Boats, Beers & Big Fish Lies

In the first of our new series, our marketing manager Hannah Mason snuck up on Ryan Short and one of his long-term customers for the low down on a recent trip to Fraser Island and Lady Musgrave Island and reports on boats, beers and big fish lies. The customer’s boat, a recent Viking 46 Billfish, had just pulled into its regular berth at Short Marine’s New South Wales headquarters at Ferguson’s Marina, on a beautiful early summer afternoon, with the early summer sun softening to something almost romantic. Ryan was quick to board her, and the owner equally quick to open Ryan an industry standard cold beer. Ryan does not need much encouragement, but his customer’s say that it is that level of personal connection that makes the Short Marine ethos so different in the Australian marine industry. “How was the trip”, Ryan shouted, stepping onto the boat. “Incredible, better than could have been imagined”, replied the owner. Before the boat was berthed, and the engines shut down, Ryan and the owner were already deeply in conversation, while the boat’s captain and crew readied her for her home berth. “Any problems with the boat”, asked Ryan. “No, she ran perfect. Caught fish and kept us safe”, replied the owner, perhaps with a salty drawl that comes from a month-long fishing adventure. Later, from my discussion with the owner, I learned that the boat had left Sydney at the beginning of the month, running for 3 days from Sydney, New South Wales, to Hervey Bay, Queensland, just below Fraser Island, and then fished four extended stay aboard programs, before returning to the Gold Coast, Queensland, for some scheduled maintenance works, and then returning to her home berth back in Sydney. One thing that is certain is that the captain and crew run a tight ship, because back in Sydney, after more than six weeks away, and over 1,250 nautical miles at sea on a fishing program, the boat gleamed, and smelled, as if it was just delivered. I spoke to the captain, Rod Findlay. “How do you keep the boat looking like this”. “We have a system for everything, and keeping the boat clean, and functional, is just part of the routine. We think she is one of the prettiest game boats of her class, and we want her to present as best she can when anyone sees her. The crew are all now dialled in on the wash routine, so we get a great result in minimal time”. Back with Ryan and the owner, I sneaked into this discussion, “I did have some apprehension as to whether the boat could provide the platform for what we have just done. I have to hand it to Viking. They have thought all this stuff through. I only now appreciate the layout, and how all the systems make such a program possible. Rod always told me the boat was well set up for it, but until you stretch yourself to do things that you have not done, you don’t realise how well thought out her 46 feet is. For me, as my first time spent on a stay aboard program on a boat, it was overwhelmingly comfortable.” Ryan and the owner talked about the benefits of Seakeeper gyroscopic stabilisers, water makers and refrigeration, but I was intrigued, “what was your exposure to the systems and their reliability, and how do they impact the experience”. The owner paused for a moment, “For my program, a lot of that goes to Rod. He is great with all of that, and he takes control of all of that. I am on the boat to enjoy it, but I do like to be in the loop of those matters. Viking use best of class products and systems, and that means you get best of class performance and function. Not everything goes to plan, it is a boat. Between Rod’s experience and the support from Short Marine, there was always a solution and a quick fix.” What, I asked, was the fishing like, “To be honest, the marlin bite, which we had chased, was a little slow. Rod and I expected more. But, for me, in the end, the adventure was the highlight. I had never been to Fraser Island or Lady Musgrave Island. My first snorkel at Lady Musgrave after a day’s fishing was something special. Fraser Island is spectacular. We had a great time on the boat. The boat has made me think about what adventures are next.” Laughing, the owner contemplated, “Maybe we need a bigger boat. Don’t tell Ryan. He will fly into full sales mode.” By the time I departed, Ryan and his long-term customer were vibrantly discussing “how good”, to use Ryan’s phrase, the Viking boats are, and they had been joined by the captain and crew, who were all regaling the detail of the adventure just past, laughing riotously at sea stories. Boats, beers and, in this case, not so many big fish lies.