It was certainly a busy and eventful week last week.  We were luck enough to still have that beautiful weather with us to end winter – what winter I say.  I only recall turning the heather on twice.  She was certainly mild, not that I’m complaining.

Thank you to all that have embraced our Whale Watching trips this season so far.  We have taken a dramatic leap in the number of trips we have been able to do so far and the word is getting out that we can offer a guaranteed rail side viewing so when you do see those whales, you can take all the pictures you want.  We are finding the Humpback Whales are still out a lot wider than they usually are for this time of the year so there are certainly some changes occurring.  We are now in full Whale Watching swing – 2 months to go and we are now seeing the whales in closer than they were a couple of weeks ago so from here on in is the time to really enjoy getting out there.

We have also been doing our half day – 5 hour deep sea fishing charters.  Caloundra State high School joined us on an excursion during the week.  It was nice to see so many international students really engaging and loving the experience.  Firstly a fishing and Spanner Crabbing charter, then off for a bit of lunch and then a tour of the Tuna factory and trawlers.  A great way to spend your day at school. Lots of questions were asked about sustainability and to be able to speak to people who have been working in the industry for years is valuable knowledge.

We were also lucky enough to have a corporate charter so we did a big cook up for breakfast.  Later in the day it was a hens cruise – always nice having the girls on board singing and dancing and enjoying themselves.

Finished off the weekend with another Whale Watching trip – loving it!

If you are interested in any of our activities, please either phone Paddy on 0412 155 814 or check out our website

 

 

 

We finally had a full weekend of great fishing and weather conditions.

We did a “Mega Day” – 11 hour fishing trip on Saturday.  Not a trip we do often.  It was great to see a lot of our regulars on board and after the mid week flare up of weather, it gave for some good fishing out wide.

A great variety of fish on board ranging from a nice big Tusky, Tea Leaf Travalley, Wrasse, Moses Perch, Banana Fish and a beautiful Clown Fish which obviously went back.

Poor Zoe nearly had a fit when a Crested Tern, that is a bird for all you fisho’s, got tangled in Tony’s fishing line.  It was all hands on deck to save this poor little thing.  Zoe nurtured him to recovery, mind you I think he was happy nestled into Zoe’s chest while recovering but soon after releasing him a Booby bird tried to attack him but that soon sent him off.

Our usual Dolphin visit is always a bonus.

Sunday was a small 5 hour fishing charter – lovely conditions out on the water with a lot of Happy Moments coming up, more than we’ve seen in a long time.  A few (just) undersized Snapper were caught but a few of the passengers managed to hook a nice Grassy Sweet Lip and a good size Mowong.  Slightly frustrating as it was clear from the sounder information that the area was solid with good sized fish under the boat!

It was nice to see some women on board and Julie hooked up a nice Trigger Fish

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Make your Sunshine Coast Holidays even more fun!

If you are visiting the Sunshine Coast for a holiday, or maybe you have family and friends visiting. To see and show the Sunshine Coast at it’s best, you need to check out some of the fun marine activities we have on offer. Whether you are after something relaxing, fun, adrenaline pumping, romantic, family orientated, by yourself or with a group,  we have something that will suit all occasions.

Whale Watching

We can offer you two types of Whale Watching.  Some fast, fun action getting out to the whales quicker but no need for bulky life jackets and you don’t get wet!  Hela-Va Jet is one of only 3 in Australia. A very unique machine.  We open the doors as we get closer to the whales so you can enjoy being close to the water and amongst it all.

Our other vessel – Crusader 1 is a 3 hour cruise on our 55 ft vessel.  Enjoy the open deck where you can move around easily and have a rail side view at all times – ready for that photo moment.  We only take a maximum of 22 passengers – so no crowds!

For more information on our very special whale watching tours have a read HERE.

Deep Sea Fishing

We offer Deep Sea fishing and Spanner Crabbing charters ranging from 5 hrs – 18 hour over-night trips.    These trips are great for the family, individuals or groups.  This time of the year there is lots to see out on the water – Dolphins, Turtles, Whales along with the Spanner Crabs and fish.

Ocean Jet Boating

Enjoy the thrill of a roller coaster on the water but you don’t get wet.  This ride includes all the usual tricks and turn you would experience on a calm water jet boat ride but you are out in the ocean to enjoy the coastline.  If there is swell we will even ride the waves.  You don’t get wet nor do you have to wear life jackets so it’s about sitting back enjoying the music and thrills.

Guided Kayak Fishing Tours

Another great adventure for the family.  Our guide will take you up in amongst the estuaries where boats can’t get to and teach you about kayak fishing, or simply enjoy being out on the water with the family.  The tours are great if the swell is too high in the ocean.

Romantic or fun Cruises for Two or more

We offer various types fo cruises from private two person trips complete with a picnic all all conducted in our beautiful waterways, to group cruises for up to 23 of your closest friends and family.  Check out our Facebook page for the latest trips we have done to get an idea.  All our cruises are adapted to completely suit your needs. All you need do is select your cruise, a picnic and swim – we can assist with your request.

Like the idea of a cruise with a difference?

We hope to, with this blog post explain, why you should have your next adventure with us, at Sunshine Coast Afloat.

Simply put, if you love the sun, salt and sea then look no further than Sunshine Coast Afloat!

For starters, if anyone knows a good time it’s our team! We have extremely experienced guides and state of the art equipment – this combination leads to the ultimate, enjoyable way to see the beautiful Sunshine Coast. Together with this we offer an amazing range of water-based activities, all of which can be modified according to the conditions of the day. And every budget is catered for! We offer deep sea fishing & crabbing charters, whale watching, ocean jet boat thrill rides, bucks and hens parties, guided kayak fishing tours, coastline & canal cruises, water taxi services and much much more!!

This adventure brought along their surfboards, drinks and a massive breakfast cook up – things that are all encouraged when booking with us at Sunshine Coast Afloat. Toby and Rob were the skippers that looked after the boys on this trip. Touring them around Mooloolaba and even taking care of the breakfast cook-up so the boys could make the most of the surf! Each and every party can be catered the way you want, with this one really focusing on the boys and just having the best and most chilled out day possible! They had such a great time they are considering making it an annual outing!!

Cooking a Breakfast Feast on the BBQ on Crusader 1.
Cooking a Breakfast Feast on the BBQ on Crusader 1.

Another great thing about Sunshine Coast Afloat is that if you have an idea, just ask us and we will find a way to make it work! We pride ourselves on finding ways to organise and alter the trip the way you wish; whether that’s bringing your own music, drinks, food ect. We want you to have the most memorable day, so we will go to all lengths to make this happen!

Another recent review after a fishing charter:

“We had an excellent experience with Sunshine Coast Afloat! Not only would we recommend them to others but we would happily go again. The staff were super helpful and happy to chat and get amongst the people. Great knowledge of fish and awesome enthusiasm! Personally what impressed me the most was the attention to safety and the pride they took in keeping the boat clean”

Felicity Tripp 2017 (Google Review).

Sunshine Coast Afloat were the winners of the 2014 Sunshine Coast Business Awards, and runners up in 2015! It was a privilege to receive the top prize and realise our efforts and promises were paying off!

We will do everything possible to ensure you will have an amazing time!

What a weekend just past!
Finally a really good break in the weather enabling us to get our guests out!
The results were excellent as we certainly had some great trips.
The cyclones started to impact us as far back as on New Years day, and basically continued to play havoc until Early April (Yes, that’s a touch over 3 full months!), we lost a massive part of the normal summer fishing time.
Our first trip out immediately showed we were already into the changeover to the Winter species.
Not that that is all bad, but the Summer pelagics are always exciting fish to hook!
All in all a mixed bag of fish species caught by the end of the weekend.
A few excellent school Jewfish (aka Mulaway), a lot of Red Emperor (sadly most JUST under the limit), Tusk fish, Parrot fish, Snapper, Cobia, a lot of Red Throat Emperor, and the normal reef fish such as Cod, Pearl Perch, Gold Spot Wrasse, Banana Fish etc. We even hooked a few Coral trout and a Nanoguy! Not a common fish for our region at all!
Just a selection of the fish caught this weekend.
The weekend started off with a 5 hr sunset charter. The forecasts were borderline so we changed it to a sunset charter to get the best of the weather.
Luckily we had picked it right, and it was a good fun trip.
Jamie had a bit of a Bucks get together with some of his interstate mates that could not make the main celebration.
A few others joined the charter & there was some good fishing.
Some of the action as the sun set on the 12th April
Friday was a corporate outing with a great bunch of guys from the Cleveland area.
This charter was a Full 9hr day out at The Barwon Banks. And, like the 5hr it ended up with another lot of good fish on board. Have to say, some of these guys could really fish! ???? ???? ????
Overall just an excellent day out on the water, with a nice BBQ lunch, some great Fishing, and one lucky person walking away with a rod & reel combo compliments of Sunshine Coast Afloat.
Saturday also started with a 5 hr sunrise charter. It’s worth noting that now that the mornings are getting darker we are seeing some spectacular sunrises.
It seems that the fish must be hungry from the extended period of bad weather as we managed another number of beauties being caught on this trip as well.
Michael had organised this for their Bucks party celebration (well, the start of it I guess) and seeing as they had the boat to themselves they  decided to have a great big cook up breaky – bacon, eggs & hash browns. Certainly hit the spot we were told!
Some of the action on the 5hr Charter on the 13th April.
A quick clean up & turn around for a 2 hr cruise which turned out to be another Bucks celebration.
A 2hr Bucks Party cruise
After that we headed off to the back canals to pick up a Hens group. They had rented a canal-front house for the occasion, so instead of them coming to us to board, we went and picked them up from the pontoon attached to the property! Talk about door to door service!! I do wonder what the neighbours thoughts seeing the 55 foot Crusader 1 coming in to moor up at the property! These girls certainly knew how to party. Lots of singing, dancing & screaming.
On Sunday we had yet again another 5 hr (half day) charter to begin with. Luckily once again the Fishing was good. And on this trip his we even managed to get a few Spanner Crabs as well.
Some of the fish caught on the 5hr Charter on Sunday morning April 15
The final trip of the weekend was Sunday afternoon when we finished off with an 80th birthday celebration. Another absolutely lovely bunch of guests. They too incorporated a BBQ lunch, while they enjoyed a beautiful day out on the water with  with family & friends.
All in all  simply a fantastic few days.
We can only hope the weather and this pace continues!

Choose your experience for some of the best Whale Watching of the year.

With the Sunshine coast whale watching season closing at the end of the month it surprises some people to know that there is in fact often no better time  for some truly amazing whale encounters. The number of whales in September and October, heading back to the antarctic waters, is simply astounding. And so many of them have of course their new family additions swimming alongside them. (and the calves are usually so playful too!).

In fact this time of year you will often get the chance to spend time with a number of different pods. Some in groups of 5 or more together.

Why Choose Sunshine Coast Afloat for your whale watching?

When choosing who to whale watch with there are a number of operators  and vessels on the sunshine coast. From the biggest and most well known operators of Whale One and Croc one down to the smallest with Set Sail Cruises or Hella-va-jet. This now give visitors (and locals) to Mooloolaba a much better range of operators to choose from for their experience with the whales.  Every operator is different. These differences will range from the type and size of vessel, to the actual way you get to interact with the whales. Some of the larger vessels will take up to 120 passengers on a trip, and then with the smaller vessels as little as 5. Smaller groups can often mean you might have the boat to yourselves. The larger vessels usually have the ability to pay on board for additional amenities (food and drinks), or come as “all inclusive” tours.

At Sunshine Coast Afloat we operate a small fleet of vessels from 5m-17m. We specialise in small group charters from 2 people up to 23 people on our vessels Crusader 1, Hela-va-jet and SupaYot.  We work closely with all other regional operators including Sunshine Seaplanes who often help locate the whales before we even leave the dock. All of this to allow us to get you quickly, and comfortably, close up to our large marine friends.

Because, as mentioned, we specialise in smaller groups, our tours are aimed squarely at those people that want a guaranteed railside, uninterrupted viewing position.  We don’t need PA systems to be heard of the noise larger groups always generate. Your experience is purely directly with our friendly experienced skippers and crew, who are there to assist you and answer any “whaley questions” you may have. No matter where you go on board, you will never be standing behind someone having your view blocked. You will never struggle to find a comfortable seat when you want to have a sit down. In fact, we do everything we can to make you feel as if you are on a large private trip with just a few friends. The sort of trip we all really want to have!  Add in the fact that the Whales certainly seem to love our boats, constantly having a number of very close personal encounter this season and last.

Sunshine Coast Afloat is a small Family business with a complete focus on providing high quality experiences and service.  Every member of our crew have young families of their own, ensuing a great understanding of your family’s needs. Each of our skippers have been working on the ocean for over 10 years, in all areas of marine tourism. From Scuba Diving to long range expedition cruising, up and down the east coast of Australia. Each brings their own knowledge and experience with them them and all are willing to share this knowledge with any of our passengers interested. Their experience and understanding of what our customers need and deserve means that your time is valuable and is treated as such by each and every crew member.

 

A humpback whale shows her tail near Crusader 1 on the Sunshine Coast

When choosing your boat with Sunshine Coast Afloat it’s worth knowing the facts:

Crusader 1

Crusader 1 coming back to her home port
  • Spacious and very stable 17m Conquest West Coaster
  • Cruising speed of up to 23 knots
  • Max 23 passengers.
  • All inclusive with food and non alcoholic drinks.
  • 2 toilets
  • 2 decks
  • LOTS of seating to accommodate more people than actually aboard.

Crusader 1 is one of the largest charter vessels on the Sunshine Coast. So large that most other operators would easily run up to 100 or more passengers on a vessel this size. With just a maximum of 23 people the most common comment we get is “Gee, the boat almost seems empty!”. And that is the feeling we want for our guests because that means you have both room and privacy aboard! Room to move about. Room to position yourself for the best view or angle possible. And privacy to not feel crowded or “sardined” in. Privacy to feel that you are having a very special and privileged experience!

Our main deck is only 1m above sea level. So when the whales decide to check us out you are SUPER close! Anyone that has had this experience will agree, its an emotional and moving experience!

Our forward deck is only 2m above sea level and its quite common to stand there and watch the whale swim right under our bow! Dolphins are also often seen playing in the wake as we head out or on our way back in.

Hela-Va-Jet

2 shots of Hela-Va Jet during whale Watching trips
  • 9.5m enclosed Oceantech Jet Boat
  • Cruising speed of 35knots (70km/hr)
  • Seats up to 12 but only takes 4-8 passengers (10 with 2 kids) for whale watching.
  • All inclusive whale watching

Hela-va-jet’s size and speed make her an ideal whale watching platform for small groups in sea conditions up to 1.5m of swell. She has the ability to get you out to the whales up to 10 miles off shore within 15 min of leaving the river mouth. In calmer seas enjoy the smooth, fast, air conditioned ride. And when the seas pick up strap in for a high speed adrenaline filled ride out to the whales as the highly experienced skippers twist and turn through the waves.

Once with the whales your skipper will open up Hela-va-Jet’s full length gullwing doors allowing you to move around the cabin getting the best views from at sea level with the whales.

Hela-va-Jet’s size allows her to sit on a single wave preventing the twisting motions you can get on larger vessels (which usually contributes to sea sickness) making for a very comfortable, fun and easy time with the whales.

If any above the information above sounds like something you are interested in just give us a call on 0402 625 825 or 0412 155 814 or jump online. We would love to have you aboard!

The highlights from August 2017

August proved to be another fabulous month here on the beautiful Sunshine Coast. We really only had one (and a half) weekend(s) out due to unpleasant weather.  Although we have not had rain for some time now,  we have experienced a few, shall we say “ordinary” days, with strong winds and swelly seas, keeping us grounded in port.

Whale Watching Trips

On the other side of things, our mid-week WHALE WATCHING trips are, slowly, gaining momentum.  Some of these have been absolutely spectacular to say the very least. Even our bird watching trips (More on these below) have turned into amazing whale watching trips! Have a look at a few of the images and some footage:

 

Hela-Va Jet, our offshore Jet Boat, is getting the same results most trips as well. And when you as close to the water as you are on this boat, the whales really look VERY big!

2 shots of Hela-Va Jet during whale Watching trips

Deep Sea Fishing

With the abnormally high winter temperatures (We have not really had much of a Winter here on the Sunshine Coast at all this year) we certainly have not seen the influx of Snapper and Cobia we normally do.  Most trips are still very much a mix of both Summer and Winter species. Towards the end of the month we finally started to see a bit of a resurgence of the Spanner crabs, even though the vast majority are well under size. At least there are clearly crabs about which will hopefully spawn in November and December to restock the levels back to where they should be.

Amongst our August trips one of the highlights was the 11 hour fishing charter which took us out past the Barwon Banks in search of the bigger fish, and we were not disappointed.  It was actually Angie’s birthday and it was a stonker of a day.

Angie getting her cake (and eating it too!) aboard Crusader 1.

And Angie got in on the fishing action too as you can see below!

A snapshot of some of the fish caught during August aboard Crusader 1.

August in general did see a lot of Tea Leaf Trevally, Amberjack, Parrotfish (Surprisingly so), and Mack Tuna. Along with the usual year round fish such as cod, pearlies, squire, Mowong, tuskies etc.

A snapshot of 2 of the trips results in August 2017 aboard Crusader 1.

This stunning Coral Trout was released back to the Coral Sea to fight another day and the only memory the person that caught it wanted was this picture of it. So I thought I would share it will everyone as these fish are seldom released!

Aboard Crusader we have been experimenting with different styles of bait, and we believe we have found an excellent mix which is seeing great results in most conditions. A combination of our own designs of both hooks and plastics combined with bait is the final result of which our customers feedback has been overwhelmingly positive!

We have had a lot of groups book their trips with us. Our vessel’s size at 55 foot makes it ideal for larger groups to still be able to head out for a day of fun together. We also had another school outing which was again strongly supported by Gary of De Bretts on Parkyn Parade.

Two of the many groups hosted aboard Crusader 1 during August. On the left is a school group from St Teresa in Noosaville.

August also saw another Pelagic birdwatching trip (you can read the full post on that here). Its funny how we all hang out for calmer winds and seas for fishing and whale watching, these guys prefer stronger winds. But so far every trip has seen beautiful calm conditions, making their trips more whale and marine watching than true pelagic bird watching! Ah well, as they say, “be careful what you wish for!”. No doubt they will soon enough have the weather they are currently wishing for.

The arrow shows the Brown Boobie on the Trawler. The passengers carry some of the most impressive camera gear we ever see aboard Crusader 1.

General Trip stuff

Of course the Beautiful Coral Sea off Mooloolaba here on the Sunshine Coast provided for some amazing sunrises over the ocean. Zoe took a number of amazing shots. Here are just 2 of them:

A couple of Sunrise Shots taken by Zoe aboard Crusader 1.

And of course we still had the other usual marine encounters such as dolphins (Yes, Crusty is still visiting us almost every day when fishing!).

It’s a common sight to see dolphins enjoying swimming in the wake created by Crusader 1 as she steams along.

So that caps off another month of fun and sunshine here on the Sunshine Coast. With the September school holidays just around the corner, we can only hope that the weather gods decide to grant us all more of the same.

We hope to see all of you out with us for some awesome fun soon!

The highlights from July 2017

What a fabulous July we had on the Sunshine Coast!  Spectacular weather with temperatures in the mid-twenties, you would think we were in Spring rather than Winter. We have not experienced the normal winter weather at all this year. In fact we are even still seeing some pelagic out there!  Overall fishing has not been too bad at all. The crabbing has been rather dismal with only 1 in every 5 trips hitting any real volume of crabs.

The weather certainly resulted in a massive influx of bookings and has allowed us take on a variety of different activities this month. All of which which has kept us on our toes and excited.

The great weather even allowed us to get TWO overnight charters out in July! The first of these being a single group booking, celebrating a couple of birthdays. The other overnight charter consisted of a lot of our regular customers, which is always a lot of fun for everyone involved!  Of course both trips were very different, but both successful in different ways.  Everyone certainly said they enjoyed the trips and almost all are asking about when we will be doing our next!

Night Fish often gives excellent fishing results as can be seen by this huge Sweetlip.
A nice Tusk Fish on one of the evening deep Sea Fishing Charters on Crusader 1

We decided to give August a miss – a good call as it turned out – as we tend to experience the strong Westerly winds in that month. In the 3 years of doing these trips we are yet to have a comfortable August overnight charter happen! The date we had pencilled in before we decided to “play safe” saw strong winds and high seas. So we made the right call and did not need to disappoint anyone that would have had a booking!

July saw a massive number of “common” fishing charters completed. Certainly nothing like the 60% cancellation rate due to unsuitable weather the prior months had been impacted by! Perhaps this is also one of the reason the fishing was often much better than expected.

The smile says it all! An awesome size Tusk Fish makes all the effort worthwhile!
Any Coral Trout is an exciting catch. Especially this size!

As a company we are always looking at ways to improve the experience we provide us customers. Fishing isn’t becoming any easier with the ongoing increases in boat numbers and without doubt the impact of huge overseas commercial fishing vessels. Large fish grow large for a reason. They have learnt to survive! So catching a large size fish requires more than just pure luck. Skill and technique are more often than not the key. And to assist in this we trialled a number of different “plastics” in July. Some more successful than others. These plastics need to be matched with the correct hooks etc. So we ended up getting our own designs made for us to ensure we were able to get the best possible results. And we believe the result are more than encouraging. We’ll never remove bait fishing entirely, but the impact we are seeing from the plastics is so strong we feel it will become a very key component of our setup moving forward.

Of course this time of year whale watching really starts to hit its strides. Especially towards the end of July into August. The now clearly rapidly growing numbers of whale migrating up the Eastern coastline is making for more and more frequent amazing encounters. Both Crusader 1 and Hela-Va Jet offer very personal and special viewing of these special animals. The growth in our booking for whale watching trips is fantastic and we believe down to both our brilliant crew and the very private feel we have aboard our boats. Our focus is on giving the best possible viewing of the whales, and the only way to do that is have small passenger numbers on our vessels. With some mind blowing encounters already in July we can’t wait till August and September!!

Whale Watching aboard Hela-Va Jet on the Sunshine Coast
Another group enjoying the amazing Humpback Whales from HEla-Va Jets unique perspective
HEading out whale watching on Hela-Va Jet is exciting in many ways!
A pod of Humpbacks sees one whale head straight for Crusader 1
A curious whale pops up right next to Crusader to see what all the fuss is about.

July also saw our 2nd Pelagic Bird watching trip for the year. See the full post on that here. It’s funny how it goes. Fishing and whale watching needs to ideally have light winds, whilst we are told the pelagic birds are much more plentifull with winds speeds of 20 to 25 knots. Both Pelagic Bird trips have seen the most gentle of conditions of course! I bet our fishing and whale watching customers had that same luck every time!

 

Getting the best positions for the Pelagic Bird Watching trip in July 2017
Birds on the Bow of Crusader 1 on July’s Pelagic Bird Watching trip

Of course we had a number of other trips on as well. Cruises, Hens and Bucks parties to name a few. And of course a large number of the more common or standard fishing charters. See below images for a few images taken during those trips. Some great fish were caught. Just a bit of a pity the spanner crabs did not play the game as much this month.

A common sight on a nice day is the dolphins swimming and playing in the Bow wake of Crusader 1 as we steam along.
One of the local dolphins trying to get the attention of the passengers aboard Crusader 1
The spectacular Sunrises on offer over the Coral Sea from Mooloolaba never fail to impress!
Heading out before the Sun has risen gives a great sunrise over the ocean every time. It never fails to make an impression!
Steaming back in as the Sun prepares to set on another day of fun deep sea fishing aboard Crusader 1

Well that wraps up July 2017. A great month by any measure! Here is hoping to more of the same in August!

Sunshine Coast ESS Training Assistance

Crusader 1 and our team here at Sunshine Coast Afloat recently had the pleasure of assisting a bunch of great guys from Hall Engineering out into the Mooloolaba Bay to participate in the practical component of their Elements of Shipboard Safety (ESS) course with Sea School.

This course qualifies a person to work as a deckhand on a commercial vessel. It is also a prerequisite for anyone applying for a certificate of competency as Master/Skipper or Engineer of a commercial vessel.

It is also suitable for anyone who is embarking upon a career at sea and participants include recreational boat owners, volunteer crew, sailing club members, competitive sailors, and is a compulsory OHS unit for GPH Deckhands, Coxswains, Engineers and Masters.

The knowledge gained from doing this sort of course is valuable even if you own a boat or partake in boating just in a recreational sense on a regular basis.

The course includes face-to-face teaching in the classroom as well as demonstrations putting on a life jacket, use of the EPIRB, safety equipment checks, crew drills, how to use a fire extinguisher and line handling basics, and the essentials in the grab bag. Understanding the key safety elements aboard commercial (and hopefully recreational) vessels are looking at in exact detail. Possibly even more essential is the practical experience gained which is obviously of massive benefit should an emergency ever arise out at sea. Even the more simple areas such as abandoning ship with a life jacket on are covered.

Michael demonstrates stepping off a vessel and entering the water with a life jacket.

During the in-water sea survival drills and tasks, the trainer will activate a real life raft and you will be involved in many exercises relating to abandon ship scenarios. This may all look and appear like fun judging by the smiles on everyone’s faces, but it certainly has its challenges as anyone would contest to that has had to climb into a life raft at sea.

It seems like a LONG time since we have had truly pleasant conditions on a weekend. For the last 5 months the swell has averaged close to the 1.7m mark and winds have averaged around the 18 knot mark! Tough conditions for anyone heading out deep sea! But the forecast for this weekend looks near perfect for deep sea fishing!! :

Sunshine-Coast-Weather-Forecast-for the 27-Nov-2016

The reason I have only put up Sunday’s forecast is because we are already fully booked on both trips for the Saturday, and I would hate to give anyone a false impression that they could still get a spot on one of those trips. However, as is common this time of year so close to the school holidays, Sundays trip is only half full! Just the one trip at this point. a 5Hr charter in what are forecast to be the best conditions of the entire weekend! I honestly cannot recall the last time I have seen a forecast stating “Smooth seas, and add in just 7 knots of wind!!  Should prove to be a lovely time out on the ocean!

We are heading out, so if you think this sounds like a trip you want to be a part of give us a call or book online ( Click here for the 5Hr page on our site ). We would love to have you aboard!