A new app created by a captain aims to share information and knowledge between captains and others in the growing world of exploration yachting. Membership in Explorers’ Hub is restricted to those who work in some segment of explorer yachting. Only members can invite new members; each application is vetted.
“Anyone can submit a destination or an update,” says Captain Pavlos Filippakis, who created the app. “Each new destination or update is reviewed by an admin, who is a captain with experience in exploration. So, all the information is peer-reviewed. Admins are volunteers elected by the community.”
Captain Filippakis created the app after seeing a need firsthand. “Two years ago, I was tasked with managing a major refit, and one of the subtasks was to prepare for a polar expedition,” he says. “The boat had undergone polar certification a few years ago, but it was in the process of switching from private to commercial use and then changing flags, which would have required all the requirements to be revalidated from scratch. I didn’t have any ice experience at the time, so I was primarily reviewing manuals and regulations. As is usually the case, this was just the tip of the iceberg. Crew emergency procedures in arctic environments, local contacts, insurance debacles, permits, local prohibitions and so on — 50 percent of these things you eventually find out when the expedition company assembles their team. This is usually only a few months before the voyage, and more often than not, while you are in season in a remote environment and not in a repair yard. (The remaining 50 percent is when you execute the voyage.) Therefore, it has to be guesswork unless someone with actual command experience intervenes.”
Fortunately, he knew another captain who gave him advice and contacts. Meeting with expedition companies, ice pilots and guides also made the process easier. But it got him wondering why there isn’t one place where people in expedition yachting can talk to other captains, meet guides and find all the information they need to prepare for a challenging voyage.
Information shared on the app includes notes related to destinations and countries. A user’s profile has their contact details and shows the number of updates and destinations submitted.
“Engagement in the community forum provides a verifiable way to track a specific user’s knowledge in a particular area, so users are also rewarded socially for their input,” Filippakis says. Input from experienced mariners, he says, “is invaluable, and it’s how we will advance safety and raise the bar in exploration by establishing a peer-reviewed, destination-specific definition of the minimum standard.”