Charters in:

Availability:

Great Barrier Reef and Papua New Guinea

Great Barrier Reef: All year round
Papua New Guinea/Raja Ampat: Later 2011

Eendracht is an expeditionary style motor yacht available for charter to explore Australia's Great Barrier Reef and surrounds and was designed to be able to access and operate in remote locations. Eendracht was launched in July 2008 and spent the next two months exploring the vast coastline of Northern Australia and the Great Barrier Reef on route to Cairns in Northern Queensland.

Eendracht is based in Cairns on the doorstep of the Great Barrier Reef. Charters are customised to your requirements. The area from Australia's outer reefs up to Papua New Guinea, and out to the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu is a place of remote and unspoiled beauty, that offers the kind of magical exotic adventure world weary travellers crave.

Your adventure can include scuba diving, snorkelling, swimming, visiting remote islands to see nesting turtles (in season) and view Aboriginal art sites and walking on untouched sandy beaches and cays. Eendracht can also offer the adventurous charterer the option of being involved in conducting marine research programs like shark tagging and tracking and Minke Whale tracking (in season). A marine researcher would accompany these charters which take place on the Great Barrier Reef north of Cairns.

Design, Fitout and Accommodation

Eendracht is an expeditionary style motor yacht launched in July 2008 by one of Australia's premier shipyards. Eendracht's owner, a highly experienced ship builder himself, wanted a vessel capable of operating in Australia's remote coastal areas and the South Pacific in safety and comfort.

The vessel's equipment features a high degree of double redundancy to reduce the likely-hood of an equipment failure causing a trip to be cancelled or shortened.

At 36 meters in length Eendracht is large enough to provide the luxury space and safety for you to enjoy your holiday but is small enough to anchor in secluded bays and enter tidal rivers.

Eendracht is equipped with two rigid hull tenders, one of 6.3 meters and the other of 3.8 meters in length.

Snorkelling and dive equipment is carried on board as is a range of fishing equipment.

Eendracht is crewed by up to six experienced staff. The onboard chef will cater to your special dietary requirements.

Eendracht can accommodate up to 8 guests in one double master Stateroom and three double VIP cabins.

Each passenger cabin features an en-suite bathroom, is individually air conditioned, has a LCD TV with Sony DVD CD & MP3 compatible player, a writing desk for your convenience and a telephone for internal or external calls. All areas on the vessel are serviced by a WIFI system if you need to bring your laptop with you.

A spacious lounge and dining area, shaded alfresco deck, forward sun pad and aft shaded spa area offer space and privacy for relaxing between diving, snorkelling and shore visits.

History

MY Eendracht was named after a sailing vessel which operated in the 17th century by the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (United East India Company) which is often abbreviated to VOC. The word Eendracht is from early Dutch and means harmony or unity both fitting virtues for a motor yacht.

The VOC Eendracht has a connection with the early exploration of Australia when on 25 October 1616 the VOC Eendacht captained by Dirk Hartog was the first European vessel to visit Western Australia. The crew landed on what is now called Dirk Hartog Island and nailed a flattened pewter plate to a post which they erected on the cliffs on the northern end of the island. The plate was inscribed with the details of Eendracht's visit and the details of her senior crew. That plate is now in the Amsterdam Maritime Museum in the Netherlands. A copy of that plate is featured in the saloon of our Eendracht.

It is interesting to note that some of the early Dutch maps showing Australia referred to the then largely unknown continent by various names including "Landt of Eendracht" and "Terra Austral is Incognita" (The Unknown Southern Land). The latter was eventually to be shortened and anglicized to become Australia.