ARC Round the World

[Sabbatical II]

I had loosely planned to join the Blue Water Rally at Darwin in 2012, depending on how safely they managed to negotiate the Red Sea bit. Of course it's now over to plan B. My goal was to get the boat to the Med and leave it there for a few years to do some real cruising with no time limits.

I would like to hear from those who have actually done the ARC about what it was like to be involved with. From what I can gather there would be brief stops at ports from Darwin to the Carribean which suits my schedule anyway and I could then take my time to cruise the bits I want at leisure, reaching the Med in my own time. Would the ARC work for me?

Greg

[goboatingnow]

I haven't done it but I have friends that have. Their main point was it was quite a rushed itinerary

Dave

[Jeannius]

Just finished World ARC. It is a bit rushed between Oz and South Africa and then from South Africa back to the Caribbean. Nice long time in South Africa.

Organisation is excellent. We would never have gone around on our own. We'd have either never started or, if we had started, never got finished! Overall it is a good thing to do if you have a reasonably tight schedule.

[ess105]

Originally Posted by Jeannius

Just finished World ARC.

Congrats Mike

[ess105]

Re the World ARC. We had friends who joined this for the Pacific Crossing. They had problems leaving Panama and had to turn back for repairs. When they were finally underway they were too far behind the pack to catch up. In the end they saw far more of the Pacific and did just fine on their own.

[Sabbatical II]

Originally Posted by Jeannius

Just finished World ARC. It is a bit rushed between Oz and South Africa and then from South Africa back to the Caribbean. Nice long time in South Africa.

Organisation is excellent. We would never have gone around on our own. We'd have either never started or, if we had started, never got finished! Overall it is a good thing to do if you have a reasonably tight schedule.

Well, being an Aussie, we can start at Darwin & then would probably do a stop at Cocos Keeling, and then I might have been non stop to South Africa anyway. I want to stop at St Helena & it finishes at the Caribbean. I want to spend time in the Caribbean and then the ICW before getting to the Med in whatever time it takes, so for my purposes it might be perfect. My boat is definately a cruising boat and we will be husband and wife crew. I've heard that this event mainly caters for the racing types?? Will everyone be left SA by the time we get there or is there a bumch of cruisers happy to do 100 - 150 mile days?

Greg

[ess105]

The World ARC leaves us 'happy cruisers' far behind in it's wake. It's fast.

As a consequence of the increased activity in the Somalia region I can confidently say that many circumnavigating cruisers are switching to the South Africa route. Pacific Puddle Jumpers are your typical cruising community. Friendly and very helpful. Each year they're heading your way. If all you're after is the support of your fellow cruisers I'd simply get in touch with boats going that way. You'll soon get sucked into a great community.

You might want to join the annual Darwin Kupang Rally through Indonesia. This is popular with folks who have never rallied before simply because it sells itself as an easy way through the reported hassles of Indonesian Bureaucracy. In that rally you'll meet plenty of folks heading for SA and the Caribbean.

[Jeannius]

Steve... Thanks very much. Where are you now?

Greg... The event doesn't cater to the racing types. This is a story put about by the Blue Water Rally people who seemed paranoid about World ARC. They seemed to think it was only run to put them out of business. There is a competitive element but at least 90% of the boats taking part - including us - had absolutely no interest in the 'competitive' bit.

The main purpose of the competitive element is to try and get all the boats to start at the same time. This then means that there should be a nice, spaced out time of arrival at the next port enabling World ARC staff and C&I officials to be able to cope. What happens if you don't have a 'start' is that the slow boats head out early and so there is a long departure period that needs staff coverage and a concentrated arrival time as different boats all aim to arrive on the same day.

No you won't be left behind doing 100-150 mile days. The event is based around an assumption of the slowest boats averaging 5 knots, therefore 120 mile days.

We actually 'won' the multihull division on the leg from Reunion Island to Richards Bay, South Africa (the toughest of the whole event), in spite of my policy of always being reefed for the worst possible conditions ( I just read the weather and currents better than most) and being one of only two husband and wife crews.

pm or email me if you have any questions you'd like to ask privately.

[ess105]

Originally Posted by Jeannius

Steve... Thanks very much. Where are you now?

We're currently sitting in Opua, NZ analyzing weather (and other cruisers departure decisions) aiming for Fiji. Decided to slow down this year and spend the entire season in Fiji returning to NZ in November. We'll spend a couple of months visiting family then back to NZ to cruise the coast.

[impi]

Originally Posted by Jeannius

Just finished World ARC. It is a bit rushed between Oz and South Africa and then from South Africa back to the Caribbean. Nice long time in South Africa.

Organisation is excellent. We would never have gone around on our own. We'd have either never started or, if we had started, never got finished! Overall it is a good thing to do if you have a reasonably tight schedule.

Hey Mike,

Hows that for a small world - You were docked next to us in Cape Town. Nice to hear about your further travels.

[Jeannius]

Originally Posted by ess105

We're currently sitting in Opua, NZ analyzing weather (and other cruisers departure decisions) aiming for Fiji. Decided to slow down this year and spend the entire season in Fiji returning to NZ in November. We'll spend a couple of months visiting family then back to NZ to cruise the coast.

NZ is a place we were really sorry to miss. We are considering possibly doing the South Pacific again some time and seeing more of NZ and more of Oz.

Good luck on the rest of the trip.

[Jeannius]

Originally Posted by impi

Hey Mike,

Hows that for a small world - You were docked next to us in Cape Town. Nice to hear about your further travels.

Hi Brent

How's it going? Still in Cape Town? Do you have a planned start date yet?

We'll be in the Caribbean for a while so hopefully we can meet up again some time.

[impi]

Thanks for the update Mike.
We are now in Simonstown and hopefully heading for Brazil within the next month or two.
We hope to be in the Caribbean by October.
Hope to see you there.