About us

Slack Tide Studio started with two simple questions:

What’s the tide doing?
And, what if we shaped our days around that?

We live in Māpua, where the tide is part of daily life. It influences when you swim, when you fish, when you wharf-jump and when you go for a beach walk. Slack tide, the short pause between tides, is something you learn to notice and appreciate.

Jannis

Jannis is a boat builder and now works as a conservation ranger. His conservation work included restoring fish passage for native migratory fish, and he also volunteers with Project Jonah as a Marine Mammal Medic, attending whale strandings on Farewell Spit.

He’s someone who enjoys working things out, taking his time and doing them properly. He loves being around the water, whether it's kayaking, surfing, fishing, or caring for the coast and the life that lives there.  Sustainability and kaitiakitanga are all part of his life.

Jannis’s attention to detail and quality craftsmanship shape how our clocks are made.

Hayley

Hayley brings a professional perspective from psychology, coaching, and mental health. She is an accredited coach with the International Coaching Federation, with years spent behind a screen in the corporate world and coaching others.  During her career, it became clear that often the most helpful thing isn’t more thinking — it is getting outside and doing what you love.

Being with friends.
Moving in nature.
Returning to your senses.
Spending time in and near the water.

The ocean has a way of pulling you out of your head and back into the moment. Hayley was drawn to make beautiful and practical objects that gently nudge people to do more of what makes them feel good.

Hayley creates the resin waves, and designs &  produces all the laser-cut clock faces.

 

Together

We live and work in Māpua, Aotearoa New Zealand.

When we’re not making things, we’re usually down at the wharf swimming, kayaking, walking along the beach or estuary. Or we are away in the campervan, following the good weather windows along the coast, the mountains, and the tides around the Top of the South.

Slack Tide is a reflection of how we aim live: taking it slow and appreciating nature.