I always wonder why birds choose to stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on the earth, then I ask myself the same question. —Harun Yahya The Coconut Milk Run Ever used up thousands of dollars to spend a week in Hawaii? Lots of
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people have. But not many people have plucked the passion fruit of the South Pacific after sailing for weeks on end, and fewer still have caught and cooked mackerel straight from the ocean’s deep. Because after all, who has the time, funds, or freedom to sail from North America to Oceania? In fact, thousands of people do it every year. What is it? It’s called the Coconut Milk Run. People don’t really know how or when it got started, but the Coconut Milk Run marks out the world’s most popular Pacific seaway. Countless islands dot the Pacific, leaving sufficient leeway for each crew to customize its own trip. Most people start in Puerto Vallarta and
Cami Wilson 4/10/13 7:20 PM Formatted: Indent: First line: 0" Cami Wilson 2/19/13 8:39 PM Comment [1]: I’m unfamiliar with this term. Cami Wilson 2/19/13 9:08 PM Deleted: Nobody knows who coined the name, but supposedly it’s a pejorative meaning “the Easy Way Out.” It may be easy for the saltiest salts, those used to passing through pirate blockades or those out seeking the white whale. But for others, it’s a challenge of proper proportions.
stop along the way at the Galapagos, the Marquesas, the Tuamotus, the Cook
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Islands, Tonga, Fiji, and Vanuatu. Some end up in Australia, others in New
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Zealand. The voyage can take months, though the speediest speedsters do it in
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just weeks. Who does it?
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Experts and novices alike sail along the Cocnut Milk Run. Joseph and Marci Paravia finished the run in twenty-four days. They’re exceptional: they’ve lived on their 38' Hans Christian sailboat, the Horizon, for the last eleven years. Their boat, like most boats equipped for deep-sea voyages, has the comforts necessary for a bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen. “After several months of preparation,” says Marci, “we were ready to set sail to the South Pacific. We were eager to participate in the legendary Coconut Milk Run: days of soft downwind sailing in gentle breezes over azure water and starry tropical nights.” But experts such as this are not the only ones who make the voyage. Many Coconut Milk runners are landlubbers like you and me—normal people of all ages who join up with experts like Joseph and Marci. How to Join a Crew Unless you own a blue-water boat, the first step is to join a crew. To join a crew, you have to get in touch with the sailing community. Websites like cruisersforum.com and latitude38.com help people orchestrate navigations. Depending on the site, you either contact an owner or captain directly or you post your CV and an owner or captain will contact you. But for the Milk Run, your best bet would be pacificpuddlejump.com. Since the Milk Run follows the most trafficked Pacific sea route, it’s the annual hotspot for a group called the Pacific Puddle Jumpers.
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Every year, PPJ organizes a veritable flotilla that leaves Puerto Vallarta around the first of March and lands in French Polynesia around the thirtieth of June. This year, nearly one hundred owners and captains went to the Seattle Boat Show in January to meet with fellow PPJers and potential crewmembers. Next year, there will be a similar preseason rendezvous. If you’re looking to cross the Pacific in a sailboat, but you want more structure and organization than “wanted” posts may offer, check this enclave out. They’re pros who’ve been doing this stuff for decades, and they’re looking for crewmates. But why would anyone want you on the crew? Simple: sailing creates a
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lot of work for one person to do. Some can do it, but nobody wants to. You help out with night watches, cooking, cleaning, rigging, etc. For all this work, sometimes you don’t even have to split the cost of food and fuel! Think of that—living for three or four months with no bills. It’s hard work, sure, but it’s secure, serene living. What to Keep in Mind If you’ve managed to join a crew, you’re pretty much set. Just remember
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to sharpen those knot-tying skills and get your paperwork in order. Bring your passport, medical information, and some extra cash. You’ll need enough for a flight home and a few hundred dollars on hand for emergencies. Your captain can placate any remaining concerns and offer advice about how to prepare. You shouldn’t have to bring any specific gear since the captain
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will take care of that. If you have other crewmember, you might want to get to know them, since they’re probably not beginners and could offer some presail
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tips. Has Anything Ever Gone Wrong? Of course sailing isn’t all butterflies and bacon. Horror stories abound. When spouses go together, sometimes one gives up and goes home early. But the most common problems crop up when people don’t prepare properly. Food, fuel, money, safety, communication, jobs, belongings, rent, pets, etc.— just make sure you square it all away beforehand. And make certain you’re the type of person that can keep a good attitude. Dispositions spoil trips faster than conditions ever do. Is the Investment Worth the Rewards? “One of the best parts about sailing,” says Austin Secrist, an amateur sailor from Apple Valley, CA, “is that the learning curve isn’t very steep.” Austin and his wife, Steph, are planning a pacific puddle jump. “We don’t know when we’ll go,” says Steph, “but the sooner the better.” Though it takes years to master the gales and the mists, Austin and Steph reassure would-be sailors that seventy percent of what one needs to know comes within the first few hours. Sailing is a skill—and a marketable one, too—but it’s more than that. It’s a way of life. At 3:00 a.m. in the middle of the ocean, people forget about their
Cami Wilson 2/19/13 10:08 PM Deleted: Also, it may be wise to sharpen those knot-tying skills, and remember to get your paperwork in order. You’re going to be visiting a lot of countries, and you will need your passport. It may also be a good idea to bring along medical information and some extra cash. You’ll need enough for a flight home and a few hundred dollars on hand for emergencies. When you set off, you don’t know exactly when you’ll reach your destination, so wait to buy your plane ticket until you’re sure you can make the flight. Cami Wilson 4/10/13 7:21 PM Formatted: Indent: First line: 0" Cami Wilson 2/19/13 10:10 PM Deleted: the commonest Cami Wilson 2/19/13 10:13 PM Comment [3]: This seems kind of contradictory to your last section about how everything is mostly taken care of once you sign up for a boat. Cami Wilson 4/10/13 7:21 PM Formatted: Indent: First line: 0"
cares and worries. They look up and see the stars that so often hide their faces from us. The distractions of the modern world melt away, and that novel, that poem, or that play you’ve wanted to finish since you started college comes together at last. You can meditate and ruminate. You can finally learn to play the guitar. You can remove yourself from the relationships that still ache, and you can handwrite a few heartfelt letters to those you love. Deadlines and schedules pretty much fall away. With most modern travel, hours and minutes dictate destinations and departures. But with sailing, you can spend an unscheduled week on a beach somewhere. You can speed up or slow down. It doesn’t matter. The ocean is yours.