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About Coral Reef Charters | Our Company & Services | History | Why Charter from Us

An Introduction to Coral Reef Charters

The very real difference between a recreational boat and what is required in the Whitsunday revolves around the length of time you are away from port and the relatively high number of people on board.

It was in this environment, that Coral Reef Charters was launched.

Unable to find a suitable vessel for his own holiday, the founder of the company, Ken Burke, decided to have a vessel designed from the keel up to operate specifically as a bareboat. He set about including all of the ingredients he felt he, and the population in general, would like to have on a boat.

Charterers are away from port for up to ten to twelve days and facilities to call into for additional fresh water or provisions is extremely limited. A boat that is suitable for three or four days of overnighting in Sydney Harbour with three or four people on board and any number of places to stop and replenish water and provisions is virtually useless for a extended passage of ten days for up to twelve people. The only available fresh water supply is at Hamilton Island and Airlie Beach, either of which could be two hours out of your way. For that reason, all of the vessels chartered by Coral Reef Charters have in excess of 2500 litres of fresh water. They also have onboard a 240 volt generator that enables refrigeration to be maximised and to provide the small comforts of home, such as hairdryer, irons and other cooking facilities that one comes to expect.

The other area that Ken felt required attention was in the provision of sleeping quarters. He felt for a 10-day holiday people would like a large comfortable bed in a private cabin with plenty of headroom and room to move around the bed plus plenty of storage and hanging space for people's clothes and their belongings.

The other area that was important was the amount of deck area where people could relax on comfortable chairs and enjoy a meal in the open. For this reason, all have a full length top deck, that will accommodate 10 to 12 people in deck chairs, comfortably without people having to sit on a towel on a hard fibreglass deck.

As many people chartering this boat will not have had much experience at sea, and may feel the effects of water movement, each boat has been designed with a Hydrofield hull, which reduces movement whilst the boat is at rest, in the same way as a catamaran without the disadvantages inherent in that design (read about Hydrofield vs Catamaran hulls) and also provides a much more stable platform when under way. These boats have been surveyed as a ferry holding upwards of seventy people, many of which are on the top deck. There has never been a more stable and seaworthy monohull boat ever built in this size range.

Of course, the bathroom and galley, two areas where it is important for the ladies to feel comfortable and to more closely resemble the home that they have left. Ken felt people wanted to experience the isolation and beauty of the Whitsunday's, but not have to live in a cave to do it. People do not want to have to pump toilets or operate electric toilets, they would much prefer to simply flush the way they do at home. This is available on all of our boats. Similarly, the shower is full size with a glass screen and a mixer tap, and because of the large reservoir of freshwater everybody on board can have a reasonable shower, wash their hair and generally not have too suffer from the restrictions of having less than thirty litres of water per person per day for a ten day cruise The galley also features for a full size double sink with mixer tap, a full size gas cook top and oven with an electric grill and full size microwave, and on some boats, even a dish washer.

Refrigeration is essential in this part of the world, and it follows that all of our boats have generous provisions for deep freezers and refrigeration in addition to being fully air-conditioned on every level. Again, it was important that this refrigeration be activated by means other than relying on batteries. One of the great complaints from people chartering vessels is to have flat batteries early in the charter, which results in the thawing of all or part of their food which cannot be refrozen leading to a scarcity of food in the last half of the charter.

Storage was also a source of complaint from people. Charterers were advised to bring soft bags and if possible to leave them ashore as there was simply no area on recreational boats, where a number of bags could be stored. Similarly, people wanting to dive, often had to have their air bottles in their cabins or strapped in the cockpit area, which further reduced the available recreational room. Storage area on our boats is vast, and feature dive bottle racks below decks to accommodate up to eight bottles, and to prevent them from moving about the boat. All lifejackets and safety equipment are stored beneath the seats, again, freeing up wardrobes, that on recreational boats are often filled with lifejackets as there is no other room on the boat to store them.

In short, there is ample room for guests to move around the boat. Enjoy a television show, watch a DVD, or just get out of each other's way. There is room aboard to find a spot on the boat, where you can snuggle up with the book a have a little bit of privacy, and not have to live on top of the rest of the party.

Although these boats charge a premium charter rate they are nevertheless the most solidly booked vessels in the Whitsunday area. This is testament to the foresight of Ken in providing people with the luxury and comfort that they expect albeit at a slightly more expensive price and than can be obtained on lesser vessels.

The boats are constantly upgraded to insure that they remain as new. Bedding is constantly changed, TVs upgraded. Carpeting is replaced as soon as it begins to look shoddy. In short, we take immense pride in our boats, in the Whitsunday's and in our customers.

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