Mariner Boating Holidays 2007 Season

by Trevor Joyce on 6 Oct 2006 I started in the sailing holiday business in 1985 when I returned home from a 15 years sojourn in the UK, Greece and Saudi Arabia. Having stepped off the multi-national corporate treadmill I needed something to do.

I remembered a question posed by an Australian holiday maker one day at the stern of my yacht in a Greek port, 'I see you’ve got an Aussie flag there but you didn’t sail that yacht over here did you?' 'Nope', I replied,' I hired it'; the idea for the business was born.

Twenty one years later we are about to release our 16 page four colour brochure that broad- brushes a wide range of options for water borne holidays in 2007. The need for specialized knowledge in this tiny backwater of the travel industry has underpinned the success of our business – we now have offices in Melbourne and Sydney and a team of dedicated people and our emphasis in this day and age of remote control is personal service.

Now we have become even more specialized within the sailing holiday niche with our hosted yacht rallies that combine cruising and conventional holiday making with a little racing and some terrific on-shore parties. This mix has lead to almost 50:50 male/female participation in our annual series of between 5 and 7 events, which we conduct in the leading cruising grounds of the world.

What’s really important though is that our rally concept has given us control over the delivery of what we have sold to our clients and this makes it is easy for us to eliminate hassles and be accountable for the outcome, which is not necessarily the case with a conventional bareboat charter. We avoid wastage, we have 24/7 technical backup for the yachts and our local knowledge ensures our clients see the best of what’s on offer.

Next year we are taking a new step into the expedition cruise market in company with our friends at Orion Expedition Cruises. With age creeping up some of us are looking for a holiday, still on the water and still with a sense of adventure but with a little more luxury. The Orion is too small to be a cruise ship but too big to be a super yacht and she offers all of those things. We are planning a cruise in the Kimberly next June and in Papua New Guinea in November next year.

In a similar vein we are working with an excellent operator of traditional wooden motor sailors in Turkey and Croatia and these fully crewed vessels up to 30 meters long offer air conditioned accommodation in 4 to 8 cabins, all with on-suite facilities. These yachts sail if the breeze is right but there’s no need for any exertion required on the part of the passengers unless you have an inclination to pull on a rope.

As we say if you missed out last year make sure it does not happen again. Give us a call, an email info@marinerboating.com.au or visit our web site www.marinerboating.com.au

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