[4] Thomas had previously visited British Outward Bound schools, and conducted a trial course on Auckland's Motutapu Island (in 1961).

[1] The school was opened by then Governor-General of New Zealand Lord Cobham, who landed in the Marlborough Sounds for the occasion on board an RNZAF flying boat accompanied by Prime Minister Keith Holyoake and Leader of the Opposition Walter Nash.

[11] However, most courses share activities drawn from a common pool and modified by the capabilities of the participant group: physical training, rock climbing, kayaking, sailing, tramping, and a solo experience.

Here watch is used in the nautical sense, "a group of sailors and officers aboard a ship or shore station with a common period of duty".

Each watch is named for an iconic figure in New Zealand history; examples include Hillary, Kupe, Batten, and Cobham.

[16] The cutters were based on an old naval design, comparable to the James Caird used to cross part of the southern Atlantic Ocean by Ernest Shackleton.

Wahine sank before the lifeboat came into service, and subsequently the Union Steam Ship Company donated her to Outward Bound.

Staff added an engine, deck and wheelhouse to convert it into a launch, and she remained in service nearly 50 years before the old fleet were replaced with newer Tortuga designs.

[19] As with many outdoor education activities, Outward Bound participants agree to undertake an increased level of risk when attending their course.

Because some activities take place in remote areas of forest and terrain inaccessible to ground vehicles, helicopters are sometimes used to airlift injured participants to treatment at nearby Wairau Hospital.

[21] In 2011 the Outward Bound cutter Matahorua was struck by Delphinus, a 12.9 metre catamaran owned by a Picton ecotourism company.

These accidents have informed Outward Bound instructor training and curriculum, following a global outdoor education trend away from acceptance of occasional accidental loss of life.