Job floats his boat
WHEN Gold Coast boat broker Jay Lancaster and his girlfriend Courtney Morgan sail past Somalia sometime in the next few months, three armed guards will be watching out for pirates.
Jay and Courtney have been hired to deliver a $2.5 million vessel from the Gold Coast to Turkey – a fivemonth, 9000 nautical mile trip – that will take them through some of the most dangerous waters in the world.
Mr Lancaster, who works at Marina Mirage-based Ensign Ship Brokers, sold the boat to a Venezuelan man who hired him to deliver it to the other side of the world. Ms Morgan will be the chef.
The 113-tonne “mini-ship” can cruise for about 3000 nautical miles on its 17,000 li- tres of fuel, eating up the miles at a comfortable 8 knots.
For Jay and Courtney it is the trip of a lifetime.
The couple left the Coast on Monday with the next stop in Darwin and then it is northwest to Indonesia with other stops planned for Singapore and Thailand.
In the Maldives they have arranged to pick up the three armed guards to protect them as they head for the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, passing close to Somalia, the world’s worst place for pirates.
“I would say it’s more of a precaution than necessary,” Mr Lancaster said before he left. “The smaller private craft aren’t targeted as much as the
bigger container ships which have lots of goods the pirates can onsell.”
The experienced yacht racer, who is being paid as the skipper for the voyage, said it was not that common to sell a boat and then end up as its skipper for an extended trip.
“There are probably not too many brokers who jump on board and do that,” he said.
“Or they would just take the boat from here to Sydney.
“We just got on pretty well and the skillset the buyer wanted fitted.
“I can’t complain. It’s pretty good.
“It was a good opportunity for me to get some miles up and visit some nice places
“It’s also nice for him as he has someone on the boat who will know what they are doing.”
Mr Lancaster said he would continue in his job for Ensign while away and in some ways it would be helpful to visit foreign ports.
Ensign’s international sales director, Mark Ali, said the beast of a boat was almost an ice breaker.
“It has a steel hull that’s 8mm thick and is very capable of deflecting a container at sea,” he said.
“It’s designed to be a world-capable cruiser to go anywhere.
“He’s on the right boat for the journey.”