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1. What is the
Quiksilver Crossing? |
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The Quiksilver
Crossing is a voyage of surfing
discovery on board the surf exploration
vessel, the Indies Trader. The boat left
from Cairns in Queensland, Australia in March 1999 and has
journeyed east across the South Pacific,
Indonesia and the Mentawais, across the
Indian Ocean to the Maldives and South
Africa, through the Mediterranean to
Europe, then on to Brazil and up to Central America and the
Caribbean. The Crossing has just
recently completed a tour of the east
coast of America, which included a trip
to Canada via the Great Lakes before
heading back down to the Gulf of Mexico
via the Mississippi river.
Currently the Crossing is again
exploring for surf in the Caribbean.
As well as
exploration, scientific data is being
collected on isolated reefs and this is
being collated for the United
Nations-supported Reef Check program.
Another important aspect of the Crossing
is respect for, and interaction with,
local cultures.
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2. Why
undertake this expedition? |
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By nature, surfers
travel to explore and find new surfing
areas. At Quiksilver we are passionate
about surfing and we would like to see
more areas around the world preserved
primarily for surfing. Surfing can be a
low-impact activity as opposed to other
activities like extractive fishing,
using dynamite and cyanide poisoning,
which is short-term gain and obviously
destructive, or overwhelming tourism
which has little or no regard for the
local people and environment.
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With the Crossing we hope to contribute
to environmentally friendly, and
sustainable, practices in regards to
surfing in locations which are basically
pristine. To do this, we have to start
with a baseline of knowledge. At
Quiksilver we don’t pretend to have
all the answers but by making berths
available on the Crossing for marine
biologists, and other scientists, we are
endeavouring to increase the knowledge
of the intrinsic value of the various
locations so they can be preserved for
future generations. |
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3. Who is on
the boat? |
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The full complement
is 13 people. The crew consists of the
captain and the cook and three
Indonesian crew members. There are also
eight berths in four cabins and the
people usually change every two weeks.
The usual makeup of a trip is four
surfers, one marine biologist, a stills
photographer and a cinematographer.
Sometimes a writer is on board, or else
another stills photographer or surfer.
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4. Who decides
where the boat goes? |
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The Crossing route
is determined by a small management
group including the captain of the
Indies Trader, Martin Daly, project
director Bruce Raymond, from Quiksilver
International, and the pro staff
including team managers and sponsored
surfers. They take into account weather
forecasts, marine charts and the
distance between island chains.
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5. What about
keeping locations confidential? |
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This is a very
important aspect of the Crossing. While
the basic route is outlined, no specific
references are given in regards to surf
spots. The primary aim of the Crossing
is to explore new regions and to avoid
populated surfing areas as much as
possible. Everyone connected with the
project respects keeping known and
unknown surf spots a mystery. In fact,
everyone who is invited on board the
Crossing must sign a confidentiality
agreement not to disclose locations.
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6. What is the
basic daily routine? |
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The prime objective
is to go surfing. The boat moors
overnight in a safe anchorage out of the
weather and hopefully near a prime surf
spot. If the swell is up, everyone goes
surfing. If there is no swell, the
marine biologist on board may lead a
Reef Check expedition, documenting the
condition of a nearby reef. Meanwhile,
the regular crew work on the upkeep of
the boat. A usual two-week trip involves
scouting for new locations, sometimes in
the dinghy to check spots near the main
anchorage.
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7. What type of
boat is the Indies Trader? |
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The Indies Trader is
a 75-foot diving and survey vessel
constructed of steel with an aluminum
wheelhouse. It weighs 95 tonnes and has
a cruising speed of eight knots. It was
originally built in Brisbane, Australia,
in 1972 and was rebuilt in Singapore in
1992. In 1999 it was specifically
customized for the Crossing and has been
painted with a Polynesian motif.
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8. How long can
the boat stay at sea? |
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The boat has a range
of 5,000 nautical miles and can stay at
sea comfortably for a month. Usually
though it comes to shore every two weeks
to re-provision and change passengers.
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9. How many
people have been on the Crossing so far,
and how much surf have they found? |
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More than 360 people
have joined the boat since March 1999.
They have discovered and surfed 98 new
world-class waves. The boat has traveled
approximately 84,000 nautical miles since
leaving Cairns (the distance around the
Equator is 21,638 nautical miles).
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10. What will
be produced from the voyage? |
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Thousands of
photographs have been already been
taken, plus 16mm film and video footage.
Articles are regularly appearing in
surfing and mainstream publications
around the world. The Crossing has it's
own annual magazine which began in 2002,
called Explorations. Videos and
television documentaries will also be
produced focusing not just on the
surfing but also the scientific and
cultural aspects of the journey.
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