Billabong 55 Homecruiser

While I've had the pleasure of testing some truly magnificent boats over the years, they are usually fairly short-lived affairs. Even the most involved tests normally involve no more than a day aboard. Some boats definitely deserve more time in order to get a true indication of how they perform.

When asked to review the Billabong 55, it was obvious that this boat deserved much more than a quick walk-through and a spin up the river.

As luck would have it, Coomera Houseboat Holidays, located at the Gold Coast City Marina, kindly provided us with Blue Horizon for the weekend so we could experience all that the Billabong 55 has to offer.

Blue Horizon is one of two Billabong 55s currently in the fleet of Coomera Houseboat's 24 hire/drive houseboats. Dubbed a 'HomeCruiser' rather than a houseboat, the Billabong 55 truly does provide luxury afloat.

Built by South Pacific HomeCruisers - a division of engine manufacturing giant Cummins - the Billabong 55 is designed primarily as a top of the range hire/drive charter vessel.

With its four-cabin layout - all featuring queen size beds - plus two bathrooms, four couples can enjoy a comfortable holiday afloat without getting in each other's way.

We had three couples onboard during our weekend on Blue Horizon, which in my opinion was just about perfect - after all, any more and we wouldn't have all been able to fit in the spa.

While taking an 18m houseboat away for the weekend on a busy waterway like the Southport Broadwater may sound a bit daunting to an inexperienced boater, this is not the case. In fact, driving the Billabong 55 is a piece of cake.

When you arrive for your weekend away, a representative of Coomera Houseboat Holidays gives you a full briefing on all the workings of the vessel. The boat's fittings are designed with the inexperienced boater in mind, as everything is labelled and clear instructions are provided in a comprehensive onboard manual.

Once you have a solid grasp on what does what, Coomera Houseboats take the boat out of the marina and join you on a short shakedown cruise down the river before departing via a service boat and leaving you to your own devices.

Powered by Cummins 145hp four-cylinder diesel engine, top speed is just 6kt, so you can't get into too much trouble. Or get anywhere in a hurry for that matter! Be prepared to sit back and enjoy the ride, as even the Broadwater is a very large waterway to navigate at this speed.

Remember to take the tide into account also. At one stage we were doing just 4kt against the tide at full throttle. Of course, having two tinnies and a PWC tied to the stern didn't help!

The Billabong 55 comes standard with Cummins' hydraulic 'PowerLeg', which provides amazing manoeuvrability for such a large wind-resistant vessel. Lock to lock is just one and a half turns of the wheel and Morse electronic controls ensure smooth and quick throttle response.

With 500lt of diesel onboard supplying the main engine and an 11kVa Onan genset, the Billabong 55 has a massive range. Other power is provided by eight deep-cycle batteries and a 2.5kW inverter. Three 9kg LPG bottles means you can barbecue till the cows come home.

The 4000lt of freshwater onboard should be ample unless you have to frequently refill the spa. When at anchor and a vessel with a very large wake goes cruising by, Blue Horizon did get a bit of a roll up, which sends water flying out of the spa and on one occasion crockery flying across the galley. I recommend anchoring in a nice quiet spot far from the main channel.

From the moment you step aboard the Billabong 55, it's obvious this is no ordinary houseboat. Entering the saloon via the afterdeck you are greeted by a bright and spacious layout featuring beautiful Tasmanian oak joinery and plush leather furniture. Big windows and light coloured fabrics accentuate the boat's spaciousness by bringing the outside in.

On the port side is an entertainment unit with large screen TV, DVD player and six-stacker CD. We did manage to watch one DVD, but most of the time there was just too much else to do.

Adjacent to the entertainment unit is a small bar area that joins the saloon to the afterdeck. We didn't use this area much, finding the upper deck a much better location to entertain ourselves.

Forward of the entertainment unit is a dining table that seats six comfortably but may be a bit tight with eight. Again, this table didn't get a lot of use because we dined primarily upstairs.

The big leather lounge on the starboard side was very comfy, with plenty of room to lounge about and read a book or watch a DVD.

The galley is straight out of a luxury apartment with its granite benchtops, Tasmanian oak cupboards and stainless steel appliances. Included are twin 220lt fridge/freezers, four-burner gas cooktop, gas oven, dishwasher and microwave oven. The girls were in their element and whipped up some truly magnificent meals.

All four staterooms are basically the same, featuring queen size beds, although the aftermost cabin on the port side features its own ensuite. There is another bathroom that can be accessed from the companionway or from the other port side stateroom.

The staterooms were a little cramped with a queen size bed installed, but I'm sure nine out of 10 people would opt for the larger bed over more floorspace.

The bathrooms were beautifully appointed with smart, space-saving amenities. The Lectrosan toilet was a bit annoying though - often needing several flushes to get things moving. At one stage we even had to call for reinforcements after a little blockage problem.

To the credit of Coomera Houseboats, their service was excellent. We called them up, explained our problem and within no time they were out there to fix it.

The lower helmstation is centrally located at the foremost end of the cabin. A simple and well-labelled dash layout is ideal for the inexperienced boater. The helmchair is extremely comfortable and there is even an overhead monitor that displays what's going on behind you.

A leather settee adjacent to the helm area converts to double bunks if you find yourself with a couple of extra visitors.

A door next to the helm provides access to the small foredeck, which houses a large windlass and forward mooring bollards.

The upper deck is accessed via stairs leading from the afterdeck. This is a great area; we spent a lot of time up here. Obviously the centrepiece is the optional five-person spa (six actually), which got plenty of use over the weekend. As mentioned earlier, keeping the water in the spa was our only drama. A couple of drinkholders around the spa wouldn't have gone astray either.

Other features of the upper deck include an upper helm, alfresco galley, outdoor dining area and bench seating.

The alfresco galley was great. It included a stainless steel barbecue, sink and Waeco fridge/freezer, which kept the coldies at just the right temperature.

There was another icebox incorporated in the moulded seating at the upper helm, so there was never a problem keeping drinks cold.

There were only a couple of small issues I had with the upper deck area. Firstly, the whole deck is non-skid except for the top step where the stairs meet the deck. This got slippery when wet - which was pretty much all the time.

Secondly, all the water on the upper deck including spa water and rain water drains through an open scupper at the aft end of the upper deck. No problem - unless you have a tender tied up alongside the houseboat like we did. You see, all the water poured straight into the boat! These are only small issues but ones that ought to be pointed out.

All in all, we had an absolute ball during our weekend on the Billabong 55. It's a beautiful boat and really raises the bar for houseboat manufacturers. Coomera Houseboat Holidays run a truly professional operation and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. A weekend on the Billabong 55 costs around $2600 during normal season, which is a Friday afternoon pickup and a Monday morning drop back. Not bad for a luxury weekend afloat in paradise if you get a few friends together.

Just prior to going to press with this story we discovered that Cummins plan to stop producing the Billabong 55. Although we don't have confirmation, there is reportedly a party interested in continuing production. Let's hope this is the case and this magnificent homecruiser will be a regular sight on Australian waterways.

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