It is 1,550 kilometres as the tern flies between Aitutaki — where I was recently, in the Cook Islands — and Ahe, way over to the east in the Tuamotus. Ahe is one of the smallest of the many atolls of the Tuamotus, a shell necklace of reefs and motus strung around a lagoon so blue you are forced to recalibrate your colours.

Almost exactly 40 years ago we sailed into Ahe, as we worked our way slowly westwards across the Pacific ocean. Not all atolls have boat access into the lagoon. But if there is a pass, water will usually be continuously streaming out through it, fed by the surge of waves coming in over the windward reefs. Our first atoll experience was nearby Manihi, where we were ignominiously wedged against a coral head by the current. Our strong steel hull was unscathed and only pride was damaged! In comparison Ahe has an easy pass leading in to a small lagoon.

On Ahe we met Mama Fana, the village matriarch. Later, at my request, she sat me down and taught me how to weave a hat from coconut palm leaves. In the 40 years since I have extended her legacy, making hats in all the islands that we visited, either on our yacht, or later on holidays from Aotearoa: Mo’orea, Samoa, Rarotonga, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. I have gathered groups on beaches to pass on Mama Fana’s knowledge, sometimes even to local islanders who have asked me to revive their skill.

I have learned the nuances of leaves from different places, how the length and brittleness will vary between atolls and mountainous islands. And the qualities of the leaf when it is taken from different parts of the frond and the tree. It is one of my ways of feeling myself into a place, by handling and working with its flora. By experimentation I learned to make different shaped hats, such as a square or dome crown, a wide or narrow brim.

We used to bring them back to Aotearoa, but sadly now biosecurity rules require expensive fumigation. By chance, on the day that we were returning through Rarotonga on our way home, #PacificMother was being screened. It is a film about mothers reclaiming the birthing process and it centres around the birth of two of our grandchildren. We met up with our friends the director and producer and gave them the hats. They passed them on to Rarotonga people who had worked on the local segment of the film.