HAKLUYT'S HISTORY AND JOURNEYS
Hakluyt is a purpose built sailboat designed to endure the rigors of high latitude sailing and remote exploration
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"As it is 'easy' to climb up to Disko island, going further north requires specific preparation of the boat and great caution." - Gilbert Caroff
Hakluyt's History And Previous Journeys
As far as we can tell...
After being built in France in 1993 - her initial ownership has remained a mystery. What we do know starts with Belgian polar explorer Dixie Dansercoer. Dixie acquired her in either 2006 or 2007. There are some hints she may have been berthed in South Africa prior to Dixie's purchase - but this history has not been confirmed. She was christened "Euronav" for the Euronav expedition. Led by Dixie, the expedition sailed from Belgium in 2006 and retraced Adrien de Gerlache's 1897 "Belgica" Expedition course and 20 landings in Antarctica. Today the region is regarded as the "Gerlache Straight" (due south of the Southern tip of South America). The Euronav expedition was between 2007 and 2008. During this expedition, Hakluyt carried 7 crew / expedition members along with gear for wind surfing, kite boarding, mountaineering, and skiing. (Hakluyt has some serious cargo capacity!). After completing the Gerlache straight expedition objective, she then travelled further south, below the Antarctic circle where (as also happened in the Gerlache expedition) she was trapped in pack ice, thankfully for only a couple days - Gerlache and his crew were required to over winter in Antarctica.
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The interim history between 2007 and 2009 is not known. But magically during that time she made it to Quebec, Canada.
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In 2009, Hakluyt was acquired by Geoff Greene for his philanthropic "Students On Ice" program. In 2011 Hakluyt (then known as "Arctic Tern I") underwent a significant refit including swing keel maintenance, new plumbing, repowered with 110 hp Yanmar diesel, bottom sandblasted and painted, etc... etc... etc... The "Students on Ice" program mission onboard "Arctic Tern I" took researchers, journalists, a variety of International students, and Inuit scholarship winers to Arctic regions including Baffin Island and Greenland over the course of at least 3 years. Her mission was to go on for an additional 2 years (there was a 5 year mission statement running 2013-2018). She then sat on the hard from 2015 to 2016. In 2016 she was nearly purchased. She underwent sea trials and the aforementioned survey took place. After the sea trials in 2016, she has been resting patiently on the hard until we purchased her.
