The Wanderer IV, built by former British cruising "royalty" Eric and Susan Hiscock and now owned by Trevor Whelan, has called into Port Chalmers for maintenance.
"When we purchased the boat, I knew its history, and my wife knew its history, but never for a moment did we think that in the contemporary world that there would still be a strong following for this sort of thing — we hadn’t put a moment’s thought to it", Mr Whelan said.
The boat was built in 1967 by S.M. Van Der Meer in the Netherlands for the Hiscocks, arguably the world’s most famous cruising couple at the time.
Few sailors dip their toes into ocean cruising without at least one of Mr Hiscock’s books on board.
The Hiscocks chronicled their sailing adventures and wrote technical books, including Cruising Under Sail and Voyaging Under Sail.
"People are always tickled pink to actually be able to come up and touch it ... it’s motivating to know that it hasn’t been forgotten, and the importance of it all," Mr Whelan said.
The Hiscocks’ first circumnavigation was on board the Wanderer III between 1952-55.
Besides some minor changes and the addition of modern technology, the yacht remains remarkably unchanged from when it was in the possession of the Hiscocks.
When Mr Whelan sits at the table inside his cabin, he said he was sitting in the exact same place Mr Hiscock sat to write his books.
The Wanderer IV was well equipped for a career writer: it included a dark room to develop photos and built-in filing cabinets.
Mr Whelan said the owner of Wanderer V, a "lovely Italian gentleman", had no idea of the history behind his purchase and was rather bemused by the attention he and his boat received around the world.
"He was sailing around blissfully unaware he was on a bit of history till he arrived somewhere in Malaysia and he clicked on that he was getting people coming to the boat all the time and taking photos.
"I think that’s when he found out it was, in fact, world famous."
