Captain Mark Drewelow’s flash of inspiration over a decade ago is now YachtAid Global, a nonprofit that has delivered much-needed supplies to remote maritime communities around the world since 2006.
YachtAid Global has relied on volunteers to deliver much-needed supplies to remote maritime communities around the world since 2006. Photo courtesy of YachtAid Global
By Douglas Timmel
Published: July, 2013
Captain Mark Drewelow’s flash of inspiration over a decade ago is now YachtAid Global, a nonprofit that has delivered much-needed supplies to remote maritime communities around the world since 2006.
Captain Drewelow grew up in Southern California, not far from the beach. From the first time he saw the ocean, he was in love with the water. As skipper of private sail boats during the 90s, Drewelow found himself at the helm in far-flung islands and coastal areas around the world. These places were so remote that the local people often relied on the occasional resupply ship to bring in needed goods.
One day in 1999, Drewelow was at anchor north of the remote Ashmore Reef between Australia and Indonesia. Nearby was a 10-meter traditional Indonesian fishing boat with five men aboard. Through gestures, the fishermen asked for food, water, pencils, paper and a wind-up clock—all of which Drewelow provided. Somehow, this small boat navigated through the treacherous reefs back to its island community. Drewelow wondered what happened to the supplies he gave them.
And that is when the inspiration struck. Private boats were visiting these villages, and they had room aboard to bring in supplies. Why not use private boats that were already cruising to a particular destination to deliver school aid and other materials to villagers?
Drewelow quickly found many captains willing to move supplies to locations on their routes. Paying for the school supplies out of his own pocket, Drewelow made sure paper, pencils, text books, crayons, and even some antiseptic and bandages were on the private boats heading out to various isolated communities. Captains even threw in some of their own money and added to the supplies.
This pioneering work expanded to become YachtAid Global. Today, a network of willing owners, captains and crews deliver humanitarian aid to some of the most remote islands and coastal areas of the world. Since 2006, boats have made more than 50 deliveries helping over 15,000 people. The numbers may seem small, but the difference in the lives of the recipients can be dramatic. Even a delivery of $2,000 worth of supplies can provide a marked increase in literacy levels, and in the case of disaster relief may save lives.
Deliveries have been made to communities in the Alaskan archipelago, Gulfo de Chiriqui Panama, islands in the Fiji chain, throughout Polynesia, southern Chile, Easter Island, Vanuatu, Fiji and more.
Over the years, the concept has expanded to include disaster relief. The private boats can move nimbly into isolated areas that are typically unreachable by the big organizations. A recent example was the tsunami that devastated the Pacific in 2010. Robinson Crusoe Island, a speck of land off the coast of Chile, had its seaside village largely destroyed. Due to the remoteness of the village, aid was difficult to get to the island. YachtAid Global became aware of a private boat heading in that direction and was able to stock the boat with disaster relief and school aid. A small island in the Fiji chain also had disaster relief delivered shortly after cyclone Evan impacted the area during December 2012.
YachtAid Global is planning another fifteen deliveries during 2013 and 2014. It is entirely a volunteer effort, completely funded by interested individuals who want to make a difference. There are no political, religious or government affiliations or funding.
Captail Drewelow’s flash of inspiration, which has now helped over 15,000 people, has truly become a way to "change the world, without changing course." Look for YachtAid Global at www.yachtaidglobal.org.
