Expedition Itineraries

Voyages to the edges of the chart.

The trade-wind crossings, the polar voyages, and the great cape passages our owners run. Each route shapes what the vessel needs to do — range, ice class, fuel capacity, helideck, beach club, the lot.

North Atlantic · November

The Atlantic Crossing

Gibraltar → Madeira → Cape Verdes → St Maarten

The classic westabout crossing — drop south through the Canaries to pick up the trade winds, then reach across to the Caribbean season. Three weeks at sea, mostly downwind. The route the season runs on.

Vessel brief: 3,450 nm under autopilot; range and fuel capacity comfortable; no ice considerations; a serious watermaker. Any of our restomod platforms handles this passage on her ear.

3,450nmDistance
21 daysTypical
NovSeason
Atlantic trade-wind crossing — aerial
Southern Ocean · Austral Summer

Cape Horn to South Georgia

Ushuaia → Drake Passage → Antarctic Peninsula → South Georgia

The voyage that earns the vessel. Across the Drake under reefed sail or hard-driving diesel, into the Antarctic Peninsula's calving glaciers, then north to Shackleton's grave on South Georgia and a quarter-million king penguins on Salisbury Plain.

Vessel brief: ice class is non-negotiable. Heavy plate forward. Documented stability in 50-knot winds. Generator redundancy. The vessel you take here is the vessel a North Sea OSV was built to be — restomodded for the owner.

1,750nmDistance
Ice classRequired
Dec–FebWindow
Cape Horn to South Georgia voyage
High Arctic · Midnight Sun

Greenland, Iceland & Svalbard

Reykjavík → East Greenland → Jan Mayen → Svalbard

North on the Atlantic westerlies to the land of the midnight sun — calving glaciers in East Greenland, the volcanic moonscape of Jan Mayen, and Svalbard's polar bear country and the front line of the ice. Twenty-four hours of daylight from June through August.

Vessel brief: ice-strengthened hull, helicopter for reconnaissance, a tender capable of beach landings, and serious cold-weather HVAC. The shore party is half the voyage.

~2,000nmDistance
24-hrDaylight
Jun–AugWindow
High Arctic voyage — Greenland, Iceland, Svalbard
South Pacific · January

Panama to Tahiti

Panama → Galápagos → Marquesas → Tuamotus → Tahiti

The longest, finest reaching passage on earth. South-east trade winds for 3,000 nautical miles. The Galápagos for the wildlife, the Marquesas for the landfall, the Tuamotus for the lagoons, Tahiti and Bora Bora for the finish.

Vessel brief: long-range capability, a tender programme for atoll landings, dive ops, a beach club that opens to the water. Eight thousand nautical miles of range gives you the optionality the route deserves.

4,650nmDistance
5–6 wksTypical
Jan–MarWindow
Panama to Tahiti voyage — South Pacific
Atlantic Tropics · Winter Trades

Caribbean & Bahamas

Antigua → British Virgin Islands → Exumas → Bahama Banks

Effortless beam-reach trade-wind cruising through the Lesser Antilles and the Virgin Islands. Then north through the Exumas to the Bahama Banks — thin water, blue water, and the historic galleon wreck grounds.

Vessel brief: draft matters in the Bahamas. Shoaler is better. A serious tender programme, a beach club, and crew who know the cuts. A vessel under 4-metre draft opens up a different country.

~1,200nmDistance
WinterSeason
ShoalDraft pref.
Caribbean and Bahamas itinerary
The Capstone · 150–200 Days

The Global Odyssey

A trade-wind circumnavigation around the great capes

Six continents on a single voyage. A trade-wind circumnavigation routed for fair winds and the right seasons — Atlantic westerlies, Caribbean trades, Pacific reaching, Indian Ocean to Cape Town, then the home leg up the South Atlantic. Five to seven months at sea.

Vessel brief: the full expedition spec. Eight thousand nautical miles of range. Helicopter, submersible if you want it, dive ops, beach club, a serious medical clinic. This voyage is what the vessel is for.

~28,000nmDistance
6Continents
150–200dDuration
The Global Odyssey — trade-wind circumnavigation
Plan the Voyage. Match the Vessel.

Bring us the itinerary. We'll match the right vessel to it.

Every Xplorer engagement begins with the operating profile, not the vessel. Tell us where you want to be in February and we'll work backwards from the chart to the platform, the class certificate, the range, and the helideck.

Discuss an Itinerary View Current Vessels