Sailing from Tahiti to Australia is known as one of the world's most amazing trade wind sails; yachtsmen the world over call it "The Coconut Run."
It begins when you cast off your stern line from the dock in Papeete and 80 days, 4000 nautical miles and 12 credits later, the voyage ends as you tuck your bow behind the Great Barrier Reef into the protected waters of Queensland, Australia.
In between, you get to hoist and lower the sails of a beautiful schooner, anchor in secluded lagoons, catch fish straight from the Pacific Ocean, study the plankton with your resident Marine Biologists, anchor off the reefs of Raratonga, climb and hike with natives of the Tonga Archipelago and participate in a Kava ceremony with the chief of a Fijian village. Are we missing something here? Not likely - but YOU will be missing something to tell your grandkids someday if you don't sign up early enough to be among those fortunate enough to remember every day along the way.
This voyage is slightly unique as we will be offering ostensibly the same program yet with two separate start dates. This means that students can sign aboard for either an 80 or 66-day experience. Whichever voyage you choose, this program will offer an incredibly comprehensive experience in terms of the geographical area covered and both academic and vocational classes and certifications earned. During the 80-day program, 12 academic credits are offered through the State College of Florida for the Basic Seamanship, Student Leadership, Oceanography and Marine Biology classes taught aboard. In addition, there are several vocational courses offered for those looking to further their professional development in the maritime industry. The academic schedule for the 66-day voyage will be slightly less, with 9 credits for the Basic Seamanship, Student Leadership & Oceanography classes. Please contact our office for more information on +1.941.924.2900. For more information on our classes, please visit our
courses page.
During the voyage, students earn a number of different certifications. Those new to scuba diving will have the opportunity to achieve the PADI Open Water Scuba Diver certification and certified divers may earn their PADI Advanced Open Water. Students looking for a more scuba-focused program should consider one of our Caribbean programs as they offer more opportunity to dive. In sailing, all students will challenge the International Yachtmaster Training (IYT) International Crew Certificate and most will also challenge the Navigation Master. Those selecting the Professional Skipper & Crew Training Course can earn up to and including the IYT Master of Yachts 200 ton Theory Certificate. All students will complete First Aid and CPR certification. Please note that those enrolling for the 66-day course will have less opportunity to dive since a relatively longer period of their trip will be spent in ocean waters.
A maximum of 26 students and 7 staff will sail aboard for this voyage, split between both males and females.
This voyage is run aboard our 112-foot sail training schooner S/Y Argo. Launched in June 2006, her design is the product of the close collaboration between Langan Design Associates of Newport Rhode Island and Sea
|mester. Argo is a two-masted staysail schooner and is certified and inspected by the British Maritime and Coastguard Agency as a Category "0" vessel, allowing her unrestricted operation in the world's oceans. For more information on Argo, please visit our
vessel information page.
From the moment you arrive, you'll move aboard and live on board full-time. If you've never lived aboard a yacht before, you'll find that there are a lot of differences to living on land! What's the head? Where's the lazarette? How do you pump the bilge? Argo has 9 dedicated sleeping areas so there's enough room for us all to sleep down below in our own bunk.
Six professional staff members live aboard full-time. There will be the Skipper, the First and Second Mate and two Marine Biologists (who are typically also diving instructors) and a sixth staff member who could also be an EMT or someone with other special skills. Take a look through our
staff page for more information.
In general, in the Pacific we'll experience steady winds blowing 8-14 knots and the temperature will range from about 70°F to 90°F. Don't forget that it's winter in the southern hemisphere over this time period, yet we'll be so far north (so to speak!) that we'll be in summer-like conditions for most all of the trip. You might be looking for a sweater during the cooler evenings, yet it will be swimsuits and board shorts during the day. It is likely that we will see varying weather conditions during our Pacific crossing.
Periodically, we will be in locations from which students may call home. Each country has a different communication system, so dialing procedures change at each destination.
- Local Phone Cards: Students may purchase local phone cards at each island. While quite expensive, this is our recommended method for ensuring a long distance connection.
- Credit Card Calls: The most universal (yet most expensive) method of paying for a call is to use a valid credit card with operator assistance.
- International Calling Card: We suggest contacting the major phone card providers for their information on the latest rates and access numbers (which are different for each island). In our experience, only international (non-prepaid) calling cards such as AT&T and Sprint, will work and then only with the correct access numbers.
- GSM Cellular Phones: We actively encourage students to bring their GSM (tri-band or quad-band) cellular phones aboard because they may work in many global locations. However, while aboard we do have guidelines as to when students can and cannot use them because the environment we strive to create aboard relies very heavily on each individual remaining focused on the group and our experience. Being tied to the modern world of "instant communications" can, in certain circumstances, be a hindrance to the personal and group processes aboard. We feel that there is ample opportunity to make calls during personal time ashore.
The easiest way is for students to place a quick call home to let Mom and Dad in on what's going on! Sometimes this doesn't happen though, so we instigated a trip update system in which, at the end of each day, the student skipper of the day writes a few remarks in the log. At various times (typically once every 3 or 4 days) this is typed up and posted on the Sea|mester website along with photos and the occasional podcast. This way, Mom and Dad can vicariously live aboard too!
Sorry to say that we will not be able to facilitate any mail drops to the vessel during the program. But, just because you can't receive mail doesn't mean that you can't send it!
Our vessels do not have computers or Internet connectivity, so email contact will be very limited. Students will be able to receive and send limited e-mail while ashore visiting internet cafes. These are becoming more popular, so you may want to make sure you have an email set up through an account such as Gmail or Yahoo.
Please call us on +1.941.924.2900 for specific information on CDC recommended immunizations for this program.
All US and Canadian students traveling on this voyage need to have a passport which is valid for a minimum of six months after the date of departure from the Program. Visitors from certain countries other than the US, UK and Canada may require visas. To confirm whether or not a visa is required for any part of this voyage, please call us on +1.941.924.2900
