Gary's Deliveries

 Tuesday 30th Dec '25 Route Overview This last leg of the Nordhavn 76 delivery was a short but operationally sensitive transit from Nongsa Point Marina into Singapore waters, finishing at Raffles Marina . The final passage of a 5000nm trip! Departure was at first light to manage traffic density in the Singapore Strait , one of the most commercially congested shipping corridors in the world. Even on a short passage, timing matters. The route involved a westbound exit into the Strait before turning north through the channel separating Malaysia and Singapore, finishing just south of the Johor–Singapore Causeway. For a 76-foot long-range motor yacht, this is not technically demanding in terms of range or endurance. The challenge is traffic management, AIS monitoring, radar plotting, and disciplined bridge watchkeeping. Commercial vessels move fast and with limited manoeuvrability. Positioning decisions must be made early. Routing Decisions This delivery follows earlier offshore work...

  Monday 29th Dec '25 Arrived at the entrance to Nongsa Point Marina, Batam Island, Indonesia at 09:00, waited till we got the all clear to go in.  Put the boat on to berth number B6 with 1/2 a metre either space either side between a dock and an 80ft boat which was very tight, just as well we have bow and stern thrusters and they were working overtime for this docking.   Then it was off to the office to do the paperwork and pay the silly money to berth for 1 night and clear in/out.  NZ$650 was the total for those 2 things! An hour or so later we had a visit from a Customs guy to come onboard to take photos of the main engine, the auxiliary engine, VF radio which showed our unique MMSI number, if you don't know what that is, don't ask :-) then he went up to the fly bridge and took photos of both radar units.  That was it - very strange.  12:45 now and waiting for all our paperwork to come back from the marina office, including our passports then it wil...

 Sunday 14th Dec '25 Arafura Sea Transit – Low Activity, High Vigilance Three days into this leg of the delivery , progress has been steady and uneventful — which, offshore, is exactly the objective. Approximately 600 nautical miles have been covered since departing Thursday Island , placing the vessel now roughly north of Darwin . Over this period, traffic density has been effectively zero, with no commercial shipping or fishing activity encountered. This level of isolation is typical in this sector of the Arafura Sea and reinforces the need for disciplined watchkeeping despite the absence of visible hazards. During the previous night watch, the vessel was overflown at low altitude by an Australian Border Force aircraft. This type of identification pass is standard procedure, allowing authorities to visually confirm vessel details before making radio contact. A brief exchange followed, confirming the vessel’s identity, origin, and intended destination — information already file...

Thursday 11th Dec '25 Vessel Route The transit north along the Queensland coast was completed inside the Great Barrier Reef, providing sheltered conditions and predictable sea states. This route consistently offers a controlled environment for northbound passages, particularly for heavy displacement motor yachts where steady progress and reduced fatigue are priorities. At the northern tip of Australia, the vessel altered course west at Cape York , passing Thursday Island during the early hours. From this point, the passage transitioned from coastal navigation to open-water routing toward Southeast Asia.      Weather Conditions and Arafura Sea Crossing Conditions to date have been exceptionally stable. Wind has been minimal, and where present, has remained predominantly astern, with corresponding following seas. These conditions are ideal for a displacement yacht of this size, allowing efficient progress with minimal motion. As the vessel crosses the  Arafura Sea ,...

 Nordhavn 76 Delivery: Cairns to Singapore – Operational Reality Over Convenience Plans to spend time in the Caribbean are often vulnerable to one thing: the movement of high-value yachts. After arriving in Martinique on 28 November, Yacht Delivery Solutions received a message from an owner whose vessel I had delivered earlier in the year from Bora Bora to Fiji. The yacht in question was a Nordhavn 76 trawler motor yacht , a long-range displacement vessel designed for serious offshore work. The owner needed the boat delivered from Cairns to Singapore , with a targeted departure window of 8–9 December . With a vessel of this scale and specification, opportunities are time-sensitive. Weather windows, crew availability, and clearance logistics dictate the schedule — not personal travel plans. Within 24 hours, flights were booked and the Caribbean stopover was abandoned.                             ...

Finally! Departure day arrived. After the Yacht Delivery Solutions crew ran through all the final pre-departure checks – engines, nav gear, steering, the works – making sure everything was spot-on for the trip, we tossed the lines off just after 10 AM this morning, Saturday, November 30th. Getting out of the Kwun Tong anchorage required a bit of careful maneuvering, but Pikorua handled beautifully, showing how nimble this Granocean 60 can be even in tight spots. As soon as we left the shelter, we were greeted by the usual Hong Kong harbour chaos! It took some careful timing and a sharp lookout to weave our way through the traffic – plenty of big container ships and fast ferries zipping about. Thankfully, the view from the helm station is great, which was a huge help. Pikorua took the wakes from passing boats in her stride, feeling really stable right from the get-go, which was reassuring. Once clear of the main shipping channels, the next game was dodging the local fishing fleet ...

 WE MADE IT!!!! Today, Friday 28th Feb '25 and the delivery is done!   I flew into Coolangatta Airport from Auckland on Monday 24th and Christine and Gavin (the owners) flew there from Sydney.   We met up at the airport and Ubered to the boat at Boatworks up the Coomera River on the Gold Coast.   Straight into sorting the boat out and prepping for the 2 day run down the coast to Sydney.  The boat detailers were onboard cleaning inside and out as well as the electricians as they had a few little jobs to finish so it was a bit hectic.    The weather originally looked good for a Tuesday departure but as usual that changed.  We had to vacate our berth by 09:00 on Wednesday so we decided to have a change of scenery and moved to Southport Yacht Marina on Tuesday afternoon once all the trades guys had left.   The weather for Wednesday departure was looking petty good except it was going to be a little bit bumpy for the first few ...

A Change of Plans and Preparing for the Gold Coast Stopover on the Granocean W60 By A Delivery Skipper at Yacht Delivery Solutions The dynamic nature of weather forecasting has once again prompted a change in our immediate plans for the Granocean W60 delivery. It now appears the anticipated southerly winds will extend further up the coast than initially forecast, necessitating a diversion from our original course to Sydney . This presents a common challenge for a yacht delivery skipper : finding a suitable port with the capacity to accommodate a vessel of this size at short notice. Unfortunately, the only marina conveniently located along our original route that could accommodate a catamaran of the Granocean W60's dimensions is simply too far south for this particular weather window. Therefore, after careful consideration and consultation, our new plan is to divert to the Gold Coast . This isn't entirely a bad thing, as the owners have decided to take advantage of this oppo...