The following information is intended to assist your decision to join one of our expedition teams. It covers our style of adventure sailing and some important factors to consider during your initial trip planning.
TRAVEL DOCUMENTS (required for customs and immigration):
Passport
All crew members will require a valid passport to sail. This passport must be up to date, and should not expire for at least 6 months past the date of travel.
Visas
It is your responsibility to organize the appropriate visas for your trip. Please see trip details and itinerary and welcome packs for details on countries you will be visiting. Many countries require citizens of other nationality to obtain a visa before they enter their country. Visas are the permission granted by a sovereign nation to a traveler permitting entry for a specific purpose (tourist, business, study, etc.). Information on visa requirements can be found here on Project Visa
Although you will be on board Sea Dragon as a ‘working’ crew member, when filling in immigration or visa forms, this must not be confused with ‘paid work’ or ‘employment’. We suggest your response to the question – ‘The Purpose of Your Trip’ – is ‘tourism’ or ‘vacation’. When stating your local address, “Sailing Vessel Sea Dragon”, should suffice.
*Visa: Please bring a copy of the visa(s) obtained for your expedition, to the boat. If you do not have the requisite visas for your voyage, you will not be allowed to board.
Immigration
Please ensure you carry all relevant documentation and proof of onward travel details with you at all times when traveling to join the boat. This will include your Sea Dragon expedition ticket and return flight itinerary. You may need to show these when checking-in for your flight to join the expedition, or on arrival in the country where you are to board Sea Dragon.
*Proof of Return Travel: Please bring a copy of your return travel document to the boat (this will most likely be a copy of your return plane ticket). For many voyages, if you do not have proof of onward travel you will not be allowed in to the country by immigration upon arrival.
INSURANCE INFORMATION
You are responsible for ensuring that you have insurance to cover shore-based medical treatment, rescue, and medical evacuation if required. You may want to check with your provider to ensure you will be covered for offshore sailing and in international waters ( if applicable to your expedition) and cover if you have a medical emergency while traveling.
Depending on the voyage, different insurance policies may be more suitable. For example, if you are sailing with us to Fanning Island, a policy which allows you to be evacuated from Fanning and returned to the US (where your normal health insurance could cover remaining costs) might be more appropriate than one that only covers local medical treatment. On the other hand, if you are sailing coastal in Canada with us, ensuring that you would be covered in the event of obtaining medical care in Canada would be important.
Please ensure that your insurance will cover you far enough from shore, i.e. more than 12 miles or more than 150 miles from land, depending on the trip. Many travel insurance policies are limited to within 12 miles of shore. You may need to purchase additional travel medical insurance to cover your treatment and evacuation.
Please bring a copy of your medical / evacuation insurance to the boat for your voyage so that you have it in the event of an emergency. While we cannot recommend any specific companies, here are a few companies which our guests have used in the past:
IMG Global
Allianz
Global Rescue
Topsail
Bishop Skinner
Gowrie
Seven Corners
World Nomads
Dog Tag
DAN Boater
Travel Insurance
You are responsible for ensuring you have adequate travel insurance to cover any delays you might encounter, lost luggage, cancellation of the trip (on your part) etc. Destination changes. Please bring a copy of your travel insurance documentation to the boat so you have it in the event you need to make any claims.
Please Note: We cannot delay the departure of the vessel for missed flights, lost luggage etc. If you miss your flight, and/or departure time of the vessel, or lose your luggage, your travel insurance will help in recovering any losses.
Given the nature of our expeditions, there is always a slight chance that a change to scheduling/itinerary changes might have to happen because of: prevailing weather, unfavorable political conditions, the limitations of a small sailing vessel and any other reason beyond our control. This decision would not be taken lightly and would be done so with the safety of the vessel and all crew in mind. This decision is reserved by the Skipper in charge of the vessel and Pangaea Exploration inclusively with no liability to either.
Alteration to travel arrangements or any associated costs due to weather conditions or operational reasons beyond Pangaea’s control is the responsibility of the individual Guest Crew. We do not accept responsibility for missed flights nor their consequences and strongly recommend that international return flights are fully flexible to allow for missed connections due to bad weather, mechanical breakdown and for any other reason whatsoever.
Diving Insurance/Certificates*
If your voyage includes the option of SCUBA diving, In order to be eligible to dive with Pangaea Exploration, you will need to possess both an open water certification as well as dive accident insurance from DAN (Divers Alert Network). More information on purchasing dive insurance with DAN is provided on the website: http://www.dan.org/insurance/.
You need to provide your own regulator, and BCD, wetsuit, and weight belt. We have masks, snorkels, fins, and weights on board. Please contact us to discuss diving, as we do not offer it on most trips.
*Dive Certification: Please bring a copy of your Dive Certification Card to the boat – this will be verified when you arrive.
*DAN Insurance: Please bring a copy of your DAN Insurance Card to the boat – this will be verified when you arrive.
For additional information, please contact us via info@panexplore.com