Mr Haazen (front right), pictured with crew member John Armstrong and members of Oil Free Otago and the Green Party at Bluff yesterday, said the flotilla was made up of a group of yachts owned and operated by skippers and crew.
''We just want to raise awareness.''
He said Tiana, which had five people on board when it left Bluff yesterday, would stop on Monday in Kaikoura, where there was ''strong opposition'' to deep-sea oil-drilling, before picking up more crew in Wellington.
''It's a dying industry and they're going for the extreme oil.''
He did not agree with safety assurances given by Minister of Energy and Resources Simon Bridges.
''They're putting Simon Bridges through the wringer. He's bending over backwards to get these guys in.''
Seven members of Oil Free Otago (OFO) drove from Dunedin to Bluff to farewell the yacht and its crew yesterday and to present the crew with gifts including an OFO flag.
OFO spokeswoman Niamh O'Flynn said it was important to support the flotilla as the Otago and Southland coasts were next in line for drilling.
Ms O'Flynn acknowledged the group had travelled in a vehicle powered by fossil fuel, but they had inherited the problems of the oil industry and were ''locked into fossil fuel dependency''.
