Our Navigators
Our Navigators
All FirstMate Navigators have experience of living and working in the seafood sector – they understand your world and many of them have overcome challenges themselves. They’ve had training and are ready to help you find options to deal with whatever might be troubling you, from the impacts of regulations to business resilience to dealing with life at home when your partner is at sea – nothing’s off the table. Sometimes, a cup of tea and a yarn might be enough, but our Navigators also know how to connect you to other sources of help when that’s needed. You can trust in them to provide a friendly ear and to always keep your information confidential.
Cindy Bailey
Far North - Te Tai Tokerau
I arrived in NZ from Canada in 1982 and settled in the Bay of Islands, where I worked as a nurse at the Bay of Islands hospital. I met my husband who was fishing in the Bay of Islands and Whangaroa areas at that time. We moved to Tutukaka/Whangarei then settled down in Pt Wells/Leigh for 22 years. Currently, we are back living in the Bay of Islands which I consider my NZ hometown.
I have been involved in the Leigh Commercial Fishermen’s Association for many years and on the NZ Federation of Commercial Fishermen executive.
I am proud to be part of the NZ fishing community and passionate about the healthy product that we supply. Fishers are hardworking and down to earth, and in my observation have always been resilient, adapting to changing times.
But over the last several years, there has been an onslaught of obstacles coming fast and furious at fishers. The owner/operators are being hit hard. Resilience is not enough on its own. Fishers and their families need support.
That is where I see my role, supporting hard working people that I have the outmost respect for, in an industry that I love.
Dallas Yearbury
Whitianga - Whitianga-a-Kupe / Bay of Plenty - Te Moana-a-Toi / Coromandel - Te Tara-o-Te-Ika-a-Māui
I live at Cooks Beach in the Coromandel with my partner and son. I grew up in Whitianga from the age of eleven and love what the area offers: close-knit community, fishing on our doorstep and our little “slice of paradise”. My family have been bottom longlining out of Whitianga for the last 38 years so are no strangers to hard graft!
This has given me a working knowledge of the industry and of the various fishing methods and some insight into what goes on behind the scenes of an ever-changing industry. I’m looking forward to giving something back to the fishing industry to the best of my ability.
Mark Armstrong
Whitianga - Whitianga-a-Kupe / Bay of Plenty - Te Moana-a-Toi / Coromandel - Te Tara-o-Te-Ika-a-Māui
I was born in Taupo and schooled in Tokoroa, and I’ve been fishing and diving for nearly 50 years. In the late 90’s I was a skipper for the Gisborne Volunteer Coastguard. I’m happy to have been working with NZ’s seafood industry for over three decades, including over twelve years as a Fishery Officer.
I now have my own company, and my work mostly involves advising on fisheries compliance operational matters and QMS administration.
Rick Burch
Napier - Ahuriri / Gisborne - Tairāwhiti
The fishermen I work alongside here in Napier are a very close knit group as we have been working together for many years. I am sure this would apply to many other ports here in New Zealand. However, times are changing and they can be stressful. It is therefore important that we have a group like the Navigators who can help others in these difficult and stressful times.
Dave Wakefield
Napier - Ahuriri / Gisborne - Tairāwhiti
My father was a fisher in Kaikoura. I started out working off Greymouth in my own small vessel but then went to Nelson to work in the deepwater fleet, where I learnt more about different methods. I went back and forth between NZ and Aus for quite a while and owned vessels over there.
Eventually I came back to NZ to get my skipper’s ticket and went surface longlining in the Pacific. I ended up in Napier and got a position as a manager. I’ve got a lot of experience of lots of aspects of fishing, including MOSS, compliance, and working with foreign crews, which I can use to help others.
Hone Tipuna Tibble
Wellington - Te Whanganui-a-Tara / Wairarapa
I'm fortunate to live between Wharekauri & Te Whanganui a Tara with my whānau. Born in Wellington, with 9 brothers & sisters, I was raised in Filly/Feilding until I left Hato Pāora Māori Boys College. Our second home was our marae and from a native speaking father all of us speak Māori. I made my way back to Wellington, where diving for kaimoana just was. I can recall one of my first bosses in a government department said to bring a towel on our way up to our Palmerston North branch. We stopped just before Paekakariki and he tells me we are going to get some kaimoana for the kuia and koroua at the office in Palmerston North. That was the beginning, from diving courses up north at Goat Island to Port Vila through New Caledonia to eventually gathering kai for whānau in the Chatham Islands.
Being raised around a marae with a large whānau and in the hapori/communal environment leads to a community upbringing, one that lends itself well to the fishing community here on the Wharekauri/Rēkohu/Chatham Islands. I've built up a range of skills in my time working throughout the public and private sectors, getting some insight into what goes on behind the scenes of an ever-changing industry. I'm looking forward to being able to contribute to the ocean faring community here on the islands to the best of my ability.
'Walking in the steps of our tipuna, Maui a Tikitiki a Taranga & Kupe the Navigator.'
