtailed her initial travels. When she finally launched she sailed to New Zealand, where she was sold into the fishing industry.

As a strong sea vessel, she was one of the only vessels that could reach the passenger ferry Wahine in 1968, during one of the worst storms recorded in New Zealand history. 

Coral Trekker saved many lives before the ferry sank in New Zealand’s worst modern maritime disaster. A bay in the Snares Islands, off New Zealand’s coast, was named Ho Ho Bay in her honour, after the vessel’s original name “Ho Ho 2”.

Coral Trekker was later refitted by Australian Himalayan Expeditions as a square-rigged ketch and spent 25 years in the Whitsundays before moving to Sydney.

We sailed with her under the Sydney Harbour Bridge and up the Parramatta River as the sun gloriously set.

Our host Howard served us delicious, substantial nibbles while sharing his remarkable depth of knowledge about everything on and around the harbour.

It was very entertaining to watch our canapes magically appear out of the galley via a porthole in the deck!

After sunset, the Coral Trekker sailed back under the Sydney Harbour Bridge and took us for a birds-eye – literally – trip past Sydney Opera House.

While there appear to be hundreds of stars above the sails, they are actually seagulls circling Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. It was fascinating to watch them swoop and dive.

We loved spending two and a half hours aboard this atmospheric tall ship, sailing in Sydney Harbour as the sun set and the city skyline lit up.

For adventurous souls, the crew offer opportunities to help hoist the sails, climb the mast and even sail the ship.

Learn more about Sydney Harbour Tall Ships’ Wine & Canapes cruises here.