Pacific Boating on a high: Feature

Boating club proves popular in these pared-back times

If boating use is a measure of contentment there must be a lot of happy folk at Pacific Boating. A bustling business defying gravity, Pacific Boating recently opened a third base at Rose Bay in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs to meet demand. That’s where we caught up.

It also maintains offices at d’Albora Marinas at Cabarita for those in the western suburbs, and Church Point on Pittwater for the northshore. Members are free to decide from which location they depart.

But in these pared-back times, more and more boaters seem happy paying for access to craft rather than tying-up equity in their own boat. And when charged with maintenance, a professionally managed and serviced fleet of craft at your disposal holds sway.

Pacific Boating offers a walk-on/walk-off experience leaving you to pick up the tab for just fuel, food, ammo and ice.

MEMBERSHIP DEAL

- How it works

"You can be on the water for as little as $895 with a mid-week membership on a 29 footer valued at about $200,000," explains managing director Phillip Pitt, an ex-corporate CEO who went looking for a sea change. "So it can be an inexpensive way to go boating," he adds.

The way the Pacific Boating ‘club’ model works is that you get a set amount of access points -- 300 -- to redeem aboard your chosen craft in return for an annual fee. If you want to transfer to the next biggest class of boat you’ll use double the amount of points. You can also trade down a class and save if, for example, you want to just zoom out for lunch.

A weekday trip costs 10 credits, weekends and public holidays cost 15 credits, and evening trips cost just five credits. You can also use the boats on an unlimited stand-by basis, even when you run out of credits.

SEA RAY SUCCESS

- Sundancers prove their worth

Intentionally, the boats at all three Sydney bases are Sea Ray Sundancer sports cruisers. Pittwater has a 285 (ideal for four adults), 375 (six to eight) and 455 (up to 12), Cabarita has the same spread with a second 455, while the new Rose Bay base has a 285, two 375s and a 455. The boats are all diesel powered and, but for the 29s, shaft drive.

This idea is that club members can move from one Sundancer to the next without needing retraining. Five years ago, the 29 accounted for 80 per cent of the fleet. Now 80 per cent of member outings are aboard the 37 and 44. There are plans to purchase a further eight Sea Rays, new or used.

"A lot of other boat-share businesses just don’t survive. It’s a very complicated business to run. We have a fleet of 12 boats performing 2,500 cruises per year. That takes a lot of diligent maintenance. Other businesses have come and gone, often with questionable management structures," adds Pitt, who was a former sailmaker who worked with Ben Lexcen and Craig Whitworth.

Regular maintenance schedules by mechanics, electricians, and detailers ensure the Pacific boats are always clean and ready to go, we’re assured. Fuel and water is topped up, leaving little but enjoyment for Pacific’s club members. Indeed, the catchphrase is: "relax…. there’s nothing else to do."

MEMBER MIX

- A broad base of boaties

Evidently, Pacific’s 300 or so members come from all walks of life. There are tradies, doctors, lawyers, CEOs, retirees availing themselves of the mid-week discount rates, and various business owners, some of whom live interstate and use the boats as Sydney offices. Yet others come from Canberra and rural areas.

Kieran Perkins is a member and, we’re told, has commented how you can head down, zoom out on a whim for a few hours, jump off and get your just-add-water fix. Yet for many boat owners, the impromptu outing is often more hassle than it’s worth.

Of course, all members are put through extensive training programs and taught how to decamp and dock without relying on the "cheat switch" aka bow thruster. A professional skipper is engaged to host two half-day training sessions covering berthing, anchoring, slow-speed and high-speed operation, awareness, switching, safety gear and crisis management.

"But we’re pretty incident free," Pitt says. "And the boats are comprehensively insured." There’s is a good track record given that 60 per cent of members are new to boating and unlicenced when they first make contact. Licence training is undertaken and there are additional (three hour) night navigation courses that eventually allow you to sleep over.

That said, just 25 per cent of club members sleep aboard on Sydney Harbour. Pittwater is more the cruiser’s paradise, while Sydney is the café and lunch set. Darling Harbour is a favourite destination. In any event, GPS trackers monitor the boats and skippers may be alerted if, for example, they’re anchored in the wrong spot for approaching conditions.

Upon arrival, every skipper is given a weather forecast and a suggestion of preferred anchorages and destinations in the prevailing and forecast conditions. While the boats aren’t in survey, Pitt says that might be required when the new National Standards for Commercial Vessels is implemented in 2016.

NEAT AND TIDY

- Club boats well maintained and reliable

"We’re a very healthy business when others are struggling. The GFC has been good for us, as boat owners drop out and look to other ways of getting afloat,” adds Pitt. None of his boats are grey imports, but they are terrific test cases for engines and mechanicals. One of the club’s Sea Ray 375 Sundancers is five-years old with 3,700 engine hours. That’s a lot of pleasure boating.

The Cummins engines in the 445 Sundancers have proven vice free, while there’s been just one warranty issue across the fleet of Yanmars after a collective 40,000 engine hours. He replaces the gearboxes in the sterndrive legs in the 295s every now and then.

The Vacuflush heads are pretty reliable, too, while every boat has air-con and a barbecue. Its BYO food, crockery, cutlery and bedding, but that’s it. Indeed, the boats present well when we board them at Rose Bay Marine. Incidentally, the mooring fees here for a 375 for one year cost the same amount, $30,000, as an annual seven-day membership on the boat.

Besides the annual slip, antifouling and Propspeed, the boats are hand polished every six weeks. New carpet is laid down twice a year -- Pitt prefers to add timber floors below decks -- the upholstery is replaced every three years, and the clears renewed annually.

When asked about the merits of boat-share equity programs, Pitt says his boating club has advantages, not least being that you aren’t locked in for the effective life of the boat. He also says history has shown the return on capital after resale in an equity model can be as low as 20 per cent of the purchase price. Boat share boats depreciate faster than privately owned ones.

"We’re more flexible, you can use the whole fleet, as it just costs more credits. You can go boating in different locations without the worry of coastal deliveries or lots of fuel. Think of us like a golf club or gym -- you pay fees to get access to our amenities. Bring your gear and go!" Pitt says.

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Pacific Boating on a high: Feature

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