Calling all Aussies!

Or at least those of you in the Sidney area.

One of my surrogate daughters is heading to Sidney to study for a couple years on a Fulbright scholarship and she has a housing allowance built into the scholarship.

So since she is all about the water, has worked on several boats up to 140' , has a 200 ton captains license already and has been to Sidney before, she figured what better place to live while she's studying then on a boat in Sidney Harbour.

Even though she will not be going over there for a couple of months she is already starting to look for boats available to buy in the Sidney area. But not being there of course makes it tough to really know what condition they might be in.

So I'm here to ask if there is any one in the Sidney area who would be willing to look at a boat or two for her?

Here is the first one she is looking at:

Sailing Boat - Classic Yacht | Sail Boats | Gumtree Australia Leichhardt Area - Balmain | 1116510313

Its only 20 minutes from my place but Im no use till next week. The big obstacle will be finding a public mooring as the waiting list in some places is years long and one must own a registered boat before one can apply for a mooring other than that marinas are around $12000 PA. You will also find it hard to find a public mooring with easy dingy access . Willing to chat on FB

Laurie

http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/maritime/moorings/mooring-maps.html


Some of these moorings are remote and don't have access to public transport and others that are near transport dont have dingy storage while onshore. Sorry not making it hard but I have been down this path before for another friend its a battle field for those that dont know Sydney and local maritime rules

Capt Bill, if you are looking at any boats in Brisbane by chance I am happy to go have a first look and send some photos back etc.

Boatpoint is a good local website in Oz - www.boatpoint.com.au

H.

Gaston raises some important issues, Sydney is not a live aboard friendly port. It may also depend where she is studying, as Sydney covers a large geographical area. North to south it is about 70 kl, East to west is approx 50 kl.

There are three major waterways through Sydney, to the south you have Georges river, then moving north give Botany bay a miss & then to Sydney harbour itself, from there you head north to Pittwater, this is 37 kl north of the CBD.

The maritime authorities do not allow for permanent liveaboards in Sydney, with the exception of a few house boats moored at the Spit & another small area(part of Sydney harbour) & these tend to be tightly held.Having said that people do live on their boats permanently, I know of two people who do so in Pittwater, but a bit of dodging & weaving is necessary.

If she has her heart set on living aboard, happy to help in any way I can. Having said that my knowledge of sailing boats is very limited, so won't be much use on the technical side.

Opps not a good start this boat Capt.Bill11 is looking at doesn't have holding tanks and near impossible if not very expensive to fit so any thought of live aboard around Sydney would be out of the question .

From the pics, the boat is at Birchgrove in the inner west of Sydney, possibly at Camerons Marina, 5A Phoebe St Balmain. Not sure if it allows liveaboards but Balmain Marina next door does, it could also be there, they have a good resident shipwright and surveyor, Ron Bailey, who I trust.
Bill, if she wants to go boating as well as liveaboard it may be worthwhile, but if its really just liveaboard, factor in marina fees, survey purchase fees(insurer will insist on one), annual antifoul, insurance,etc, she may be better off with an apartment, shared or on her own.
Which University will she attend, if it`s Sydney University the inner west location works, if it`s University of NSW in the eastern suburbs, not so well, and eastern suburbs mooring will be more expensive than west, everything is,Double Bay is called "Double Pay" for a reason.

Thanks guys. Let me share this all with her and find out where exactly she is going to be studying.

She just left for the boonies in Ecuador for a few weeks to do some white water rafting so there'll will be a delay in getting a response.

But I'll get back to you all as soon as I can.

Bill, it sounds to me that it is one of those situations where a plan sounds like a good idea at the time, but in practice impractical, and expensive. She would be better off to use her finance to obtain a flat, sole occupant or shared - or it is possible the university she will attend even has rooms to rent. Then being nicely settled in Sydney, she could make herself known to some of our members, facilitated through this forum, who would I'm sure be more than happy for the odd extra crew member. There are also many interesting ferry trips and waterborne excursions going all the time. Buying a car to use to go sightseeing is probably a higher priority actually, as there are also great land-based attractions in easy driving distance. Public transport would suffice for the uni attendance.

Sydney harbour is spectacular, as is the Pittwater, but maybe, in her circumstances, best enjoyed from someone else's boat, who has a berth and local knowledge, and enjoy it all, rather than risk ending up in a bit of a boating nightmare. Even if she found a good vessel, and a mooring, and in a suitable location, all pretty unlikely in the first place, selling it again when leaving could be even harder. Mine is still on the market after two years...Just sayin'

You may be right Pete.

But knowing her she'll want to explore all options before moving on to plan B.

So I'll run all this by her. And like you say, her getting down there and seeing for herself what can and can't be done might be the best option.

Thanks for the help.

Bill we are on a swing mooring in Long Bay which is on the North Shore and Cammeray Marina have a large number of moorings that are available and while the other guys that have responded Maritime rules say no live-aboards is quite correct, I know of at least 6 living on their boats. Its the common sense stuff like no washing hanging on the rails, keeping the boat tidy taking it off the mooring every now and then etc.
You can dinghy into the marina and there is a tender service available and public transport is available a short walk away as long as you don't mind 129 steps Might be worth checking out. John

Bill, someone with those qualifications and skills could get work on commercial cruise boats operating on the harbour. They are often seeking staff, see Afloat magazine for positions vacant

BruceK said:

Bill, someone with those qualifications and skills could get work on commercial cruise boats operating on the harbour. They are often seeking staff, see Afloat magazine for positions vacant

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Thanks for the heads up.

And she has already done that the last time she was in Sidney for an extended time. She did freelance work on a large charter yacht.