Discover ways to make a difference

Wherever you are cruising, there are many ways you can give back to the local communities and environment in the places you visit (particularly in more remote areas). By researching your destination you can discover ways to make a difference.

Whether it’s helping with school and medical supplies to isolated villages, hosting research scientists, raising environmental awareness in schools, offering technical assistance or simply delivering packages, you will reap the benefits of making a positive contribution to the places you voyage to.

This page showcases cruisers who are determined to have a positive impact on the places they sail to, their projects, plus a wide range of citizen-science projects open to sailors worldwide.

Follow the links at the bottom of the page to read articles, news and find many useful links to existing projects worldwide that you can get involved with.

Read: Richard Chesher’s article on Cruising Kindly

Cruisers making an impact

Just a small a sample of what some cruisers are doing to help the communities they visit:

Oceanic Outreach

The brainchild of long-term offshore explorer and sailor John Neal, Ocean Outreach will be a forum where cruisers exploring remote locations post what they identify is needed by the local communities so that those now underway or planning their cruises can take note and purchase the needed supplies for their visits. Still in the planning stages, the forum will be officially launched at the Annapolis Boat Show in 2024. To find out more about Oceanic Outreach go here.

Matuku Marine Reserve

The islanders of Matuku, in Fiji’s Lau group, have decided to implement three big “Tabu” (traditional ban) no-fishing zones around their island to protect all species of reef fish, thanks to the efforts of Austrian cruisers Birgit Hackl and Christian Feldhauer. Find out more here.

Manta Ray Research in Mexico

Alene Rice and Bruce Balan are sailing citizen scientists who support manta ray research. The couple has been working with the Pacific Manta Research Group to create a citizen science project for sailors in Mexico by observing the manta rays and taking their photo together with other informations (location, date/time, manta’s estimated wingspan, color of back and specific markings). Find out more here.

Louisiade Solar Light Project

Danish cruiser Hans Clemmensen makes regular voyages aboard his yacht SV Seagoon from Cairns, Australia, to the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea to set up solar power systems in a region where electricity is either not available or not sustainable. Find out more about Hans and his original project here, also his recent work at https://www.facebook.com/LouisiadeSolaLightProject.

Spotlight on Sustainability

Dutch cruisers Floris and Ivar have sailed around the world investigating local sustainability projects in the countries that they visit. They have profiled in detail all the projects they have learnt about on their excellent blog. Both are regularly questioned by other cruisers that are interested in improving their sustainability footprint while traveling, and share their advice with Noonsite.

Follow the links below to read articles, news and find many useful links to existing projects worldwide that you can get involved with.