In a few months I want to move a Catalina 320 from Airlie Beach to Pittwater, NSW.
Anyone know a good delivery skipper for the job?
Also, what would normally be included in the list of items I cover the cost of? flights? food???
Thanks
Junek, depends what your budget is?,
That is a great idea and offer from Cisco if you need to keep costs down, I could be interested in Southport to Pittwater. Best timing would be leave in spring. I have skippered yacht deliveries up and down the NSW coast and into QLD.
Having said that the Mitchell's are very experienced and great people if you decide on a full commercial delivery.
cheers
I did the trip from Pittwater to Hamilton island and return last year. I didn't pay for a skipper, but had friends who came along to give me a hand for about 4 days at a time. They had to pay their costs to get to and from the pickup/dropoff points, but I paid for their food (I cooked as well) and drinks. Plus they got a whale tour thrown in for free.
Trip time each way was 3 weeks. We motored most days (mainly due to no wind) with only a couple of over night passages, but some days were long. Anchored if no marina, such as Tin Can Bay and between of Rosslyn Bay and Mackay.
These were my costs for the trip back. Food & drinks for 2 (delivered by Coles Online) was $550, fuel was $450, marinas $650. Also allow for some repairs and extended layovers for weather. My boat is under 10 metres, so your marina costs may be slightly higher.
I had no problems getting people to help do the Queensland coast, but when it came to the NSW coast everyone seemed to be busy. That may be the time to get a professional skipper.
I will be doing the trip again this year. Will be leaving Pittwater early July and back home by late September. I have a spreadsheet that has my schedule and costs, so PM me if you would like a copy as a reference.
Good Morning,
I am a delivery skipper based in Sydney. My qualifications include RYA Yachtmaster Offshore and RYA Cruising Instructor and I have sailed and raced extensively on the eastern and southern coasts of Australia from Perth to Cairns. Perhaps the comments below might provide you with some insight into our approach and methodology.
Generally I like to have a conversation with the owner around the boat, the trip and your expectations before we prepare a formal proposal. This is so we can judge what's an appropriate sailing methodology. i.e. a race boat heading for a regatta versus a 30 year old new purchase require very different approaches.
We aim to do a trip in as short a time as is practicable and are underway 24/7, only stopping for weather, refueling and provisioning if required or, on occasions, mechanical breakdowns. We try to maintain a minimum speed that is reasonable based upon the boat so sail as much as we can and motor if the wind strength and direction are not in our favour. Our approach balances speed with the care of the boat so we don't red line the motor in order to maximise profit on a fixed price, neither do we dawdle along stretching out the clock. we often have other commitments to meet so we need to be mindful of that.
Our costs are based on a daily rate which includes provisioning the boat for the trip. We run a dry boat.
Additional costs that we ask you to bear are fuel, marina fees (if required), travel costs for the crew and any safety equipment that we need to procure for the trip be that a rented life raft or provision of a new toolkit for say a newly acquired boat.
The "clock" starts when we depart and stops when we reach our final destination. We prepare a passage plan that forms the basis of the proposal. However this can be impacted by unforeseen circumstances such as weather. If we're held for more than two days by a weather front then we would discuss with the owner and may leave the boat to return when conditions are more favourable. This may also be the case for mechanical breakdowns. We ask the owner to meet these additional travel costs as well although they are rare.
Safety of the boat and crew are paramount and therefore we require owners to provide detailed information on maintenance and boat condition with particular attention to rig and motor.
I'm happy to discuss further with you if you'd like to contact me.
Cheers
Thanks to all for your replies.
I have since contacted a few professional delivery skippers and had some 'ball-park' quotes. Now I am in a bit of a dilemma as I don't have time to deliver the boat myself, however the delivery cost is much higher than I anticipated (although the costs seem fair).
I am now toying with the idea of getting her to SE QLD myself and then a delivery skipper for the rest.
As someone said above " This relocating boats is not a cheap exercise.!" Maybe I should have thought of that a few weeks ago. Haha.
Thanks again to all and I will contact a few of the members regarding their advice and services.
A useful thread Junek. Without necessarily giving exact details, can you give a "ball park" figure for this delivery based on your research?
Cheers
Bristle
Junek,
Be honest with any delivery crew regards any maintenance issues, lack of spare parts, concerns or oddities you have with the boat.
There are several recorded incidents with boats being lost on deliveries, sometimes through pushing through bad weather to make a deadline, or through system failures such as engine issues . Murphys law dictates any intermittent issues will occur right when you don't want it.
Like EC31, I took my boat up and home from the Whitsundays with the help of friends, I covered all on board costs, they made their own way to departure and destination points.
We had some great times and fantastic sailing. We also had becalmed conditions where motor sailing used every drop of fuel, had system failures that depleted my spare parts, and 30+knots on the nose for two days that wore out the crew, where we had to leave the boat for a few days and come back (twice).
Plan for the worst case, ensure at least one crew is suitably qualified (preferably more) and, if you get to do part of the trip, enjoy every minute of it. Deliveries should be, and are, a great sailing experience.
As previously mentioned moving boats can get expensive. Have you thought about sailing to Bundaberg from Airlie which can be done mostly in one day increments which will let you " feel out the boat" . Lay up in bundy ( mine is currently on the hard there ) do an antifoul etc . When the time is right do the big sail home. Can be Broken up as well , stop at Fraser Island ,do the inland run to southport, sail to Coffs and stop for a few hours just to put the kettle on without worrying about spilling it, port Stephens then pitwater . My trip up was non stop from Botany Bay to southport ,southport to Scarborough ( only running aground a few times 
) originally was single handed but a mate offered to come to Sydney and help,I paid for his airfare down. Nice sailing holiday. I will be sailing back to Sydney this year in my slow boat after heading north for a while . ( crew unknown as yet) . There will be quite a few boats heading south when the wind is right and a few of them seabreazers maybe you could follow them down / get passage plans if you haven't done it before. Heaps of experienced advice on this forum. It was my first big sail even though I have been sailing for 35 years. I sail in tandom with another seabreazer based in Scarborough up there. It's just nice to know that some one is looking out for you and falling over with laughter at you running aground 
or shining a torch in your face to point you at the anchorage after dark or taking the last tim tam after a visit
.Probably only cost as much as a delivery and you get a holiday
I agree, this is becoming a useful thread with heads of wisdom involved.
Heaps of good suggestions above regarding how I could easily sail her home with some competent crew and time....the only issue is I don't have the time. The boat is supposed the be the 'learning boat' that the family can get used to on weekends for 5 years before I get the time to get a bigger boat and go for an adventure.
So for now, i need to move the boat without my involvement (well, other than my bank accounts involvement!).
Approximate costs from professionals -
Skipper $300/day
Mate or competent crew $150 to 200 /day
Travel expenses as required
I think the daily rate starts when they leave home and finishes when they get home.
Food, fuel, marinas, breakages etc etc.
Non professionals are significantly cheaper.
I hope the above helps for future google searches!
Mate of mine does this on a fixed fee + expenses [don't ask how much cause I don't know.]
Just delivered a yacht Cains to Hobart, 21 days sailing over three months 
Select to expand quotejunek said..
I agree, this is becoming a useful thread with heads of wisdom involved.
Heaps of good suggestions above regarding how I could easily sail her home with some competent crew and time....the only issue is I don't have the time. The boat is supposed the be the 'learning boat' that the family can get used to on weekends for 5 years before I get the time to get a bigger boat and go for an adventure.
So for now, i need to move the boat without my involvement (well, other than my bank accounts involvement!).
Approximate costs from professionals -
Skipper $300/day
Mate or competent crew $150 to 200 /day
Travel expenses as required
I think the daily rate starts when they leave home and finishes when they get home.
Food, fuel, marinas, breakages etc etc.
Non professionals are significantly cheaper.
I hope the above helps for future google searches!
Wow the skipper earns $12.50 per hour ??
Select to expand quotejunek said..
In a few months I want to move a Catalina 320 from Airlie Beach to Pittwater, NSW.
Anyone know a good delivery skipper for the job?
Also, what would normally be included in the list of items I cover the cost of? flights? food???
Thanks
Mr Jimmi aka Jimmy the Magican
He is anchored behind Gabo last I heard this morning sitting out the Northerly.
Solo delivery Kettering to Brisbane left Monday afternoon.
Select to expand quotejunek said..
I agree, this is becoming a useful thread with heads of wisdom involved.
Heaps of good suggestions above regarding how I could easily sail her home with some competent crew and time....the only issue is I don't have the time. The boat is supposed the be the 'learning boat' that the family can get used to on weekends for 5 years before I get the time to get a bigger boat and go for an adventure.
So for now, i need to move the boat without my involvement (well, other than my bank accounts involvement!).
Approximate costs from professionals -
Skipper $300/day
Mate or competent crew $150 to 200 /day
Travel expenses as required
I think the daily rate starts when they leave home and finishes when they get home.
Food, fuel, marinas, breakages etc etc.
Non professionals are significantly cheaper.
I hope the above helps for future google searches!
$300 a day is hardly huge wages and $150-$200 for crew members. Would you work 7 days a week $75000? I know I wouldn't not that expensive. Plus Cisco has offered you a cheaper alternative.
Select to expand quotetwodogs1969 said..
Plus Cisco has offered you a cheaper alternative.
No!! Not cheaper. Quality service at cost price.
I do not do cheap. 
Thirty year old El Dorado Rum at the local costs $120 per nip.
Select to expand quotejunek said..
In a few months I want to move a Catalina 320 from Airlie Beach to Pittwater, NSW.
Anyone know a good delivery skipper for the job?
Also, what would normally be included in the list of items I cover the cost of? flights? food???
Thanks
Have you done a comparison trucking versus delivery skipper?
Maybe i should state i don't think its a rip off. I actually did say it was a fair price. $300 a day is not heaps of money.
I just thought the whole delivery would be less cost. I naively forgot to add up all the expenses, travel costs and probable maintenance / break downs. When you do that, you get to about $8K.
Trucking is better in every way.
Are you more than 3,0m wide.
Quicker, less wear and tear.
The trucking guys are very good usually.
Pittwater is an easy drop off as well
Trucking is better in every way.
Are you more than 3,0m wide.
Quicker, less wear and tear.
The trucking guys are very good usually.
Pittwater is an easy drop off as well
I would truck if I couldn't sail it myself.
If you don't know the boat you run a significant risk in having the delivery crew find the problems at sea, in costs and safety.
Mast down, lashed securely, lift onto truck, deliver, return to water and raise mast. Easy! Probably less than $5000, take less than a week and low risk.
Trucking is a better idea, I actually trucked my Top Hat up from Sydney to Laurieton in 2009 when I realized there was a heap of work I'd have to do to go to sea. Saved a heap compared to cost of travelling to and from Sydney to get her sea worthy.
