'For the last thousand years or so innovation, prosperity, conflict, challenge and change have crashed relentlessly against New Zealand's coasts. They are our front door. Research has killed the myth of the Polynesian "Great Fleet" but many fleets have surged past since - fleets of crusading colonists, fleets of "Home" boats, the American "Great White Fleet", the container and bulk carrier fleets of the 1970s and the Bolly-swilling America's Cup flotillas. All have left their mark.'
So begins Gavin McLean's extraordinary chronicle of the tempestuous history of New Zealand's coastline.
Published in conjunction with a four-part television programme. 'Captain's Log' takes us from the arrival of the first waka to the wakes of the superyachts via assisted migration, the Union Steam Ship Company, the wars and the container ships. Along the way, 'Captain's Log' reminds us of the deep affinity New Zealanders have for their coastline and the sea.
