Charter Advice

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luty

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A friend has just informed me that he has booked a 34' Catalina to cruise the Whitsundays for 5 days. He has no experience and it will only be him and his wife (also no experience).

The charter company have told him they don't need any experience as they will have a couple of hours run through before hand and if he can drive a car then he can sail a yacht.

He rang me as he wants some advice and my first reaction would be to tell him to forget it but if the charter company are ok with it, will it be ok? I know nothing of Australian sailing so my concerns are:

-likely weather for December, esp wind speed & visibility
-navigation, is it line of sight?
-how big are tidal ranges / how strong running tides
-how easy is mooring / anchoring

I don't want to poo-poo his plans as its a trip of a lifetime but want to know what the panel think as its making me nervous!!
 
December is mid summer in the Whitsundays. All of the islands are very close together, a bit like the Virgin Islands in a way, and there is hardly any tidal range or currents to worry about really, as far as I remember.

(I was there just for a day on a 3 day trip on Condor out of Airlie Beach in October '99).

I am sure that if your friends are sensible and levelheaded, with a reasonable amount of common sense and can think ahead, they will be fine.
 
Take him on a shakedown cruise on HMS Imaginary, and if Timbuctoo is too far, why not try a weekend out on a boat here in the UK first?
Sounds like a recipy for disaster or the experience of a lifetime - depending on the whims of sea and weather (humid heat and lots of rain).
 
Tks, that has reassured me to some extent. He's certainly not an idiot and has a smattering of common sense so I'll lend him an EPIRB and wish him bon voyage /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
I would get him to check very closely the small print on the insurance docs held by the company, particularly his excess requirements. He risks anchor dragging, running aground or simply bumping into other boats in marinas, especially if there's any decent wind. That needs knowledge of the boat and how to do some basics.

Common sense might not give him the knowledge he may well need. PS I do not know the area.

Pops
 
Just back from chartering in the Caribbean. The damage insurance won't probably cover any negligence by the skipper and you will end up paying up to 2% of the value of the boat for repair costs.
 
There are some Aussies who regularly post on this forum, and I am sure that they will be along later on with some very useful advice (its about 0400 on the east coast of Oz now).

It would be a good idea for you to go through the basics with your friends first, perhaps using a copy of that excellent little Yachtmaster book by the RYA (purple, with lots of diagrams, and minimal text).

And perhaps even send them out for a day on a yacht in England first, never mind that it is winter......

I am sure that the charter company will decide after the initial briefing and demo as to if your friends are competent enough to be allowed out on their own.
But as has been suggested above, please do get them to read all the small print very carefully! And make sure they know what they are letting themselves in for.

On a different tack, box jellyfish are a major threat during the summer months downunder, but I think they are usually found only fairly close to the mainland - I seem to remember being told that they dont find their way out to the Whitsundays - although I hope that I wont be corrected on this by the Aussies!
 
Don't know the area, but sounds dodgy to me. Once went on a flotilla from Levkas which was supposed to be 'easy' sailing. First morning en route towards Corfu a F8 blew up from nowhere, right on the nose. Took 7 hours on the tiller to get into port. For several people on that flotilla this was their first days sailing, some never sailed again.
At least do what others suggest and go out in the UK, you know it makes sense. Would you let someone out driving a car with L plates and no experience?
 
At last a thread I can contribute to...!!!

We (SWHMBO and I) chartered a cat up there for a week mid November this year. From a cruising area point of view it's a playground. Winds generally around 10-15kts sometimes getting up to 20-25 kts (but not that frequently). All navigation is line of sight and the catalina will be restricted to a specific survey area which is all line of site.

December, Jan and Feb are almost peak season up there for charters as the weather is at it's best and consequently visibility is very good.

Tidal range is up to 4m springs running tides will be 2kts maybe 3 in the narrower passages between the islands. (the charter company tell you to turn your engine on and use it when going through passages)

On a five day cruise unless your friend likes his luxury and is willing to cough up $75 dollars a night mooring at Palm Bay (or any of the resort spots) he'll spend most of his time anchoring or picking up a public mooring buoy (great from a "relax we're practically tied down" point of view, annoying as hell from a bloody great blue thing banging on the hull in the middle of the night.)

The boats normally come with extremely comprehensive equipment and instruction manuals on how to sail them and what to do in all sorts of situations. All the boats carry far less sail than they could (the jib on the cat was so small I contemplated replacing it with a t-shirt) and consequently are way underpowered.

You get a three hour briefing which covers cruising area, navigation (it's that island over there), boat operation and anchoring technique.
The charter companies all reserve the right to make you take a "sail guide" if they don't think you are up to it. They make you pay for the sail guide and if your friend is at all nervous about the first day then it may be worth taking the guide. You have to pay for their transport back to the mainland once you have finished with their services.
The charter companies have twice daily radio skeds where they want to know if you have any issues and where you plan to go for lunch/anchor overnight. If you miss two skeds in a row they will send a plane out to look for you and charge you for the privilege.
You are expected to not leave your overnight anchorage before 8 am and be at your overnight anchorage by 4 pm, there is some flexibility in this obviously but they like you to be happily at anchor a good couple of hours before sundown so you can be confidant that you are not slipping.

Most anchorages are Sand/Mud and the holding is generally excellent. We had no issues with slipping. Anchoring is easy and there is plenty of space at most of the anchorages. The key aspect is calculating how much chain and normally the charter companies say 30m or four times.

All the boats come with plenty of fuel to get you around if the wind buggers off and also to get you out of trouble.

If your friend can spring the cash he may find it worthwhile trying to get hold of a book called 100 Magic miles, it has a huge amount of info and SWHMBO and I both read it several times before we went away and it helped a great deal. Also since your friend only has five days up there I suggest a basic sailing course for the two of them first, that way they will make the most of the holiday and not have to worry about sail handling when they should be enjoying themselves.

One of the cool things you can do up there is a get a seaplane to collect you from your anchorage (only selected anchorages) and fly you out to the outer reef (great barrier reef proper) for a couple of hours of snorkelling or underwater observation. (that's about 300 dollars per person)

However there is great snorkelling to be had at Butterfly Bay (pick up a public mooring buoy in the bay at around 2:30-3:00 pm and you can keep it overnight.) Don't pick up the two outermost buoys or you'll be in for a rolly night

There are some great sheltered places to anchor, Cid Harbour, Nara Inlet, Macona inlet and some magnificent beaches (if you like that sort of thing) whitehaven and stonehaven in particular.

The charter companies normally supply you with snorkelling gear and fins for nothing.

From a jelly fish point of view (somebody mentioned the box jelly) the best thing to do to minimise any risk is to rent a stinger suit from the charter company. A very attractive lycra skintight suit that covers you from the neck down to your ankles. An old pair of trainers with a thick sole is also a must unless you want to cut your feet to shreeds and get tropical infections :-))

The jellies are pretty much everywhere and not just on the mainland, although I certainly didn't see any or get stung. The real nasty ones are the Irakandji which have a bell about 2 cm wide and are transparent (handy). The briefer will take you through all those anyway.

I don't agree with the doom and gloom merchants who say it is a recipe for disaster, they let goups of kids (well not kids, lets say college/uni students) take these boats out and almost everyone in the entire world has more common sense than a drunken undergraduate :-)

as long as your friend takes it easy and isn't prone to panic it'll be a walk in the park and a great holiday....

It's a great thing to do and there is something magic about anchoring up in cid harbour taking a swim and maybe a siesta and then firing up the BBQ as the sun goes down with bloody great turtles surfacing for air off the stern of the boat.

I'll reiterate the point about the 100 magic miles book, it is really very informative and is a huge bonus if you can read it before you arrive

The provisioning service is excellent as well and worthwhile if you want to get out on your way on the first day.

One final hint, take a bunch of zip lock bags and if you have space in the fridge or freezer (if you have one) put your waste food in there in the bags (you can't throw anything overboard) it will prevent it getting smelly in the galley towards the end of the trip

Tell your friend to have a great time and say hi to the turtles for me
 
Many thanks for this post, fantastically informative, has all the info needed to explain to him what he's in for and I saw the 100 magic miles book on ebay so will tell him to get it.
 
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