Expedition Guide: Micro Expedition Cruising

Surrounding the Swell, a converted tugboat, a soup of zooplankton had been thick all day, attracting dozens of humpback whales. For the first time, I watched bubblenet feeding, where humpbacks worked in teams of four, circling the krill and shepherding it upwards towards the sea surface before bursting skywards with substantial gaping mouths to gulp down their prey. Tucked away in a shallow bay as dark fell, blue bioluminescence formed around the Swell. Fortunately, I was in the perfect vessel to witness this magical encounter because later, by comparison, a huge cruise liner, its many decks lit up in the dark, powered down the centre of the wide channel and undoubtedly missed this great cetacean spectacle. The advantage of a micro-vessel adventure had never been more apparent. 

“Although the natural systems are vast, the spaces within them are quite intimate in scale …small coves, narrow fjords, creeks where bears fish, small hot springs, small islets, or kelp beds where animals such as sea lions and sea otters congregate. With a small vessel, you’re a balanced part of that little ecosystem, so you feel a part of it rather than separate,” said Maureen Gordon, Swell's co-owner.

They are essentially highly personalised sea voyages utilising small ships of character with itineraries offering great flexibility to some of the Earth’s remotest corners. ExplorEarth defines such vessels to be 36 berths or less. Such small passenger manifests ensure the vessels can disembark guests rapidly for onshore expeditions by zodiacs faster than larger ships, and often impromptu. That might be a 3 am moonlit foray by kayaks or zodiacs to photograph perhaps wildlife on floating ice. Smaller group sizes also ensure a tighter bond with fellow passengers, as getting to know everybody on a larger ship is harder. This bonhomie is reinforced by shared interest if there is a speciality theme to your expedition, for instance, birdwatching or seeking the northern lights. Above all, micro-expeditions evoke a sense of true adventure. “When you’re in a small group of guests and guides, you feel real camaraderie and develop relationships with the people you’re travelling with; it’s a natural size for human beings to explore the world in,” said Maureen Gordon.

Don’t get me wrong, I have sailed on beautiful vessels where the passenger manifest has been over 100 guests. Micro-adventure expedition vessels, however, are less likely to have been newly built specifically for adventure voyages and are often repurposed, thus retaining a quirky and charismatic appearance and function. 

For example, the sister ships to Swell, a fabulously converted 1912 tugboat, are a 24-guest catamaran and a schooner built in 1904 in Vancouver. Swell has just six cabins, upon which I explored Alaska’s wildlife-soaked Inner Passage with panache. I recently sailed around East Greenland on a charter called MV Vikingfjord, which also has six guest cabins. It originated as a cable-laying vessel in the 1970s but was now luxuriously repurposed. I’ve travelled by small classical riverboats evoking paddle-steamer style travel in the Amazon rainforest and down the mighty Brahmaputra with the trappings of yesteryear. At the same time, Kraken Travel utilises a 1902 Flying Dutchman sailboat with ten cabins to sail the likes of Scotland’s Inner Hebrides. Antarctica is a slightly different kettle of fish. Because of potentially mountainous Southern Ocean seas, the most miniature ships tend to be around 50-100 passengers for passenger comfort. Although I have seen harder-core mariners in private charter yachts exploring the frozen continent.

In ambition to explore the wilder corners of our world, a small ship experience will bear similarities to the more thoughtful operators of larger ships that have a manifest of, say, 100-150 passengers. Yet the practicalities onboard are very different, often more flexible, and more spontaneous. Besides a higher level of service due to a lower staff-to-passenger ratio, the difference is best clarified in relation to the excursions. Processing over a hundred passengers getting kitted up in the ‘mud room’ (the outdoor equipment changing room) onto, say, ten or more zodiacs to head off for a landing is a far slower logistical challenge. But with a dozen or so passengers, it’s a quick and easy less-fraught experience. This might include jumping in a zodiac on a whim to visit some exciting ice, perhaps a bergy bit with penguins on it. One word of caution, however. Smaller vessels absorb more wave energy, so if the thought of seasickness leaves you feeling green around the gills, perhaps it is not for you.

The crew-to-passenger ratio creates an exceptional and privileged level of service on a micro-expedition. If the ratio of staff to passengers is anywhere close to reaching 1:1, then the trip will be memorable. This was the case during a recent East Greenlandic voyage I undertook. There were two expedition staff (those who decide and lead the daily off-ship excursions). One captain, his first mate, and engineer. One housekeeper and two deckhands. Most importantly, a chef and his assistant rattling out a la carte meals. Thus, ten crew for our ten passengers. On slightly larger micro-adventure vessels, you will likely get extra expedition staff, not least ones in a specialist capacity, such as expert naturalists or photographers.

Making no bones about this, micro-expeditions are often more expensive than larger vessel sailings, so typically, your sailing companions will be well-resourced and usually experienced in remote regions and possess expertise from being repeat micro-expeditioners. It’s for people who want space and feel the sense of isolation remote environments can offer and the flexibility to respond quickly to something unique around the vessel. They may be keen wildlife photographers who don’t want to lose time in the field due to the logistics of getting to and from shore. I’ve always found micro-expedition crowds outgoing and intelligent company.

In a way, any destination can be transformed into something extraordinary by the accessibility and intimacy small ship voyages afford. Whether that is a wildlife-focused trip to the Arctic, Antarctica, Alaska, or the Sea of Cortez, a great river journey down the Brahmaputra or the Nile, or slow traverses through the Amazon rainforest. If cultural interaction is a more robust consideration, expeditions may visit indigenous Amazonian communities like the Peruvian headwaters or the First Nation people of British Columbia’s Haida Gwaii.  On a Greenland voyage recently, I found it reassuring that our ten passengers did not overwhelm the usually isolated Inuit community of Ittoqqortoomiit and, likewise, sidling up to rustic rough-planked jetties leading to Kichwa settlements on the Napo River in the 18-cabined MV Anakonda in Ecuador created a feeling of privileged accessibility.

On a typical expedition, you will rise early for breakfast, aware of the plan for the day, having been briefed the night before. In the morning, the first excursion may be a zodiac cruise, perhaps passing an exciting breeding bird colony from the water to get a unique perspective. Lunch is often a buffet-style self-service affair. Before or after it, depending on time, the expedition crew may have delivered some form of a lecture, usually pertinent to the day’s activity. Throughout, guests will typically spend time on the deck spotting wildlife or absorbing the wild surroundings they find themselves in. The afternoon excursion could be a landing to stretch the legs or visiting a wildlife, historical, or cultural site. I’ve made some tremendous off-ship hikes in the likes of Arctic Canada with guides ever vigilant for polar bears and some excellent historical visits in the Northwest Passage, including to the gravesites of the three mariners from Sir John Franklin’s doomed 19th-century expedition. The evenings are certainly hedonistic. A cocktail and briefing from the expedition leader to recap the day and plan for the next. Dinner follows and then socialising in the lounge. In the likes of the high Arctic, guests will be on standby at night for hoped-for sightings of aurora borealis.

Per se, I would say not in terms of chance encounters, as this rarely depends on ship size.  Indeed, larger vessels may attract more racing dolphins. But there are clear advantages. Imagine seeing a herd of musk ox on land and deciding to go ashore to get a little closer. I’ve experienced this in the past, and on a larger vessel, I fretted that I might miss the spectacle because my turn to disembark could see me waiting, say, 30 minutes on the vessel before getting on to a zodiac. That’s not the case on a micro-expedition, as you’ll be on the water rapidly. Also, some key sites will be limited to small numbers. “One such place would be Pack Creek in Alaska, a sanctuary for brown bears,” said Maureen Gordon. “Only 12 people are allowed ashore. As a result, the bears accept us like any other animal in the place – seals or ravens – and go about their business around us. It is obvious that we are the guests in their home”.

Specialised themed voyages are an exciting and newer trend that fits micro-adventures well. Most sailings, whatever sized ship, focus on wildlife. But imagine how bored some passengers would get if some fellow guests wanted to spend two hours circling a piece of ice twiddling f-stops to photograph a seal. That’s why niche photographic cruises are often sold out, especially if they have a headline professional well-known in wildlife photography. A small passenger contingent also enables more one-to-one tuition from experts. Later in the season - September onwards in the northern hemisphere - micro-vessel expeditions specialise in aurora borealis watching. Larger vessels offer the same, but a smaller ship will provide more flexibility regarding where you photograph them with a photographer on hand to advise whose tuition will feel more personal. I will see myself on a tall sailing ship in a whisky-themed micro-expedition on a forthcoming trip. And before you wonder about the wisdom of drinking and being at sea, this is a 12-passenger exploration of the Inner Hebrides’ small world-renowned whisky producers with an industry expert onboard to deliver lectures.

It’s oversimplistic to suggest a vessel with twelve passengers offers a more environmentally-friendly voyage because carbon footprint should be assessed relatively per person. Any expedition sailing should implement greener technology in its emissions and eco-friendly practices onboard, such as providing guests with reusable water bottles. Also, you are more likely to practice citizen science, where guests get involved in environmental monitoring, on a larger vessel because they have a more significant staff contingency to spare a science coordinator and perhaps space for a science laboratory. Yet there is no dispute that micro adventurers tread lighter on the sites they visit, and some vessels, such as sailboats, offer a fossil-free alternative to propulsion.  “Smaller ships create experiences that enrich people’s lives while also protecting the places we love. We are guided by those values – not by volume. People are amazed when they learn they can explore the Inside passage by a small, local boat. When really, we’re just reclaiming the idea that while the boat is the magic carpet, being part of this wondrous world is what the trip is all about,” added Maureen Gordon.