Epic voyage from Queensland to Western Australia

Perhaps it is only with a Riviera 6000 Sport Yacht that a 28-day relocation could be so luxurious. A 3,301 nautical mile trip from Sanctuary Cove in Queensland to Mandurah in Western Australia is no mean feat. It’s a logistical exercise traversing three oceans that requires precision planning – and all this from a new owner on his first motor yacht.

The Riviera 6000 Sport Yacht Joker embarked on an epic 3,301 nautical mile voyage from Sanctuary Cove in Queensland to Mandurah in Western Australia

“I didn’t know very much about big motor yachts,” admits Kent Swick, Joker’s owner. “I’ve come from a sailing background with a 49-foot sloop, so I am experienced with navigating and passage making, but had a lot to learn about big power boats.”

Kent chose two good mates, Joe Psereckis and James Wrathall, as the core crew. “James does a lot of boating with me and is an excellent hand, and Joe is an excellent sailor and skipper, so I had the confidence to bring Joker around the bottom [of Australia] and across the Great Australian Bight. I generally didn’t plan to travel more than maybe six or seven hours at cruising speed each day, so if we had to slow down due to the seas we could still get to our destination and if we had to drop a day for bad weather we could make it up.”

Joker departed Sanctuary Cove on 10 April 2022 with professional skipper Leigh Trevaskis onboard for the day trip to Coffs Harbour. “Leigh knows Riviera boats extremely well and I learned a lot about the electronics, the CZone system, the operation and layout of the engine room and systems; he was brilliant, and I absorbed as much knowledge as I could.”

The next day was on to Port Stephens before entering Sydney Harbour the following day at dusk.

“There were six of us travelling down the east coast,” Kent continues. They included his wife and number one Riviera fan Tanya, James’s wife Natalie and Joe’s partner Roxanne. “It was a real pleasure cruise as we pulled into marinas along the way. We spent two nights in Sydney and then down to Flinders Island, a beautiful part of the world and we really made the most of it. Tanya loves the Riviera and says it’s like a luxury apartment on the water. As the skipper, I’m more focused on the quality, seaworthiness and systems onboard a vessel. We both love the cockpit lounge area of the 6000SY; the whole boat is laid out in comfort and style and has every convenience just like at home.”

BEHIND THE PURCHASING DECISION

Back in Queensland, Kent had been looking at a different motor yacht when he came across Joker. “It caught my attention, and the Riviera brand is so well regarded. In the end we viewed three 6000 Sport Yachts but Joker in particular is really highly specified with nearly every option including a Seakeeper gyro stabiliser. The equipment list intrigued me but when we inspected her, we could see she had been so well looked after,” he says.

Shipping Joker overland across Australia to Mandurah wasn’t an option. “Boats do better in the water and I knew it would be a great adventure, so I started planning immediately. There’s a very long leg from Ceduna to Esperance across the Bight and it would’ve been tight on fuel, so I had two fuel bladders manufactured. Each bladder held 500 litres and we secured them on the two side decks; they looked like sausages, 6m long and 400mm in diameter that gravity fed into the fuel tank.”

THE CHARMS AND CHALLENGES OF SOUTHERN AUSTRALIAN BOATING

On day 13, the crew bid farewell to their wives in Melbourne and continued into more serious boating conditions. “As we came out of Port Phillip Bay into The Rip, we hit really large standing waves and Joker handled it beautifully. Until you hit some really rough seas you don’t appreciate how well a Riviera behaves, then you realise they’re great seaworthy vessels.”

Perhaps surprisingly, many coastal towns don’t have fuel bowsers at the marina. “Fisherman and commercial boats have to arrange for road tankers to refuel so it’s a bit of a logistical exercise, but I really enjoyed the planning. All boaters would understand the stress of entering a new harbour but people were always very helpful and Joker attracted a lot of attention; everyone’s impressed, and everyone seems to love a Riviera.”

Leigh joined the crew again for the long leg across the Bight from Ceduna to Esperance. “It’s a long way between stops and you have to slow down to conserve fuel. We cruised 24/7 at around 9 knots and followed the rugged coastline generally within 5-10 nautical miles so we were within range if something went wrong. Having Leigh onboard allowed us to have two-man teams working for four hours on and four hours off overnight across the Bight.”

Seventy-five hours after departing Ceduna, having covered 663nm and consumed 3,400 litres of diesel in swells up to 4.5m, they arrived at Esperance.

For more information visit www.rivieraaustralia.com