Introduction to the R/V Heraclitus

Evening double rainbow seen from the stern-sheets of the R/V Heraclitus.

The sea is the land's edge, also.. - T. S. Eliot, Four Quartets

The R/V Heraclitus is an 84-foot, ferro-cement, Chinese junk designed and built by the Institute of Ecotechnics, and outfitted as an ocean-going research vessel. Since first raising sail in Oakland and setting out from beneath the Golden Gate Bridge on her maiden voyage in March 1975, the ship has travelled over 200,000 nautical miles, undertaking a series of voyages and expeditions to some of the most difficult and distant waters of the globe - from the upper reaches of the great Amazon River to the frozen waters of the Antarctic Ocean.

The Institute of Ecotechnics, is a UK-based charity specialising in the design and implementation of ecological projects in different biomic regions around the world. During the early Seventies, the Institute was established in the high-plateau desert area of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The idea of the R/V Heraclitus was conceived while members of the Institute were working to develop a high-desert orchard project, at six and a half thousand feet, in the arid middle of the North American continent. To those members of the Institute involved, the construction of a sea-going vessel tasked to undertake research on the world's oceans must have seemed an enticingly different venture and rapid progress was made in the specification and design of the projected research vessel.

The original vision of a sea-going vessel designed to study the ocean biome was initiated by John Allen, one of the Institute's Directors, who specified:

" a ship, probably a junk, but perhaps also a Baltic Trader-type vessel, which would enable fourteen or so people to live for long-term periods on the sea, adventuring along its coasts, visiting its many ports and exploring the great estuaries, rivers, reefs and islands. It would contain space for a scientific laboratory, a theatre, a library for research and writing and a work-shop; be capable of repairing itself, be of relatively shallow draught, fitting it for reef and river work, be primarily for sailing, but with an auxilliary engine for safety, and have a small territory for each crew-member, all of approximately equal size. The Command Room would have a sheltered helm, contain maps of the world ocean together with all essential equipment such as radio, depth-sounder, charts, etc., and provide sufficient space for full crew meetings when desirable. Its name would be Heraclitus, after the philosopher of the cosmic ocean of change and of change itself ever-changing."

These original design parameters eventually resulted in the ship that has sailed the world's oceans ever since. Although the R/V Heraclitus has performed many different tasks during this time, perhaps the real meaning of the ship has been to introduce those many volunteers who first arrived aboard - with little understanding of ship-board life or the ways of the sea - to the ancient way of life of sea-people. All who have voyaged on 'the ship' have tasted this other life, have learnt the lore and language of the waves and are marked by the knowledge of that special freedom found in following an evolving dream - and in living to the full the adventure of the high seas.