-----Original Message-----
From: Roger McGovern
Sent: Friday, 31 August 2007 3:00 PM
To: 'Peter Shute'
Subject: Sydney Pelagic - Saturday 8th September
Hi Peter,
You raise a very interesting question and one which we ponder on a lot and
are never sure of the answer. I would just make the following observations.
In Victoria, there is only one monthly trip rather than two as in the Sydney
region. The boat is relatively small which means that a 'full' boat needs
less passengers (only 12 in the case of the present boat) and the cost of
the trip is probably less. Furthermore, the Bass Strait (particularly in
winter) always offers high chances of a major rarity and this would be very
attractive to the hard core listers.
In NSW, there is the SOSSA trip out of Wollongong every month which is
normally well attended. However, the term 'well attended' has a relationship
to the capacity of the boat. I think the Sandra K can take maybe 15-16
people which means that they can probably break even commercially with
somewhat less than that number. The boat is an old fishing trawler and rolls
quite a bit in any sort of sea - there is nowhere to get out of the spray on
a rough day and you can return to port wet and cold. (Well, 'someone has to
do it' is the cry of real pelagic birders!) The Wollongong pelagic is very
rarely cancelled either for weather or for lack of numbers which is an
important factor for people planning a trip from overseas. The Wollongong
boat, over the years, gets better birds than Sydney for what reason I am not
entirely sure. They are further south (a bit closer to Antarctica!)and the
main east coast current swings in closer to shore there - so that could be
an explanation. Also, because the boat is slow, they motor out to the shelf
berleying all the way and then turn round and come back almost immediately.
In the case of the Sydney trip which I have been out on well over 100 times,
we first of all have a large, stable, well-appointed catamaran (the MV
Halicat) with a passenger capacity of 45 people. Of course, this makes it a
great boat to travel on but very expensive to operate. It becomes difficult
to balance the required cost per head with the number of people you might
get on board - if you charge more because there are less people, then you
get even less people, etc. Hal currently charges $120 per day which includes
morning tea, all day beverages, and lunch (which is often cooked on the
barbeque on the back deck on good days) and needs 15 passengers to break
even. It is a fast boat and our normal modus operandi (except when we look
for whales during migration) is to head straight out to the shelf break at
speed and then start berleying when we get there. Whether this is
counter-productive versus heading out more slowly and berleying all the way,
I really don't know. However, most of our good pelagic sightings
(particularly pterodromas and storm-petrels) are made beyond the shelf, so
that is where we prefer to spend our time.
I think that the problem with Sydney is partly the size of the boat - we
need 15 to break even and this would be a full complement in Victoria and
Wollongong. And, because it is a bigger boat and therefore more expensive,
coupled with the fact that we get less rarities than Wollongong, the local
Sydney birders do not come out on a regular basis - I suppose that $120 is a
lot of money to shell out on a regular monthly basis. However, for
Sydneysiders, it is convenient and does not involve a long (200km round
trip) drive south.
That's the best that I can do for an explanation. A possible solution would
be for Sydney birders to find a smaller and cheaper boat but Hal has been a
good supporter of the local birding scene so I would far rather that we try
to support him in return. We went out in July with only 9 paying passengers
and this would have been very uneconomic for Hal.
Regards
Roger
-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Shute
Sent: Friday, 31 August 2007 1:56 PM
To: Roger McGovern; birding-aus
Subject: Sydney Pelagic - Saturday 8th September
I haven't been on one of these trips, but it seems from postings I've
read that the Victorian trips are usually fully booked, but the NSW ones
aren't. Is that right? If so, how come? Do you run more of them up
there?
Peter Shute
wrote on Friday, 31 August 2007 10:56
AM:
> However, I wanted to let everybody know that the scheduled
> Sydney pelagic trip on Saturday 8th September is definitely
> going (subject to weather) on the extremely stable MV
> Halicat. It will depart Mosman ferry wharf at 06.45am and
> Rose Bay public wharf at 07.00am and you can make a booking
> with Hal on 0411 311 236.
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