The MV Indies Trader is a surf exploration vessel, which took part in Quiksilver's Crossing from 1999-2005, and is known as the most iconic vessel in modern surfing.

The Rader

Richard ‘Rick’ James designed the ''Rader'' (now ''Indies Trader'') as well as 150 of Australia’s most iconic vessels. He graduated

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

’s Bachelor of Naval Architecture program. It was owned first by Dave Barnett, a

New Zealander New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

raised in

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

, using it for

marine salvage Marine salvage is the process of recovering a ship and its cargo after a shipwreck or other maritime casualty. Salvage may encompass towing, lifting a vessel, or effecting repairs to a ship. Salvors are normally paid for their efforts. Howev ...

jobs, the primary function of the boats large cargo hold and crane.

Extension and renaming

After diving a big wreck and finding controversial treasure, Dave Barnett decided to sell the boat to one of his crew, Martin Daly. When it was sold to Martin, it was renamed ''Indies Trader'' to keep the ''Rader'' name intact and avoid the bad

luck Luck is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones. The Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at a ...

of renaming a boat. Using the same designer, Rick James, it was cut in half and extended by 6 feet.

Surf Discovery

The boat is credited with discovering many surf breaks, including One Palm Point and being the first boat in the

Mentawai Islands Mentawai may refer to: * Mentawai Islands, Indonesia ** Mentawai Strait ** Mentawai people, ethnic group of Indonesia ** Mentawai language, their Austronesian language {{dab Language and nationality disambiguation pages ...

. The boat stumbled upon Lance Knight a couple weeks after he arrived by canoe, and named the surf break after him, Lance's Right. Captain Daly and the Indies Trader have discovered more surf breaks than anyone in human history.

The Quiksilver Crossing

Supported by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Quiksilver Quiksilver is a brand of surf-inspired apparel and accessories that was founded in 1969 in Torquay, Victoria, but is now based in Huntington Beach, California. It is one of the world's largest brands of surfwear and boardsport-related equip ...

organized a seven year trip around the world, discovering new surf breaks, as well as checking on the coral health around the globe. The Crossing has been called one of the most groundbreaking moments in surf history. The voyage took them to 56 countries and 26 states and four territories, they discovered more than 115 new surf breaks, as well as going over 160,000 nautical miles, the equivalent of circumnavigating the world 8 times.

References

{{Reflist Boats