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...

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...

Today has been a very pleasant one, not a lot in the way of wind or waves.   It is now 23:30 and we passed over the top of Fraser Island, which is the largest sand island in the world, and started to go down the east of coast of it.  Running from here to just north of Sydney, which is a distance of about 500nm or 1,000km is what is known as the Eat Australia current and if you get into the best part of it you can get a boost of up to 2.5kts!  So my planned route is taking this current into account.  We have been cruising along at 10kts since leaving Mackay and now when are cruising along at an average speed of 11.8kts without increasing the rpm's.  Not bad, eh!? We are hoping to get into Sydney before a forecasted nasty southerly roars through early on Thursday.  at this stage I am not holding out too much hope ew will make it in time and don't want to have a sprint race with a 40kt southerly (on the nose) 'cause I know who will win that.  So my b...

Resuming the Granocean W60 Delivery With the owners By Delivery Skipper at Yacht Delivery Solutions I returned to the Granocean W60 late last Friday night, eager to get underway with the final leg of this catamaran delivery to Sydney . The following day, Saturday late morning, brought a welcome addition to the crew: Christine and Gavin, the owners themselves. Having them onboard for this last stretch is truly perfect, allowing them invaluable hands-on experience and the opportunity to familiarize themselves with all the systems of their new vessel. After a pleasant lunch on Saturday, we made a quick run to the supermarket to stock up. The evening concluded with a very enjoyable dinner at a local steakhouse, marking a relaxing pre-departure interlude. While I was away, I had arranged for the Cummins service team in Mackay to give the engines and generator some much-needed attention. It was time for them to have a comprehensive service, ensuring the Granocean W60 is in peak mechani...