It’s been a long held dream of mine to own a yacht and learn to sail. Unfortunately whenever I’ve crewed on other’s boats, things haven’t gone too well. The first time the yacht I was on, got beached for 6 days in Cuba and we had to sail round the Western side of the island with no motor or radio.

The second time I ended up crewing on a drug smuggling boat in Tahiti, but was luckily kicked off at Bora Bora, before their big Fiji arrest.

I was originally looking at acreage along the East Coast, but I felt the prices were unsustainable, so decided to look at alternative living spaces. With a yacht I get a mobile home that also allows me to learn new skills. Timber repairs, marine plumbing, electrical systems and hopefully, some sailing.

So say hello to SV Siquando, a 36 year old classic wooden 30 foot mast head sloop.

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All went well with the inspection Friday. The bilge is full of dust, which is what one wants to see in an old wooden boat, and the diesel motor is near new, with only 120 hrs on it. I'm very lucky to have met a retired gent from the yacht club who has given the boat the once over and is happy to teach me to sail. Yamba is a fantastic place to learn as it is on one of Australia's biggest rivers, the Clarence. In fact one can cruise up river to Grafton, stopping in at six taverns with pontoons where one can have a beer and meal. Might have to be one of our first trips ??? .. . . #sailing #yamba #woodenboats #sailinglife #sailinginstagram #sailingadventure #yacht #yachtlife #svsiquando

A post shared by overlander.tv (@overlandertv) on Dec 13, 2019 at 11:53am PST

I’m been very lucky to have met a retired gent at the local yacht club that has offered to teach me to sail. Peter also looked over the Grand Old Dame and gave her a clean bill of health. We are thinking of putting together a how to sail video series called Krusty Old Seamen. Peter is still not that keen on the name 🙂

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I'm now the proud owner of my first yacht, SV Siquando. From left to right – Captain Mark, previous owners Spanish Jorge and Kiwi Jodi, and Krusty Salty Seaman Peter, who will be teaching me to sail. . . . . . #sailing #yamba #woodenboats #sailinglife #sailinginstagram #sailingadventure #yacht #yachtlife #svsiquando

A post shared by overlander.tv (@overlandertv) on Dec 13, 2019 at 7:37pm PST

So I will be based in Yamba for a bit and will be offering video production services from Port Macquarie to the Sunshine Coast.

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'l have many leather-bound books and my yacht smells of rich mahogany……and noodles, 2 min noodles!? . . . . . . . #sailing #yamba #woodenboats #sailinglife #sailinginstagram #sailingadventure #yacht #yachtlife #mastheadsloop #halftonner #classicyacht #timberyacht #svsiquando #anchorman

A post shared by overlander.tv (@overlandertv) on Dec 26, 2019 at 7:13pm PST

Hope you all had a safe festive season and look forward to sharing my new sailing adventures in some handy how to videos.