 In 1899 , Sanders joined the <unk> as a cabin boy . An officer on the ship , a coastal steamer which worked the coast north of Auckland , was an acquaintance and advised Sanders of the availability of a position on board as a cabin boy , which he promptly applied for . He remained with the company that operated the <unk> for three years . In 1902 he joined the <unk> , operated by the Union Steam Ship Company , which traded between New Zealand and India . He transferred to the NZGSS Hinemoa in 1906 as an ordinary seaman . The Hinemoa was a government steamer which serviced lighthouses along the New Zealand coast and depots on offshore islands . 
