Delivery Crew Costs

[Seas the Day]

Hi,

I'm looking to move my Catalina 350 from Sydney to Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays around August. I can't sail it that distance on my own as it will be a coastal navigation requiring an around the clock crew. I'm trying to work out who to contact about organising a delivery crew and the likely cost. I am happy to be part of the crew but don't trust this 70 year old frame to do it alone.

Any advice would be most welcome.

Cheers,

Alex

[NoTies]

Take a visit to your local yacht club and ask around. Verify claims of potential crew with other club members. Purchase rum for said crew member. Go

[Seas the Day]

Thanks Pete. I'll ask at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron but most of the members are too busy making money. I own a property at Havannah Harbour so if I come over there maybe I can recruit you but doubt if I can hold enough Rum on board before we hit customs at Port Vila.

Cheers
Alex

[NoTies]

HaHa, I meant a real yacht club, not some stuffed shirt knobs club preceded with the word "Royal". We're in Peterson Bay up in Santo if you find yourself up here.

[JPA Cate]

Seas the Day,

Well, if you go outside everything, it's a little over 1000 n. mi. At an average of 149 n. mi. per day, that's a little over 7 days. That would be going offshore, and leaving all the hard bits to port, then coming in through the islands. Of course, it will be longer and take longer if you encounter strong headwinds.

You could advertise here on CF in Crew Wanted for crew. But first, you want to think about the choices. One option would be to divide the trip into chunks, like Syd to Bris; Bris-Gladstone; Gladstone to Whitsundays. If you did it that way, or something similar, most of it could be done in day hops. Most of it can be done in day hops anyway, actually, so you may want to think about that. Obviously, one wx window will probably not see you through. North of about 30 deg, the wx will be less fierce.

There will be more wear and tear on the boat if you approach it as a delivery, in which case you would go straight through, and that is likely also to be hardest on your body. It will take about 3 days to get into your watch schedule and get enough rest. Doing it in day hops, you can get a good night's sleep most nights.

Be prepared that sometimes crew don't work out, and you would need to get them ashore ahead of a planned stop.

Ann

[Dieselmech]

If you need assistance from Gladstone - Airlie Beach I would love to build up some Qld coast miles for the talked about rum payment. Im no expert by any means but have experience navigating in the NT waters.