The Port of Tauranga's new pilot boat Arataki is expected to arrive for the first time at her new home port on Sunday evening.

A team from the Port of Tauranga departed onboard Arataki from her Whanganui builder's yard on Friday, with refuelling stops planned at Wellington and Napier, with a projected arrival time in Tauranga of about 6pm on Sunday.

The estimated arrival time is depending on good weather and an otherwise uninterrupted voyage, says Port of Tauranga operations manager Nigel Drake.

Arataki is designed by Auckland design house Bakewell-White. She's 16.5 metres long, weighs about 20 tonnes, and is powered by twin Scania diesel engines driving fixed-pitch propellors. Her service speed is 25 knots, compared with the 18 knot speed of the port's existing pilot boat Tauranga II.

It is a planned replacement. Tauranga II, one of the first purpose built high speed pilot boats in the country, is now 25 years old, and by coincidence was built at the same Castlecliff yard.

Arataki will have the same capacity and general internal layout as Tauranga II.

She will have a crew of two and be able to carry six pilots, and is expected to be quieter.

Meanwhile the current Pilot Boat Tauranga II is on the hard, receiving a bit of a spruce up before beginning a new life as the Port Marlborough pilot boat.