So You Want to Go World Cruising

…aaaand have no idea where to start…3 letters D B Y!!!!

David and Tracey Fisher, locals in Pittwater and fellow members of the local catamaran club, Palm Beach Sailing Club were dreaming about world cruising and looking for a family adventure. Dave and Trace are not seasoned cruisers, just local sailors looking for a life change and memorable journey to share with their two girls…

DBY’s Rod Waterhouse (also a member of the Palm Beach Sailing Club), had over the years shared some of his adventures with Dave and Trace of having spent many successful years cruising from Europe and the US on various boats.

The Fishers knew that Rod and his club friend, David Renouf ran DBY Boat Sales and that they specialised in formulating the international cruising dream”. One fateful afternoon at the club the Fishers started talking to Rod about how it all worked…After a couple of follow up visits to the DBY office meeting with Rod and David discussing logistics, boat options, budgets etc the Fishers with kids were on a trajectory to overseas boat ownership and world cruising.

 

The process started with understanding what David and Tracey wanted, where they wanted to go, how long they wanted to spend there, and what their budget was. We knew that they wanted to purchase their dream boat (a Lagoon 440) and they wanted it to be located somewhere in the beautiful Mediterranean so they could start from there and enter the ARC rally in the Canary Islands.

This can be quite a daunting challenge for someone that has never done this type of purchase before. Not many have. Our Catamaran expert David Renouf started searching far and wide for the perfect boat. Several boats were soon on the short list and David Fisher accompanied David Renouf on the initial trip to Turkey where one of the boats was secured, sea trialled, surveyed and purchased. All within a short time frame and with minimal fuss.

The Fishers were slightly time restrained and so they asked our advice on how best to get the boat from Turkey to a more suitable location such as Spain. Their intentions were to pick up the boat in Spain and join the fleet for the annual ARC rally in the Canary Islands. So 2 of DBY staff took it upon themselves to arrange everything required for a successful delivery from Bodrum in Turkey, through the Agean Sea to Greece’s famous Corinth Canal, stopping at Greek Islands along the way before crossing the Ionian Sea to the beautiful coastline of Italy.

In the busy port of Naples on the west coast of Italy there was a crew change with David Renouf and his crew jumping off and Darren Parker getting on-board for the final leg with his crew. The next part of the passage was to the stunning Island of Ponza 65nm from Naples in the middle of the Tyrrhenian Sea. From there they sailed overnight to Sardinia into Tahiti Bay. Leaving Tahiti Bay behind sailing North around the tip of Sardinia and through the archipelago di la Maddalena.

Rounding the tip of this large Italian owned Island, sailing through Pelosa passage (stunning) and started heading South for the first time to Alghero where they waited out a strong Mistral wind in this amazing old port. Leaving Alghero, they sailed overnight to Menorca which is the first and most northern of the Balearic Islands of Spain. Island hopping from there to Mallorca, Ibiza and finally across to the beautiful and busy port of Alicante on the Spanish coastline. From Alicante it was a day sail to Cartagena which was the final resting dock and the end of a very successful delivery.

Upon arrival back into Sydney, Darren and David were able to meet up with the Fishers and give them a thorough understanding of how the boat was performing and also some information as to suggested maintenance for the next leg of this amazing journey.

When initially talking to David and Tracey a big part of the discussions is the end game…After their dream adventure, how do they end up financially? Can they sell their boat….This is a hugely important topic and a great reason to work with DBY. We are always looking years ahead to the end game. We look at trends in the markets, exchange rates and options.

DBY pride ourselves on ensuring strong results to end up with happy customers when they eventually have to put down the anchor and head back to W…#&@! So trust DBY to help choose your boat, advise on equipment, what route to take, and timing. How much to pay and importantly where to buy.

A big question or concern with potential customers on this dream path is what is in this for DBY…Why do they put in so much effort, where is the catch? There is no catch and the formula is tried and proven good old customer service and goodwill.

If we look after one customer front to back..we may get the listing of their boat at the end of their cruise, but way more important they refer friends along the cruising highway about their involvement and great experience with DBY, which is great for our business.

If you would like more information on how to make this possible, DBY staff would love the opportunity to sit down and discuss the many options available to suit your situation.

We are all sailors here. It’s what we do.

 

Have a look at a few photos from the trip: