E para ana te tohunga whakatere waka a Jack Thatcher i te ara whakamua mō ngā rangatahi kia ora tonu ai ngā tikanga waka hourua. E ngākau tahi ana ia, ka mau tonu ngā matauranga whakatere waka, i aia e whakaaro ana ki te whakangāriro.
Mā te pae runga te pae raro e ārahi. Koirā te mahi a te tohunga waka nei a Jack Thatcher.
He taonga ōna pūkenga ka whakairihia, mā ngā reanga whakatipu kē te kaupapa waka hourua e urungi.
Ko tā Thatcher, "Ka tō te rā, ka rere he rā. Ka tae au ki te tōnga o taku nei rā kua tata ki te taenga mai o ngā rangatira kua piki ake."
Nō te hekenga kaiwhakatere tuarima a Mahina Busby rāua ko Nga Roma Gardiner o te waka Ngahiraka-Mai-Tawhiti. Kua tō ai te whakatere waka ki tā rāua whatumanawa.
"To have it in your blood, we have this saying in this family it's the teacher's fault if you learn and you're never better than the teacher."
"It's carrying on the tradition of our tupuna."
E ako ana ēnei rangatahi ki Te Kura o Ngā Kuri a Tarawhata, he kura waka i whakatūria e Thatcher. E whakatika ana rātou mō tētahi haerenga, e rua marama te roa.
E ai ki te kaiurungi a Toiora Hawira, "He ataahua tēnei, te kawa o Tangaroa hoki rā, te whakatere waka, ngā maatauranga o ngā whetū."
Ko tā Thatcher, "Kua kī rā taku ngākau te kite atu i ngā tamariki kua pīrangi i ngā mahi ki runga i tēnei waka."
Ka whakaako tauira tonu a Thatcher mō ngā tau e rima e heke mai nei. E ngākau tahi ana ia, ka mau tonu ngā matauranga ki ngā ringa rangatahi.
