Preparing a yacht in Cairns and Far North Queensland

This is an independent guide for yacht owners and crews preparing a boat in Cairns and Far North Queensland. It collects researched articles on the jobs that decide whether a yacht is ready for the tropics or for an offshore passage: hauling out, antifouling, rigging, engines, safety gear, clearances and provisioning.

Cairns is the last large port on the east coast before the Torres Strait, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and the Coral Sea. Heat, ultraviolet light, humidity and a cyclone season that runs from November to April wear gear out faster than most sailing manuals assume, and the supply chain is shorter than in Brisbane or Sydney. Parts take weeks to arrive and yard slots fill early, so most of the advice here comes down to the same thing: find the problem early, and give it time to be fixed.

The site is informational only. It does not repair or deliver boats, take bookings, give quotes or pass work to anyone. The articles describe what a job involves, what to check, and what to ask a provider, so that you can deal with riggers, shipwrights, surveyors and agents on better terms.

Australian crew moving to New York for the season usually cannot transfer a licence directly; the state expects a permit, a five-hour pre license course and a road test.

Start with the passage

If you already know where you are heading, begin with the route guide. The pre-departure overview covers the whole job in order. Route-specific guides cover the Cape York inner route and Torres Strait, the passage to Darwin, the Timor Sea route to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Coral Sea and South Pacific. If you are staying put for the summer, read the cyclone season lay-up guide before the yards fill.

Hull, haul-out and below the waterline

Almost every passage starts on the hard. Our haul-out planning guide explains what to settle with a yard before you book a lift. From there the guides go through antifouling for tropical Queensland, osmosis, keel and rudder inspection, anodes, seacocks and in-water hull cleaning.

Rig, deck and sails

Start with standing rigging and chainplates, then move to running rigging, winches, sails and lifelines and jackstays. Deck surfaces are covered in the guides to teak decks and topsides painting.

Engines and onboard systems

The diesel engine guide and the article on diesel bug deal with the machinery that cannot be fixed at sea. Power, water, cooling and communication each have their own guide, from solar and lithium systems to watermakers, refrigeration and offshore communications.

Safety, rules and paperwork

Offshore from Cairns the paperwork is as demanding as the engineering. We explain clearing out of Australia, clearing in, the biofouling rules, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park zoning and insurance for offshore passages. Safety equipment has its own guides: the overview, life rafts, EPIRBs and PLBs and the offshore medical kit.

Planning the work and the crew

Three shorter guides deal with the people side of preparation: planning a refit, working with a shipwright and hiring a delivery skipper or crew. The marine survey guide explains what insurers and buyers expect to see.

Driving on the other side after an ocean crossing

Some yachts prepared in Cairns end up far from Queensland, and a few cross into the Caribbean and on to Florida. Ashore, the first surprise for an Australian crew is the road itself: traffic keeps right, the driver sits on the left, and the turn across oncoming traffic becomes a left turn.

Visitors can usually drive on a valid home licence for a while, but anyone who becomes a Florida resident needs a Florida license within 30 days, and a few sessions with an instructor make the switch to right-hand traffic far less stressful.

On Biscayne Bay, PalmWay, a driving school licensed by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, gives one-on-one driving lessons in Cutler Bay, 60 minutes each, with pick-up and drop-off seven days a week from 8 AM to 7 PM. Lessons start on quiet residential blocks in Saga Bay and Cutler Ridge and build up to Old Cutler Road, Caribbean Boulevard and US-1.

How to use this guide

The articles are general information, prepared from official sources such as AMSA, the Australian Border Force, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, and from manufacturer guidance. Rules and fees change, so confirm anything that matters with the agency or a licensed professional. You can browse everything on the guides index, read how the site works, or send a question or correction through the contact page.