The sooty chaser
Otago harbour has a new tourism venture that promises access to rarely-explored attractions.
Dunedin has a new tourism venture – an 8.8m Osprey alloy pontoon boat called
Sootychaser that alternates between wildlife cruises and ferrying passengers around the harbour. For her owner, the business is the fruition of a life-long ambition. P ort To Port Cruises and Wildlife tours is owned by Rachel Mcgregor – and
Sootychaser, she says, is the achievment (finally!) of a dream – owning and skippering a boat to be able to show tourists the Otago she loves. What’s different about her business, says Rachel, is that
Sootychaser is smaller and faster than other services on offer around the harbour, and her tours explore often overlooked but interesting aspects of the harbour – old shipwrecks, historic buildings, quarantine islands and, of course, the amazing wildlife.
“I have a broad background in commercial boating and tourism – so my passengers can rest assured they have an experienced guide looking after them. And there’s so much to see. I operate from the peninsula’s very beautiful Portobello area – boats often pass through here, but few stop.
Built by Osprey Boats in Nelson, Sootychaser is powered by a 300hp Yamaha outboard and is surveyed to carry 20 people though Rachel prefers to limit the two-hour harbour and wildlife cruises to 12 passengers. The cabin has been extended for additional comfort. It is fully-heated and equipped with a bathroom/toilet. BEFORE SOOTYCHASER Rachel’s diverse resumé has proved invaluable for operating
Sootychaser. It includes tourism (as a wildlife guide), working with safety and rescue service – and plenty of commercial shipping. Much of her initial commercial experience was gained by volunteering at a local marine company as an Engineer’s Assistant.
“It was a perfect opportunity to put myself in the industry’s ‘face’ – and as I suspected, it turned out to be a great way to get on numerous commercial boats. Meanwhile I landed a
few random jobs on local tourist launches as a skipper or deckhand. I also got a job sorting out the Maritime Operator Safety System (MOSS) for a commercial fishing boat.”
Desperately needing some sort of structured purpose on boats, in 2013 she became involved with Dunedin Coastguard as a volunteer and eventually achieved qualifications that allowed her to skipper Dunedin Rescue, Coastguard’s 8.5m Protector vessel.
She also qualified to train the crew in the unit, and the public in Coastguard Boating Education Classes such as Day Skippers, Boat Masters and VHF courses. As the Dunedin Unit’s Safety Officer, the MOSS management system was her baby. But to realise her goal she needed more. “I went away to Maritime School to finish the Marine Engineering Qualification (MEC 6) I’d started years earlier, and my ILM maritime qualification was recently upgraded to SRL Less Than 500 GT.”
She applied to work on the tugs, pilot and work boats in Port Chalmers, and was eventually offered a full-time job on the 58m dredger New Era to help with widening and deepening of the Otago Harbour. She still works on the vessel periodically.
“My job title is ‘Pumpman’ – operating the hydraulics and massive electric pump and pipe used for dredging. I sit alongside the skipper – he places the dredge in the right place and I manage the pipe. I also have deck and mooring duties, as well as the odd navigation and helming job.
“I’ve done this for more than three years and almost opted to work my way up to become a dredge master, which for a youngish, 5’ 2” female is a little unusual I guess. But then again, years ago I got a job as skipper on a tourism boat – I was eight months pregnant at the time.”
Still, the tourism boat venture remained uppermost in her mind – and after assessing the pros and cons, she commissioned Osprey to begin building Sootychaser.
Otago Harbour is undoubtedly richer for her determination. BNZ