OceansWatch - many opportunities in 2011 for adventurous sailors

by Chris Bone/Sail-World Cruising on 7 Jan 2011 OceansWatch, whose goal is to work with sailors, divers and scientists to help coastal communities conserve their marine environments, has many opportunities for sailors to get involved in 2011.

Some of their trips are 'delivery trips' whilst others are full-on expeditions that require a range of skills in addition to knowing a bow from a bowline. These are great opportunities for the adventurous sailor looking to improve their skills.

Their policy is to offer opportunities to paid up members first then to the general public (joining is a good idea anyway), and here they are:

Crew for Caribbean trip, Jan 12 to March 1, 2011:

We have been offered 6 weeks use of a very nice 50’ fast cruiser by a generous OceansWatch member. The yacht is on a delivery from Turkey to New Zealand. The trip starts in Trinidad and most of the larger ports from there to the Dominican Republic will be visited.

This trip is really an opportunity for networking, telling fellow cruisers all about OceansWatch and identifying projects for members to get involved with in the future. We are looking for outgoing folks with at least some sailing experience and a strong interest and knowledge of marine conservation issues.

You will need to get involved soon to help with organising logistics for this trip. Skipper will be OceansWatch member Andy Clarkson. Andy is a very experienced skipper who has worked for Chris Bone’s yacht delivery company for many years. Andy is also a Reef Check diver. You will need to contribute US$15.00 per day for expenses and food on board.

Crew for a delivery trip, Sydney to New Zealand:

This trip is on our beautiful lead yacht Moksha, a Hanse 54. Last year Moksha sailed about 6,000nm for OceansWatch and is very fast and seaworthy. After her trip through Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and PNG last year she was left in Sydney for her owner to use and in April starts her time with OceansWatch again. ETD April 15 and it should be about a 9 day crossing. You need to contribute towards food and cover any air fares. We need a very experienced skipper for this trip as well as experienced crew. The skipper must hold a recognised qualification and have blue water experience on boats this size.


Crew for a deliver trip, Seattle to Vanuatu:

Here is an opportunity for a very interesting sail. The yacht is a new project lead yacht for OceansWatch that will be working in Vanuatu alongside our lead yacht Magic Roundabout. 'Rowena' is a Formosa 41 that was gifted to OceansWatch member and qualified skipper Julia Miller. Julia is especially interested in marine conservation education and saw that working with OceansWatch would be a great way to follow her dreams. Rowena has had a major refit but there is still work to do. Preparation work starts in earnest in mid January in Seattle with March 15 as ETD. Rowena will head to San Francisco then to Samoa and on to Vanuatu with an ETA of mid-late May. Crew for this trip need to have had some experience and need to cover their own food and return flight expenses. There will be an opportunity for suitably skilled people to stay on for the rest of the season.

Skipper/engineer Magic Roundabout, NZ, Vanuatu:

We need a skipper for Magic Roundabout, who must also be a very competent engineer. Magic Roundabout is a lovely little yacht a Sweden 34 built in 1986. MR has served us well and covered >15,000nm for our cause JShe is dearly loved by us all because without her we would never have been able to have started in the first place. You will need blue water experience and at least Yachtmaster qualifications as well as a strong commitment to conservation and a pride in your vessel! Being a qualified diver would be great as would a marine biology background but neither are essential.

Refit starts mid February with our ETD New Zealand May 1. Magic Roundabout will work in Vanuatu this year then will either go to Australia to assist Moksha for 6 weeks on a marketing trip or will sail straight back to NZ by the end of November.

Engineer, Moksha:

Moksha needs a multi talented engineer for the whole season. You would join the boat in Sydney in mid April for her delivery then stay onboard for the entire project. Moksha will visit Vanuatu, The Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea then goes to Cairns, Australia at the end of the season. From Cairns she sails slowly to Sydney, stopping at all main centres on the way down the coast to promote OceansWatch to cruisers and yacht clubs.

We need an engineer with additional skills including diving. Other skills such as environmental science, education training film making etc can all really help us.

All boats:.

To run a successful OceansWatch project requires a range of skilled people on the project lead yachts. Altogether this year we shall need at least 20 people for the boats and with deliveries etc we expect about 30 people to be involved on the water. Add the office volunteers, Trustees and Directors and you are joining a tribe of about 100 committed activists!

These skills and qualifications we need include:

Sailing, advanced First Aid, diving (from PADI Open Water through to PADI OWSI), Marine biology, Environmental Science, International Development, small business development, doctors, nurses, ecotourism, film makers, photographers and writers.

We shall be running training in Vanuatu in early May for people involved in our Melanesian trips and there will also be training sessions for crew in New Zealand. This can include PADI diving course at very reasonable prices.
All our trips require a contribution towards project, food and yacht running expenses. The contribution last year was NZ$200pw. This year we expect a similar contribution.

Please contact chris@oceanswatch.orgif you are interested in any of these opportunities.

For more information about Oceans Watch, go to their www.oceanswatch.org!website
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