Co-Owner
Skipper & Diver

Troy grew up on the Tora Coast, first at White Rock and later at Tora. His dad was a crayfisherman, so Troy grew up on these waters, fishing and surfing from a young age. He’s been skip of his own vessil since he was 24 and these days is the skipper of our boat, catching crayfish and also dives for your pāua and kina. Troy genuinely loves being on the water and wouldn’t want to do anything else. When he’s not fishing, he’s usually surfing, checking the surf, or heading away camping somewhere that is conveniently close to a surf break.

Co-Owner
Marketing & Management

Claire (Kāi Tahu) was born in Golden Bay and grew up in Marlborough. She taught herself to dive while at university in Wellington, spending plenty of time snorkelling and exploring the marine reserves around the south coast. At Tora, Claire looks after the marketing, sales and generally making sure everything runs smoothly between the land and the sea. What stokes her the most about Tora Collective is working with the seasons, weather and ocean, and feeling deeply rooted to the natural world because of it. Outside of work, she’s usually making pottery, walking with her dog Ngaio or heading bush and camping.

Deckhand & Diver

Bailey grew up in the Wairarapa, with a family bach at Tora that goes back generations. His grandad Fitzy was one of the first crayfishermen working these waters, and Bailey grew up fishing, diving and spearfishing around the coast himself. These days he works alongside Troy as our deckhand and diver, and is also the guy keeping the boat running, the pots in good nick and plenty of other things ticking along. Bailey is quiet, steady, loyal as, and one of those people you can always rely on. When he’s not working, he’s usually with family or having a crack at motocross, rugby, squash or anything else remotely competitive.

Operations Coordinator

Maggie grew up on a farm in Kahutara, spending plenty of her childhood out Tora on the water. Some of her earliest memories are cruising around spotting pāua and crayfish for her brothers while they did the hard work diving. After a few years travelling and working overseas, she’s made her way back home to the Wairarapa and the coast she grew up around. Maggie is our Operations Coordinator, keeping things running smoothly behind the scenes, from coordinating orders and pack days to packing seafood and generally making sure all the moving parts run smoothly. When she’s not at work, you’ll find her trail running in the Tararuas, hanging with her dogs, or getting involved in the local community.

Security

Ngaio was an SPCA special, found at the Masterton SPCA five years ago, and there’s genuinely no other dog quite like her. She spends her working days hanging around the pack shed, sunbathing on the lawn and alerting the crew to anyone who arrives. She’s calm, sweet and ridiculously soft, which Claire credits to all the seaweed she was fed as a pup. Her calm nature disappears pretty quickly when there’s a stick involved. Her favourite place is Tora, preferably in the river with someone willing to throw sticks for her all day.