Crew Wanted: YUCATAN, MEXICO TO THE SOUTH CHINA SEAS

[Capt. Ray]

FIRST LEG: MEXICO TO HAITI MEDICAL SUPPLIES MISSION THEN ONGOING TO THE PHILIPPINES VIA PANAMA TO ESTABLISH IRG'S NEW BASE

SAIL HALFWAY AROUND THE WORLD ABOARD OUR 97-FOOT KETCH

DEPARTURE Progreso, Yucatán, Mexico January 2022.
FINAL DESTINATION: Puerto Galera, Mindoro Oriental, Philippines, IRG's new base in the South China Seas. May-July 2022 dependent on weather.
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HOW TO APPLY FOR A BERTH
Simply PM me or WhatsApp with a brief description of you and interest in this voyage with any questions, or email ray.thackeray@internationalrescuegroup.org
OBJECTIVES:
1) Deliver still-needed medical supplies to Haiti, our usual disaster relief mission
2) Transit Zeepaard to the South China Seas to take up work as International Rescue Group disaster relief ship.
3) Safe and fast passagemaking.
4) Experience the Panama Canal, the cruising life and sail halfway around the world, the voyage of a lifetime.

INITIAL VOYAGE PLAN 2022
Jan Yucatán to Haiti to deliver medical supplies still needed after the recent earthquake, to our safe base in Ile a Vache
Feb-Mar Haiti to Christobal Colon, Transit the Panama Canal.
Mar-Apr Panama City to Marquesas
Apr-May Marquesas to Fiji, Vanuatu
May-Jun Solomon Islands,
Jul Philippines Visayas & Oriental Mindoro
August Stay at our beach-front Philippines apartment 1 month and explore the island!
Actual cruise plan is not finalised and some destinations may change depending on COVID regulations, geo-political circumstances closer to departure, weather and prevailing wind conditions. NOTE There are two Pacific routes, the first is south of the ITCZ (Inter Tropical Convergence Zone) as in the above described route but an alternate route may be north of the ITCZ depending on conditions at the time of departure. For a sailing voyage halfway around the world, it is good to be mentally flexible and changes will be discussed with the crew. We have a copy of Jimmy Cornell's "World Cruising Handbook' aboard plus the Royal Cruising Club's "Pacific Crossing Guide", all voyagers will be encouraged to read these before departure and enroute to Panama.
Total distance: over 11,000nm. For context, the world is 21,000nm around at the equator!
Voyaging time approx: 110 days in at least 4 legs. There will be time spent in each destination to explore and make repairs when needed.

THE SHIP: S/V Zeepaard, a steel gaff-rigged ketch LOA 97'-feet. Considering converting the ship to a Brigantine by adding a yard and square sail for the Pacific downwind passages (rather than flying a spinnaker long distances). We have a 30-foot Panga (dinghy) and single-person kayak, an inflatable 6-person Avon dinghy and a folding Porta-Bote 2-person dinghy. There are four double cabins and one cabin has upper and lower bunks. There are three showers and a laundry. A 500 gallon water tank and 1,500 gallons in diesel tanks take the ship a long way when needed.

THE CAPTAIN: 50,000 nautical miles as Captain aboard large monohull and multihull sailboats including 10,000nm operating S/V Zeepaard over the last 7 years, the last 2 years overseeing a major refitting. A similar past voyage was from Boston, Massachusetts via Caribbean, Panama Canal to Hawaii in command of his own boat, a 51' ketch. Captain Ray is also Founder and Executive Director of International Rescue Group (IRG) and has conducted dozens of disaster relief missions, mostly in the Caribbean. Also helping to run the ship is Daisy, a Filipina.

INTERNATIONAL RESCUE GROUP: IRG provides disaster relief to poor coastal and island communities by sea and is a California-based nonprofit corporation. See http;//www.internationalrescuegroup.com for more information.

CREW: This is not a "mint-on-the-pillow" luxury cruise, though S/V Zeepaard is beautifully appointed and usually the queen of the anchorage; we are all working crew in a volunteering mode. As a charity, transiting our disaster relief ship to a new operations location, we are a nonprofit organization and expect crew to contribute to the voyage including expense sharing and helping work on the yacht before and during the cruise. In return you learn how to manage and navigate a large sailing vessel halfway around the world in exotic locations and for those of you who are working on your Captain's license get logged days to contribute. We have sailed many times with crew who had little or no experience at all at sea, the right attitude is what counts. For those who continue to the final destination on the island of Mindoro, Philippines, crew can stay at our beachfront apartment with free use of our 3-seat electric vehicle and on arrival crew can stay there for 30 days to enjoy the island which is one of the most beautiful and has great nightlife, SCUBA, sightseeing etc. We do have friendly ship's cats so don't be feline-allergic!

CREW EXPECTATIONS: Double-vaccinated COVID and certificate (vital to clear customs quarantines inbound to other countries), passport valid for all of 2022, generally healthy, some sailing experience helpful but not vital, we have had many inexperienced crew sail with this ship on passages.

COST: Being a charity, funds are always tight and we cannot attempt a voyage like this without funding. There are three major expenses (Fuel, food and the Panama Canal), but lots of other miscellaneous costs - some unpredictable - present themselves such as clearing/visa fees in and out of countries and repairs. We have four available cabins which are all doubles. We started out asking for $10,000 each which is very reasonable for up to 6 months food included, but few people can find that money right now, even though it is far less than it normally costs to live at home for the same time! So now we are just asking each person to cover their food for 5 months ($1500) in advance and we will all work together and engage in online fundraising in the hope of pulling the funds in to cover the Haiti mission as well as voyage expenses. Crew may join the ship for the entire voyage, or just a major leg (for example Mexico to Panama), negotiable depending on cabin availability. Please be aware that a sea voyage half-way around the world cannot have exactly predictable voyage times, and if some crew decide to depart part-way through the cruise that is possible, they can fly on elsewhere or even still avail themselves of an inclusive bedroom at our beach apartment in the Philippines if they so wish. After 30 days aboard the ship to familiarize, you may rent our entire 3-bedroom apartment in the Philippines for just 15,000 Philippine pesos a month inc. WiFi (about US$300). You are responsible for your own Travel Expenses to and from the ship. To summarize crew expense sharing will cover food, consumables, fuel, transit equipment, repairs and some expensive single-cost fees such as transiting the Panama Canal. To put this in perspective, our initial fuel bunkering will be 6,000 litres of diesel fuel, and we need to install a new watermaker for the voyage for security and comfort. Crew expense sharing will not cover the entire cost of this transit but as a nonprofit, we need to fund some of our transit expenses with a call for donations from our supporters and maybe sponsorships but have no plans for such calls at this point.
You will be expected to help work on our fundraising projects and every dollar in sponsorships and donations you can find will contribute to your passage. We have had crew in the past who were able to find donations up to $10,000 each so it is possible to pay your passage that way. For each crew member who hits the $10,000 target, we refund your $1500 food deposit. We can accept donations even while underway. It is likely the entire voyage may take 6 months. Contriibuting videos to IRG's YouTube channel can help with fundraising if you know how to do that. You will probably save money compared with staying home! Crew may join the ship for the entire voyage, or just a major leg (for example Mexico to Haiti or Panama), negotiable depending on cabin availability. Please be aware that a sea voyage half-way around the world cannot have exactly predictable voyage times, and if some crew decide to depart part-way through the cruise that is possible, they can fly on elsewhere or even still avail themselves of an inclusive bedroom at our beach apartment in the Philippines if they so wish. After 30 days, you may rent a room in our 3-bedroom apartment in the Philippines for just 15,000 pesos a month inc. WiFi. You are responsible for your own Travel Expenses to and from the ship. Expenses will cover food, consumables, fuel, transit equipment, repairs and some expensive single-cost fees such as transiting the Panama Canal. To put this in perspective, our initial fuel bunkering will be 6,000 litres of diesel fuel, and we need to rebuild our watermaker for the voyage for security and comfort. Crew expense sharing will not cover the entire cost of this transit but as a nonprofit, we need to fund some of our transit expenses with a call for donations from our supporters and maybe sponsorships.

DONATIONS: Our website can support individual and unique crew pages and calls for donations from friends, family and colleagues (http://bit.ly/IRGdonations) and international PayPal or credit card handling with any donations earmarked towards a crewmember's account. Some crew have covered their entire voyage this way with appeals such as 10 cents per mile, etc.

SPECIAL PROJECTS: We invite any proposals, such as environmental research or oceanographic projects.

JOINING: Crew can arrive at our marina in Progreso, Yucatán from 15th November 2021, you can obtain a Mexican 180-day tourist visa on arrival which will be valid through end January 2022 latest departure date. You are responsible for ensuring you meet Mexican health requirements for immigration. You should not be allergic to the ship's cats, we have four aboard (Blackie, Whitey, Ginger and Nacho. Nacho's the drummer.) Proof of full COVID-19 vaccination is required to join the ship, it will certainly be required to land in most of our destinations.

SPECIAL CONSIDERATION: Joining the ship before ASAP and helping work on preparation can cut our cost from hiring locals and reduce expenses. Benefits for arriving early: food and cabin free while at dock in Progreso. We work a 3-day work week on the ship in her final refit for voyage and there is lots to do including electrics, machinery, sewing, cleaning, rigging, welding, painting etc. Our ship will look glorious when we depart! Help work on the ship prior to departure and have lots of time to explore Yucatán, Mexico. Belize is only a bus ride away. Learn some Spanish, we can hire a local teacher. Go exploring and fishing, swimming, diving on our Panga in the Progreso area. We have a new 2-seat scooter to share for local trips around town. Uber rides are cheap. We enjoy Group membership at our delightful Yacht Club (Club de Yates de Yucatán) which is just a stiff walk away and the fastest WiFi in Progreso!

COMMUNICATIONS: We carry a Garmin inReach satellite communicator which is a global SOS system and each crewmember will have the ability to send and receive unlimited phone texts and emails, each outbound message includes the ship's position, course and speed with a link to an online map showing our position and track.

MISCELLANEOUS
Fishing
30-foot panga for exploring locations
Not a "dry" voyage but moderation is expected eg wine at dinner or a cool beer. We have good refrigeration but that often fills up quickly with freshly-caught fish!
Every cabin has power and USB sockets.
Every cabin has a fan but no air conditioning.
Solar panels minimise generator run time.
Ship has two diesel generators in the engine roon and three small gasoline generators as well as solar panels. Outlets provide 12v and 24v DC and 120v and 240v AC power for charging devices etc.
All crew are trained to run a watch while sailing 24 hours/day.
We anticipate averaging about 100 nautical miles per day while voyaging, that is an average of 4 knots. There may be extended periods of calm, possibly up to a few days. The Captain is a miracle-worker but it's Poseidon who controls the weather. Depending on fuel and position we may or may not power through calms. If you get panicky if the ship isn't moving for a couple of days in a dead calm, this may not be the voyage for you!

[Capt. Ray]

[Yannick GIRAUD]

Hello Captain!

We are a couple of motivated crew, currently based in French Polynesia and looking for a boat to the West (Fidji, Vanuatu, Philippines...).

Don't hesitate to contact us when you reach Polynesia!

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Yannick

[Sam Woodbridge]

I said something I need to think about. What a wall of text!

[Capt. Ray]

We are departing from Yucatán probably 2 weeks late weather permitting but no telling when we will be in Tahiti. I see you sent me an email, best to stay in touch.