Cairns - Australia
Cairns - A Jeckel and Hyde City
Don't get me wrong. Cairns is a wonderful city. It is the relationship to the yachting world that is the downer. Oh they have great support for the yachting community via business'. It is the political and Marina community that gives this place a sour taste..
As an international cruising sailor long distance insurance is a major hassle. Insurance companies love to take your money and yet when you need them they often find an excuse on why they don't need to pay or pay as much. For us, we usually find local insurance in countries we cruise in. In Australia we were able to find what is referred to as 3rd party. Liability only. That is all we need We take excellent care of the boat and I'm not worried about some contractor messing something up. I am the contracter. Anyway... as per law and my understanding, to berth in a marina one needs liability coverage. We have it. Yet in Cairns they not only wanted but demanded full comprehensive insurance to be in the marina. Their excuse was that a a boat sunk on a pile mooring and it cost them $40k to remove it. Even though the boat had 3rd party! Personally, I didn't believe it. I've heard that story before in Australia. Every marina we had been to accepted our 3rd party, everyone except the Cairns marina. I mentioned to them the lost income. As nicely as they could they said it didn't matter. They don't loose much. While we were there, our boat and two others were denied coming into the marina. Knowing what we know of the boats and the time frame,`` their policy cost them about $3k. That is what I know. Not only that, it costs Cairns business'. We had two groups of friends planning on visiting us and playing tourist in the city. SMH.
This is not just my take We met another cruiser who actually lived there and raised a family. She too said that the city is not cruiser friendly. While I'm not wanting to put down the many good buisness' that are there. I do want cruisers and particularly international cruisers to be aware of the situation. Cheers
The photos are grouped by our tourist visit and the last set would be our time visiting on Elysium. The Festival of Lights and the wonderful Gelato I discovered at Just Devine. The Gelato makes it worth a visit. :) Cheers