small ship cruising the world

[piratepat]

Hi There
We are the owners of a small research ship and we are looking for couples`singles inteligent capable people who would wish to travel the world with us and share expenses. We are starting from Brisbane Australia. We own our ship and just need to make it work for us the great challenge being keeping fuel in it.
It is among the most stable little ships in the world a go anywhere ship with accomodation for 20 in 9 cabins. Liferaft safet 4 14 sped boat kayaks dive gear including compressor ice machine . If you prefer a bit of size and creature comforts this might be for you. Come and Go as u please
Contact the Pirate and the ships wench email piratepat@bigpond.com

slipping in three weeks and then we r away.

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by piratepat

Hi There
We are the owners of a small research ship and we are looking for couples`singles inteligent capable people who would wish to travel the world with us and share expenses. We are starting from Brisbane Australia. We own our ship and just need to make it work for us the great challenge being keeping fuel in it.
It is among the most stable little ships in the world a go anywhere ship with accomodation for 20 in 9 cabins. Liferaft safet 4 14 sped boat kayaks dive gear including compressor ice machine . If you prefer a bit of size and creature comforts this might be for you. Come and Go as u please
Contact the Pirate and the ships wench email piratepat@bigpond.com

slipping in three weeks and then we r away.

Pat, I love your boat. It's perfect in every sense. It would be pretty close to my dream boat if I could afford upkeep and diesel.

Question: Are you doing active research aboard this vessel?

[never monday]

wow...I'd like to see your definition of large

[piratepat]

Originally Posted by ssullivan

Pat, I love your boat. It's perfect in every sense. It would be pretty close to my dream boat if I could afford upkeep and diesel.

Question: Are you doing active research aboard this vessel?

Hi there.

We broght the ship at an auction 3 and half years ago for $100,000 AUD
and would you believe it we were the only ones at the auction. We have spent all our time restoring the ship and its been a huge project. I have been playing boats since my first boat when i was 6 years old and thought i had some idea what i was doing but boy what a learning curve this baby has been.

We have the last task to go and thats slipping the ship which is scheduled for April we have 18 tonnes of fuel onboard etc and then we move north to the Great Barrier Reef to see if we can find people wishing to use our ship for all kinds of possibilities.

In return share with us some cash their company skills etc.

As far as research is concerned as I say we r just getting started the ship is registered here in queensland as a commercial charter ship and in order except for out of water service.

If there is anyone out there who might be interested in playing boats with us we would be very happy to hear from you .

Dont be scared this is adventure world and not a dat goes by when a new adventure doen not come into our lives.

[Joli]

Pretty cool looking boat.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by piratepat

Dont be scared this is adventure world and not a dat goes by when a new adventure doen not come into our lives.

When I was a kid these boats used to tie up in Circular Quay, Sydney, with shark fins tied on a rope fore to aft Very distinctive boats. Funnily enough even then I wanted one. They just look the perfect size and strong enough for any sea. Ummmmmm that when you can get rid of the smell!

Boat looks sensation downstairs. Congrats on all your work!


Mark

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by piratepat

Hi there.

We broght the ship at an auction 3 and half years ago for $100,000 AUD
and would you believe it we were the only ones at the auction. We have spent all our time restoring the ship and its been a huge project. I have been playing boats since my first boat when i was 6 years old and thought i had some idea what i was doing but boy what a learning curve this baby has been.

We have the last task to go and thats slipping the ship which is scheduled for April we have 18 tonnes of fuel onboard etc and then we move north to the Great Barrier Reef to see if we can find people wishing to use our ship for all kinds of possibilities.

In return share with us some cash their company skills etc.

As far as research is concerned as I say we r just getting started the ship is registered here in queensland as a commercial charter ship and in order except for out of water service.

If there is anyone out there who might be interested in playing boats with us we would be very happy to hear from you .

Dont be scared this is adventure world and not a dat goes by when a new adventure doen not come into our lives.

Thanks for the reply, Pat. Very interesting. I was contemplating going your route last summer, but ended up getting a very small catamaran I'm chartering. I was on a lightship and that's what got me thinking in the direction you folks are in.

You may have aleady done this, but may I suggest you also might want to register with some charter brokers? You might be able to not only share expenses, but also turn a profit to help put aside more for retirement, upkeep or whatever.

Just go onto Google and search for "yacht charters", "Australia yacht charters", "commercial charters", "research charters", etc... and a whole list of the best ones to contact will come right up.

I wish you the best of luck... and I hope you end up putting up a website. You are living a dream of mine. I'd love to have a boat like that to take up to high lattitudes and never come back. ha ha

[CharlesFCook]

You should contact this guy:

wanted: will pay for cabin on extended crossing - SailNet Community

[blondezilla]

Hmm. This is a neat idea. We contemplated taking passengers should we get a boat big enough to accommodate them. Duties wouldn't have been the big concern for me, but how do you know they have the money they say they do? Dropping a couple grand in the tank is one thing... lol but what if that is all they had and you end up having to leave them ashore when they go broke?
What about stow-aways? Can you still make them walk the plank?

[CharlesFCook]

Once you check into a country it is up to the boat to repatriate everyone on the manifest. Most boats that deal with paying passengers get the money up front AND require proof of your ability to repatriate yourself (plane ticket home). Also some will require you to pay any repatriation bond. The bonds suck because you get it back in local currency when you leave the country. A way around this is to buy a fully refundable airline ticket. Get your bond back and then get a refund on the ticket.

[piratepat]

Hi Blondie, Charles

Good points thank you.

These issues are among the toughest issues related to an adventure of this kind.

Taking people off the street onto a small ship, boat routine can bring about some interesting times and over the years i have had many dissapointing experiences of this nature. Just the fools who smoke and come without or run out of cigarettes can bring grief.

It,s worth pointing out that i am an honest caring person in principle and that makes life difficult for me sometimes.

If you lie to me and you get caught lying you could end swimming or even worse like u say u might get left behind somewhere.

The only other no no, is not being respectful especiallly to the women that may be onboard.

On certain occassions i have described myself this way.

I do not care what you do, thats your business and i am not really interested.

If you want to sneak up behind me with a knife in your hand with the intention of bringing harm to me or mine thats your business not mine and again i am not interested.

My only advise on this issue is "DONT GET CAUGHT".

because then i become interested and you will find the rules will sudddenly change.

What I/we would like to do is develop relationships with people preferably couples who enjoy what we have to offer who we get on well with and who would like to return.

There is no doubt that i would give every person a reasonable chance to demonstrate themselves to us and the most possibly the best way to sort them out is by qualification.

Security is also an issue that needs to be well thought out.

Regards
The Pirate

[David_Old_Jersey]

Love the boat and the intention

"interesting" marketing approach

Quite understand why you would want folk paying towards your dream, but I think yer need to decide whether the folk coming on board are guests, paying guests or crew - cos' each would expect to be treated differently.

IMO paying guests are allowed to do stuff that would get crew walking the plank......."he who pays the piper calls the tune" / "No money no honey" (although that might be the wrong Forum? ).

[S/V Antares]

I like this concept! My wife and I have dreamed of a small ship like this for years. I am a very qualified wrench and have engineered on several larger charter boats. I even have a few bucks to kick in for fuel. Interested?

Will & Muffin

[piratepat]

no question we r interested lets talk see where it ends up

[Pelagic]

Hi PiratePat

In the late 70’s early 80’s I was involved for 7 years in doing a similar project converting a 182 ft Norwegian Whale Catcher (still Steam) to a Charter yacht, so I can really empathise with the learning curve you are going through.

We initially did a lot of commercial jobs, and then Summers sports fishing in west coast Canada; winters spent ironically Whale watching and naturalist/adventure tours in Mexico. I left a couple of years after she became a live aboard dive boat in Micronesia as the Owner decided to be permanently involved as her Captain. It became a very “personal environment” for him, rather than the professional business that we had all worked towards and her reputation suffered greatly. (Such a shame as it was a great little ship)

Some lessons learned that you may find useful:
The Itinerary and activities are everything so you need to clearly decide what these will be, cost and market accordingly.

If the majority of the cabins are smaller commercial style for paid crew with shower/toilets down the hall, you need to package your offer for short 10 day to 2 week trips as it will be difficult to entice couples to stay on for longer. For that reason, Time Share/Live aboard will be a hard sell, unless you already have or decide to renovate for more comfortable accommodations.

To maintain and improve on your initial investment you will need to work 9 months of any given year so your primary investment at this stage needs to be marketing once you decide what you can offer.

Agents for commercial as well as tourist jobs need websites and brochures to sell berths so these will be at your cost unless you offer an “exclusive” to some large adventure tour company and then they will do the marketing for you and set the itinerary.

Fuel cost is now the killer today, so providing basicaly a floating Hotel where guests fly in to join you so they can pursue a particular interest in a remote region will be the best business plan.

Lastly, as David advised, be very clear that paying passengers expect service and your job is to provide it safely and effortlessly without becoming the focal point of the day. You cannot think of yourself as the Owner, you are a paid servant whose priority as the Captain is to safely help your paying guests fulfill their own dreams. Don’t confuse the two during operations as I have seen first hand this mixed message lead to discontent amongst the rest of the crew as well as the guests.

Good luck with your new venture.