Australian yacht charter: Tips for finding a yacht service

If you’re looking for an Australian Yacht charter, the following guide gives you information on planning, cost, permits and destinations.

Planning your trip?

• Book three to six months in advance. You can avoid high prices during the rush seasons if you book early.

• Choose between a crewed yacht or a bareboat yacht. However, for a bareboat, you need a special license that allows you to Navigate the yacht on your own.

• Consider the number of people and your budget. Decide whether you will be paying for everyone or they are going to chip in.

• Check the visa and entry rules and verify travel insurance covers boating.

Get a cost estimate

• A 50-foot Yacht with four cabins costs $6500 per week.

• An 82-foot catamaran costs around $60,000 per week.

• A 119-foot motor yacht costs around $110,000 per week.

• Fuel can increase 20% of the cost. The mooring fees exceed $60 per night.

• An average charter costs around $5000 per week. Provisioning and the APA cost will be added to the base fees. You must also consider the tax dues which might apply at different ports.

No licenses are needed In the Whitsundays or Queensland. However, for NSW, you’ll need a General boat license. A PWC license is required for personal watercraft in NSW. For Tasmania, a Recreational Skippers ticket is required for boats over 4.5 kilowatts. An international Certificate of competence is required as well. The junior crew must meet the age rules.

Permits and rules

• A coastal trading temporary license costs 400 Australian dollars per year.

• Reef charter permits are required for the Great Barrier Reef. Check local marine park rules before you sail.

• Keep the permit paperwork with you and follow the marine park guidelines. Use mooring where pointed.

• The ideal season to travel is from April to November. However, the Sydney Peak season starts in November and goes on till March.

• Try to avoid the rainfall from December to March. In the North offseason rates are lower.

Top destination

• Whitsundays Islands and the Great Barrier Reef are known for diving.

• If you’re more interested in the view and calm waters, then Sydney Harbour is the place to go.

• For scenic beauty, consider visiting the Kimberley Coast.

• Beaches and bars are the best thing about Gold Coast

• To know more about wilderness, visit Tasmania.

• If you prefer a quiet stop, then consider visiting Fitzroy Island near Cairns.

Pack sailing gloves and a wind jacket. Bring along polarized sunglasses and a waterproof day bag. Keep your cameras and chargers. Bring along reef shoes, hats and reef-safe sunscreen. Bring light layers for cool nights and motion sickness pills.

It’s essential to wear a life jacket at all times and carry an EPIRB device along with the VHF radio. Always file a float plan with someone online, check for daily weather updates, keep spare batteries and flares, and make sure you have fire extinguishers on hand.

Before booking Australia’s best yacht charter deals, confirm insurance coverage, review the charter contract terms and keep a copy of the permits. Share your plans with friends and always check local emergency contacts.

Travel Wikipedia

The origin of the word "travel" is most likely lost to history. The term "travel" may originate from the Old French word travail, which means 'work'.[3] According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, the first known use of the word travel was in the 14th century. It also states that the word comes from Middle English travailen, travelen (which means to torment, labor, strive, journey) and earlier from Old French travailler (which means to work strenuously, toil). In English we still occasionally use the words "travail", which means struggle. According to Simon Winchester in his book The Best Travelers' Tales (2004), the words "travel" and "travail" both share an even more ancient root: a Roman instrument of torture called the tripalium (in Latin it means "three stakes", as in to impale). This link may reflect the extreme difficulty of travel in ancient times. Today, travel may or may not be much easier depending upon the destination you choose (e.g. Mt. Everest, the Amazon rainforest), how you plan to get there (tour bus, cruise ship, or oxcart), and whether you decide to "rough it" (see extreme tourism and adventure travel). "There's a big difference between simply being a tourist and being a true world traveler", notes travel writer Michael Kasum. This is, however, a contested distinction as academic work on the cultures and sociology of travel has noted.[4] Purpose and motivation Train travel – Passengers on a train on a bridge of the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, between Mettupalayam and Ootacamund, in Tamil Nadu, India Reasons for traveling include recreation,[5] tourism[5] or vacationing,[5] research travel,[5] the gathering of information, visiting people, volunteer travel for charity, migration to begin life somewhere else, religious pilgrimages[5] and mission trips, business travel,[5] trade,[5] commuting, and other reasons, such as to obtain health care[5] or waging or fleeing war or for the enjoyment of traveling. Travellers may use human-powered transport such as walking or bicycling; or vehicles, such as public transport, automobiles, trains and airplanes. Motives for travel include: Pleasure[6] Relaxation Discovery and exploration[5] Getting to know other cultures[5] Taking personal time for building interpersonal relationships. History of travel Travel dates back to antiquity where wealthy Greeks and Romans would travel for leisure to their summer homes and villas in cities such as Pompeii and Baiae.[7] While early travel tended to be slower, more dangerous, and more dominated by trade and migration, cultural and technological advances over many years have tended to mean that travel has become easier and more accessible.[8] Mankind has come a long way in transportation since Christopher Columbus sailed to the new world from Spain in 1492, an expedition which took over 10 weeks to arrive at the final destination; to the 21st century where aircraft allow travel from Spain to the United States overnight. Travel in the Middle Ages offered hardships and challenges, however, it was important to the economy and to society. The wholesale sector depended (for example) on merchants dealing with/through caravans or sea-voyagers, end-user retailing often demanded the services of many itinerant peddlers wandering from village to hamlet, gyrovagues (Wandering Monks) and wandering friars brought theology and pastoral support to neglected areas, travelling minstrels practiced the never-ending tour, and armies ranged far and wide in various crusades and in sundry other wars.[7] Pilgrimages were common in both the European and Islamic world and involved streams of travellers both locally (Canterbury Tales-style) and internationally.[9] In the late 16th century it became fashionable for young European aristocrats and wealthy upper class men to travel to significant European cities as part of their education in the arts and literature. This was known as the Grand Tour, it included cities such as London, Paris, Venice, Florence and Rome. However, The French revolution brought with it the end of the Grand Tour.[7]