An Owner's Guide · Prepared by EYOS
The WorldWithin Reach
Eleven of the world's great cruising grounds — from the high Arctic to the coral tropics.
11
Destinations
2008
Pioneered the Category
7
Continents of Reach
Eleven of the world's great cruising grounds — from the high Arctic to the coral tropics.
A new ice-class yacht opens the highest latitudes on earth: Svalbard, Greenland, the Northwest Passage, Antarctica, South Georgia. The same vessel, in the same season, can lie at anchor over a coral reef in the tropics. The range is yours. The decision is where to point the bow.
A captain's shortlist of where a new ice-class expedition yacht can go — the polar high latitudes it was built for, and the tropical waters that reward the range.
The Arctic high latitudes an ice-class hull was built for — where the wildlife has barely met a human, and the light never sets.
Nowhere on the planet can a yacht sail closer to a pole — the northern edge of the archipelago lies less than 600 miles from the North Pole. Glacier-carved peaks give way to muted buttes and then the open expanse of sea ice. Here the wildlife has had almost no experience of people: polar bears, walrus, reindeer, arctic fox and patrolling orcas often approach their observers rather than flee.
A world carved by Ice Age glaciers — the earth's biggest island, its least densely populated country, holding the world's longest fjord and the largest ice sheet in the northern hemisphere. A land of sled dogs and kayaks, majestic glaciers and icebergs, colourful Inuit settlements and warm, friendly people. In spring, no lift and no lines: ski from summit to sea on snowfields above iceberg-choked bays.
One of the most legendary waterways on the planet — a long-held dream of nations and daring adventurers. Even today only some 300 vessels have completed the entire route; more people have stood on the summit of Everest than have traversed the Passage by water.
The most challenging cruising grounds on earth — and, for the right vessel, the most rewarding.
The most challenging cruising ground for any expedition yacht — and, for the right vessel, the most incredible experience. Antarctica challenges our concept of scale: huge aggregations of whales are dwarfed by the coastal mountains and glaciers that surround their feeding grounds. To be alone here re-frames a person's place on the planet. Visit the Weddell Sea, the Lemaire Channel, Port Lockroy and the Danco Coast.
The "Serengeti of the Southern Ocean." Over a graceful arc of a hundred miles, sharp peaks erupt from the sea, laced by a network of glaciers. 65 million birds of 30 species breed here each summer — including 500,000 pairs of king penguins — alongside elephant and fur seals and fourteen species of cetacean, making it one of the most marine-mammal-rich places on earth. Sir Ernest Shackleton's grave rests at Grytviken.
The same yacht, the same year — over coral reefs of unmatched diversity, beneath active volcanoes, among the most culturally rich islands on earth.
118 islands and atolls scattered across the Pacific like a string of prized Tahitian pearls — lush rainforests, crystalline lagoons and palm-fringed beaches that drew Melville, Gauguin and Brel in search of inspiration. From the jagged peaks of Moorea to the beaches of Bora Bora, and on to the myth-laden Marquesas, where ancient ceremonial sites sit among verdant interiors and a near-sacred Polynesian welcome.
Far removed from the familiar cruising circuit, the Solomons are a hidden jewel of the South Pacific — home to friendly, welcoming communities, peerless diving and snorkelling, and the kaleidoscopic colours of the undersea world. Relax on pristine white-sand beaches and swim in crystal-clear waters, in a corner of the ocean that few yachts ever reach.
A hidden jewel of the South Pacific, home to spectacular volcanoes and welcoming communities. Witness the mesmerizing eruptions of Mount Yasur up close — a truly otherworldly experience — and on Pentecost Island, the original land divers: young men who hurl themselves from wooden towers ninety feet tall, tethered only by vines twined around their ankles. Between, white-sand beaches and crystal-clear water.
A destination unlike any other. Papua New Guinea's 5,000 clans, together speaking over 850 languages, form the most culturally diverse nation on Earth, while its oceanic trenches and tropical reefs hold five percent of all the wildlife species on the planet. Kimbe Bay alone contains 70% of the coral species in the Indo-Pacific. "The enduring memory of PNG," says EYOS founding partner Rob McCallum, "is the genuine and heartfelt warmth of the welcomes."
A captivating archipelago of over 17,000 islands and the greatest marine diversity anywhere on the planet — where the diving is regarded as the best in the world and the islands among the most beautiful. Glide past primordial jungle aboard a traditional phinisi; dive among WWII shipwrecks and majestic manta rays in Raja Ampat; meet the Komodo dragon on its own ground. An aquatic wonderland from end to end.
Venture to the remote island of Madagascar and be totally alone on beaches and reefs most people can only dream of. The world's fourth largest island is so biologically distinct it is called the "eighth continent" — 90% of its species are found nowhere else on earth. Explore rainforests of chameleons and jewelled frogs, dive vibrant coral, and reach national parks accessible only from the sea.
For those adventurous few whose experiences are only limited by their imagination, a remarkable world awaits.
Rob McCallum · EYOS Founding Partner
Wherever you choose to point the bow, EYOS plans, permits and leads the way. Begin the conversation, and your new yacht's first season becomes a voyage worth remembering.