Boating

SUMMER is here and that means it’s mackerel time! It’s been a long year and I haven’t spent nearly as much time on the water as I’d liked in the Aquaholic. But after doing the full brake service on her, I thought I’d show off the baby of the fleet Banter. Banter is a 435 Horizon EasyFisher that terrorises creeks …

WITH November around the corner, we might be in for an early flood or good rainfall soon. I am sort of torn – I want the rain because it fills my tanks, and flushes out the creeks and rivers. The fishing in close off Noosa and Double Island is great. Shark Cat But if we get a flood in November, …

REPOWERING a vessel can make a great deal of sense for a wide variety of reasons – greater reliability, better fuel economy and improved performance being just a few. Nautilus Marine Insurance is able to accommodate the greater value that a repower can add to the vessel. However, it is not an open book and it pays to understand the …

FOR anyone who fishes and enjoys boating, the past few months have been full of change, uncertainty, confusion and totally compounded by a severe lack of good leadership by those in charge of boating and fishing in Queensland. The state of confusion started at the commencement of COVID-19 restrictions when the boss of Maritime Safety Queensland came out hard in …

AS a charter operator, mess and disorganisation seriously get under my skin. Now, if you know me personally I am one of the messiest people about, and the console of my boat is a clear indication of many moments of mayhem. Lures with rusty hooks stacked on top of each other and hidden underneath is a pair of line clippers that …

Specialist marine insurers such as Nautilus Marine Insurance are the ones to be with when it comes to vessel write-offs and considering what is and what is not, ‘damage beyond economic repair’. Why? Because specialist marine insurers know the value of boats and equally as importantly, they know today’s costs of replacing them. That’s a critical factor for the boat …

THESE two outfits offer volunteer marine search and rescue services to the boating public across 2700km of Queensland coastline. For a paltry $77 per year you can receive these services with no other charges. If you are not a member, it can cost a fortune to have either of these services called out to your boat in distress, especially the Volunteer …

HI, Craig Tomkinson here. I hope everyone is coping well in these trying times and keeping active while isolating. I thought I’d give our cars, four-wheel-drive, lawn mowers, gear and 60hp Yamaha outboard on my 5m tinnie a good and essential going over. Though only after recovering, because until the last 10 days of school holidays I was working – …

AFTER your day out on the water, wash down your boat with a good-quality boat wash. Don’t forget the anchor well and winch strap/wire and to remove the bung plugs. Useful boat maintenance tips must include washing your trailer and inside the frame and under the mudguards with plenty of fresh water. Don’t forget the brakes (if applicable) and crossmembers. Flush …

IT has been a great start to the year and we have scored cracking weather between wet season squalls and thunderstorms. Boating during the wet can be a gamble, let alone boat camping, because you simply can’t trust weather forecasts and it can turn nasty extremely quickly. The wet certainly came late, with heavy rain and thunderstorms on Thursday Island from mid-February. That …