High latitudes
should look up the World ARC rally which starts and finishes in St Lucia and takes around 15 months. You can buy a berth with Rubicon 3 for £55,000 for the circumnavigation.
If that’s too much of a commitment, each leg is an adventure in itself. Dan Bowers’ highly rated Skyelark of London offers single berth leg charters on the World ARC for around £4,000, such as the one from Panama from Galapagos. Leg distances range from 1,000-3,500 miles.
Bruce Jacobs, one of Rubicon’s founders, says the Indian Ocean leg from Darwin, Australia to Mauritius is the one he’d most love to do himself. The first stop, Lombok in Indonesia, is a tropical paradise visited only by surfers until very recently when it came onto the tourism radar.
Jacobs says: “People who’ve been there rave about the mountains, forests and active volcanoes. It’s one of those emerging places like Cuba was a few years ago. Now is the time to go.”
“I have always dreamed of going to Christmas Island,” he added, “it’s called the Galapagos of the Indian Ocean for its spectacular natural wonders including rainforests, waterfalls, coral reefs and white sharks.”
That is just one stopover on the 44-day, 800-mile voyage that covers three-quarters of the Indian Ocean. Others are the remote Cocos Keeling islands.
Almost all Rubicon’s paying crew is aged 40-60. Jacobs says: “Many are people who have been working really hard for the last 20-25 years and have put cash aside and now want to live their life. The social aspect of our trips is key and we get a fascinating mix of people – doctors, famous chefs, architects, surgeons, entrepreneurs, who all seem to share a similar mindset. The majority tend to be still working, with Below: hot springs and the aurora borealis in Iceland More and more sailors are seeking high latitude adventures. Some are keen skiers looking for new off piste challenges, others are drawn to the incredible scenery and wildlife of the polar regions.
The best-known are Skip Novak’s Pelagic Australis trips to the Antarctic. Next winter you could set off on a monthlong expedition on a yacht specially adapted for icy waters, departing from the southern tip of Chile, passing Cape Horn and crossing the Drake Passage to the Antarctic peninsula. The yacht is a mobile base camp from which you can explore the mountainous Antarctic coast, skiing, sea-kayaking and wildlife-watching and ice-climbing, snowshoeing and mountaineering.
For a trip to such a remote and hostile environment, it’s vital to have confidence in the team leaders. Skip Novak and his crew come highly recommended. As well as adventurers they take teams of scientists to the polar region. Dr Paul Mayewski, Professor of Climate Change at the University of Maine, has travelled with Pelagic three times. He says: “Skip and crew are the real deal! They are not just highly experienced at sea, but also on land and ice. They seamlessly provide a highly enjoyable and safety conscious expedition that instills confidence in all on board.”
Very few people get to sail round Cape Horn and opportunities to become a Cape Horner are rare, but one exciting option lets you tick off the Cape of Good Hope as well, sailing aboard the tall ship Europa.
The Cape to Cape voyage