Douglas Myers

"One such project appeared in the latter part of 1981 when Douglas Myers asked Gibbs for some help in a dispute he was having with Lion Breweries. Notwithstanding their shared interest in Radio Hauraki, their separation by only a few floors in the West Plaza tower and several mutual friends, Gibbs hadn’t had much to do with Myers until then.[23](private://read/01jrsfvkjy84rkprtbz9amfvj8/#rw-num-note-477280-404182126-23) Through his private company, Campbell & Ehrenfried, Myers owned half of New Zealand Wines and Spirits. Lion Breweries, one of New Zealand’s largest public companies, owned the other half. Myers had fallen out with Sir Ralph Thompson, Lion’s chairman, and had exercised a contractual right to demand that Lion buy him out of New Zealand Wines and Spirits."

"Nor was there a cure for the intense natural curiosity that compelled Gibbs to seek further stimulation. Over Christmas 1996 Gibbs caught up with his old friend Douglas Myers at his Matauri Bay farm. Two of country’s richest and most successful businessmen ruminated there over the fact that they both always felt dissatisfied. They concluded, after several wines, that it was genetic. People were either by nature happy and contented or dissatisfied and discontented.[14](private://read/01jrsfvkjy84rkprtbz9amfvj8/#rw-num-note-477351-409220225-14) The trick, if you were of the latter persuasion, was to use the resulting restlessness as an energising force, driving you on."

"Through this difficult period Gibbs had a helpful distraction. In October 2003, just after the Aquada’s public launch, he’d bought a boat in partnership with Douglas Myers. No ordinary boat, *Senses* was a 59 metre, 1000 ton ship, equipped with two helipads, one helicopter and a flotilla of small craft, including a charming 12.8 metre Nelson tender and a Halmatic Atlantic 24, a high-speed rigid inflatable favoured by the British military. *Senses* had a crew of 14. *Senses* was designed to be equally at home in the Arctic or Saint-Tropez, and best of all, for Gibbs, it had a ramp at the stern up which he could drive an Aquada. With the helicopter, Aquada and other boats, *Senses* was really a luxury base for exploration. When cruising up the coast from Barcelona to Nice it was possible to fly into Perpignan for a bistro lunch, or drive the Aquada in."

"Through this difficult period Gibbs had a helpful distraction. In October 2003, just after the Aquada’s public launch, he’d bought a boat in partnership with Douglas Myers. No ordinary boat, *Senses* was a 59 metre, 1000 ton ship, equipped with two helipads, one helicopter and a flotilla of small craft, including a charming 12.8 metre Nelson tender and a Halmatic Atlantic 24, a high-speed rigid inflatable favoured by the British military. *Senses* had a crew of 14. *Senses* was designed to be equally at home in the Arctic or Saint-Tropez, and best of all, for Gibbs, it had a ramp at the stern up which he could drive an Aquada. With the helicopter, Aquada and other boats, *Senses* was really a luxury base for exploration. When cruising up the coast from Barcelona to Nice it was possible to fly into Perpignan for a bistro lunch, or drive the Aquada in."