Mahina Tiare III, a Hallberg-Rassy HR46, sailed by John and Amanda Neal, is possibly the world’s most famous Hallberg-Rassy. The boat as well as John and Amanda are well known throughout the world cruising community. Mahina Tiare III has made 19 years of expeditions and is now logging 190,000 Nm and it is time for a refit. 
John and Amanda have chosen Adams Boat Care for the refit and it is a huge recognition for the yard to be chosen and the staff is very grateful and proud to have John and Amanda as customer. They were coming all the way from Auckland, New Zeeland for the refit as their investigations, including talks to other top sailors, showed that Adams Boat Care’s quality is top and their prices fair. John and Amanda now keep an unbeatable record as the Hallberg-Rassy that sails from the furthest away in order to have the boat refitted by Adams Boat Care. In fact, they chosed to sail 21,000 Nm and spend two winters in Sweden just for having the boat refitted by Adams Boat Care.
The refit project spans over two winters and started in September 2015, when Mahina Tiare III arrived in Sweden. Refit plans include new teak decks, new standing rigging, new instruments and repowering with a new Volvo-Penta D2-75, replacing the old TMD31 after some 12,000 hours of good and reliable service. Their 1996 vintage Autohelm ST 50 instruments are 100% operational and shall be kept as it is.
After the first phase refit, Marina Tiare III will sail the cold waters to Norway, Orkney, Shetland, Tromsö/Norway, Spitsbergen, Iceland Faroe Islands, Scotland, Norway and then revert to Adams Boat Care for the second phase refit, leaving Sweden in 2017 for warmer waters. Marina Tiare III takes six guests and all berths are already booked for the 2016 sailings. Even the 2017 season, in warmer waters, is almost fully booked
Stories and images from Mahina Tiare III’s past 19 years of expeditions to the South Pacific, Cape Horn, Antarctica, Svalbard, Alaska and the Caribbean are posted on http://www.mahina.com/expeditionupdates.html.
Many of John’s and Amanda’s 1150 students have been sailors considering purchasing and setting off cruising on a Hallberg-Rassy, wanting to experience an ocean passage with instruction before purchasing one.
Amanda and John spend seven months at sea sailing 10,000 miles annually. When not at sea, they enjoy winter kayaking from their island home at Roche Harbor, 8 miles east of Victoria, B.C. Their website is: www.mahina.com 

John and Amanda Swan Neal
John & Amanda will share how-to tips and knowledge to help you prepare for your own successful cruising adventures, whether to Mexico, the South Pacific, Caribbean or Europe. They will also share highlight and disasters from their favourite cruising destinations around the world, based on their combined 644,000 Nm (1,192,688 km for you landlubbers) and 79 years of experience.

John Neal
John was born on the banks of Africa's Blue Nile River. At the age of 22 his love of adventure and travel fueled a desire to sail to the South Pacific from Seattle aboard his 27' Vega sloop. Log of Mahina chronicled his voyage and adventures and became a best seller. To answer the frequently-asked question, "How can I find and prepare a boat for ocean voyaging?" he conducted the first of now 156 Offshore Cruising Seminars in 1976. In 1990, to meet the requests for hands-on offshore instruction, John established Mahina Expeditions with the goal of sharing his knowledge of ocean voyaging in a safe and supportive environment. John has conducted 171 sail-training expeditions aboard his Hallbery-Rassy 42, Mahina Tiare II, and Hallberg-Rassy 46, Mahina Tiare III, sailing 342,000 miles in the South Pacific, Caribbean, Patagonia, Antarctica, Atlantic, Scandinavia and the Arctic. John and has rounded Cape Horn six times under sail and holds a USCG 100-ton Master's and private pilot's licenses.
Amanda Swan Neal
Amanda grew up in Auckland, New Zealand and sailed to Sausalito, Seattle and Vancouver as a teenager aboard a 38' sloop she helped her parents build. Upon returning to New Zealand, she became a sailmaker for Hoods and transferred professions to rigging with Noake's Rigging in Sydney, Australia then Southern Spars in NZ. In 1990 she completed The Whitbread Around the World Race (now The Volvo Race) as rigger aboard Maiden, the first all-women Whitbread boat. Amanda's 300,000 miles of ocean sailing include two Sydney-Hobart Races, numerous international regattas and seven Cape Horn roundings intermixed with a ten-year involvement in tall ship sail-training. Since joining John in 1994 for Mahina Tiare's Cape Horn and Antarctic expeditions, Amanda has co-skippered aboard Mahina Tiare. She is author of The Essential Galley Companion and since 2005 has written the monthly Galley Essentials column in 48 North magazine. Amanda enjoys introducing women to the joys of the cruising lifestyle and her personal interests include Celtic step dancing, photography, triathlon training and sewing. She holds a NZ Commercial Launchmaster's license.

Sail
The quality of sails you start cruising with will greatly affect your boat's performance as well your time and money. Amanda Swan Neal guides you through choosing a sailmaker, sail design and construction, offshore inventory and how to maximize sailing performance. Downwind and storm sail options and the most common sail repairs will also be detailed. A 15-page handout is available. Amanda was the first women to complete New Zealand's four-year sail making apprenticeship and has worked as a sailmaker in NZ, Australia (America's Cup) and the UK
Areas of Experience: 
Caribbean, Mexico, Atlantic including Azores, Canaries, and Madeira, Patagonia (Chile and Argentina), Cape Horn (six roundings), Antarctica to edge of ice pack, Brazil, Uruguay, Pacific including Galapagos, Panama, Juan Fernandez, Cocos, Clipperton, Easter, Pitcairn, French Polynesia, Cooks, Niue, Samoa, Tonga, Wallis, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Alaska, British Columbia. Europe including the Med including Balaerics and Malta, Ireland, England, Scotland, Orkney, Shetland, Norway, Spitsbergen to edge of ice pack, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Germany, Spain and Portugal.

Parts of this article are taken from John’s and Amanda’s home page http://www.mahina.com with their permission.