Sail across the Pacific

Melbourne's Yarra's Edge Yachts (YEY) is organising its inaugural America to Australia bluewater cruise in company departing here next January 24 and setting sail from La Paz in Mexico on February 14. The exciting event, which requires you buy a yacht from a pre-existing fleet of preloved American craft handpicked for the trip, is dubbed the Trans Pacific Rally.

Conceived over rum punches at sunset while delivering a vessel from Tahiti to Fiji this year, the Trans Pacific Rally allows the YEY crew to share their love of sailing and passion for exploring the Pacific with the wanderlust of prospective yachts owners shopping on the American second-hand market.

YEY, which operates out of Melbourne's Docklands and imports plenty of preloved boats from America, says sailing under the guidance and safety of an escorted tour fleet is a big attraction of the Trans Pacific Rally. Needless to say, so too is the venue.

The Pacific Ocean is riddled with tropical islands and unexplored coral atolls, caressed by consistent tradewinds and, when not sailing, it offers exquisite diving, unique cultures, and re-provisioning at local markets that leads to many a tantalising on-board meal.

Meantime, despite the choppy nature of financial markets and the exchange rate, there are still great bargains in the second-hand market in America because the economy is in a slump and the size of the industry is huge.

Further, there appears to be sustained interest in the rally from sailors who just want to pack it in and see the Pacific. Of course, sailors have long entertained the thought of buying a yacht overseas and sailing it home, however, most rarely realise the dream because they're not confident enough to embark on the journey alone.

SAFE SAILING ASSURED
Boatbuyers joining in the Trans Pacific Rally get to make the long-distance ocean crossing with the guidance and support of YEY's experienced crew. And it's not unchartered waters: the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, which provides camaraderie for Atlantic crossings and circumnavigations, has become so popular that bookings are capped at 220 and places are already filling for 2010.

"But they're not just baby boomers with time and money, who are entering retirement, that are interested in the Trans Pacific Rally," said YEY principal Graham Stephens. "We already know one business owner who can only spare three weeks at a time away from his work, so he intends joining the rally and sharing various legs with his crew comprising family, friends and lucky employees."

SCIENCE ON BOARD
Stephens has cruised extensively and organised many dive and eco-tours in the Pacific, so he knows the secrets, treasures, the best destinations and the most beautiful and remote anchorages. But to add to the exploratory nature of the rally, Stephens has engaged a marine scientist and PhD student, Jake Van Oosterom, for the trip.

Van Oosterom's resume includes avid diver and keen sailor, but also expertise in exotic topics such as tropical biology, marine ecology, plate tectonics, volcanic hotspots, and physical oceanography. Thus, those in the Trans Pacific Rally fleet are assured an educational time along the way.

By good design, the route will take the flotilla through volcanically active areas including Latte, the latest volcanic island to erupt out of the sea, where the ocean has been seen to bubble and steam from freshly erupted magma. Other island destinations are so remote that their residents only contact with the outside world is via passing yachts.

SEA OF CORTEZ START
The Trans Pacific Rally will begin on February 14 in Mexico's Sea of Cortez, sail through the Marquesas, Tuamotus, Tahiti, The Cook Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu and New Caledonia, arriving in Queensland on October 11.

YEY said the route has been planned to utilise the tradewinds, taking the shortest path across the Equatorial Convergence Zone (Doldrums), with three weeks allowed for the fleet to sail from Mexico to the Marquesas - the longest open ocean stretch.

Two weeks has been set aside to re-provision and explore the dramatic landscape of the Marquesas, the inspiration behind numerous Herman Melville books, where black mountain pinnacles descend into a dramatic seascape of caldera and underwater caves.

In the Marquesas, expect encounters with a variety of large sea creatures like manta rays and huge schools of hammerhead sharks should you choose to dive. Then it's onto the Tuamotus, Tahiti, The Cook Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia before arriving back in Queensland eight months after setting sail from Mexico.

But there are also allowances for people to do their own exploring within each group of islands.

"Some people may wish to fly home at various stages or change crew, which has all been considered in the route planning," assures Bruce Crump, YEY's logistics expert.

WHICH YACHT?
Of course, an ocean voyage isn't to be taken lightly. The YEY crew have scoured the global markets to find appropriate vessels for the task. "A fully qualified local marine surveyor will be employed to haul and survey vessels for the rally," said YEY. And there's currently a lot of long-distance legwork underway.

At the time of writing, YEY was shopping for a near-new 60ft catamaran for a rally participant who prefers two hulls than one, while another inquirer wanted to sail a new Tartan yacht home to save on shipping and delivery.

There's a list on the YEY website of good-value bluewater cruisers suitable for the journey. The range includes modern light-displacement vessels through to traditional heavy displacement vessels of sizes from 36 to 60ft priced from $US47,500 to $US350,000.

If duly motivated, yacht owners might sell their vessel back here in Australia through YEY, after the compelling sea trial from America, hopefully at a profit so the venture is self-funding. More than likely, having seen the Pacific, owners will be so smitten they set sail again.

For more information, visit www.yey.com.au/tpr.html