Dumb idea? ferrying passengers for money

[Island Time O25]

It probably would be more feasible to have your passengers fly to a destination and just do a bit coastal sailing with scuba diving, hiking, etc.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by kbed5275

Thankyou for all that helpful advice! I now understand how hard it'll be to run a commercial yacht from Sydney to Lord Howe, a little too ambitious for an initial trip to sell! I've adjusted my expectations and am now looking into day trips from Sydney to Port Stephens/Jervis Bay.

That's much more manageable but it's really more about the charter rather than a means of transportation, since most people can easily and cheaply drive to either destination in a couple hours.

Are you planning to switch to a power boat? I had to look it up but both of those routes are around 100 miles each way. If conditions are good and the boat is running at 30mph, you've got around 7 hours under power to do a day trip. If conditions are bad...

If it's more typical sailboat speeds, figure around 30-40hrs...kind of hard to do as a day trip.

As a 4-5 day charter, it's probably doable but a little hardcore for most casual charter guests. Make sure guests know what the options are in the case of poor weather. At the least, if a guest isn't happy, it's a lot easier to send someone up in a car to drive them home.

Based on some of your comments, I suggest getting some sailing experience before dumping a lot of money into this (this is meant kindly).

[ozwrangler]

Jervis Bay? There's very little amenity for yachts, let alone a private operation.
The whole area is a Marine Park, which brings restrictions.

I don't think the average tourist would enjoy the sail from Sydney, due rougher conditions outside the harbour and Jervis Bay.

Huskisson wharf is small, already servicing local whale watching and boat tours. Tour buses bring groups from Sydney. You can already hire a skippered catamaran- which would be the vessel of choice for the bay.

Hyams Beach is promoted as whitest sand in the world which already brings tourists- mostly by car/ bus. No moorings near there that I know of.

The only public moorings I know of are off Sharknet Beach, Huskisson (not a great name for brochures) and Vincentia (suburban area). Those in Booderee National Park were out of service, last I heard.