Itineraries

The reason why boating holidays are wonderful is that you can take them at your own pace. You have the freedom to go where you please, when you please. And your whole world is contained on board you don’t have to pack the car each day.

Also, boats are wonderfully different, so you really know you’re on holiday. It’s so obviously not like home – and it’s this complete change that makes it relaxing.

The way you live on a boat is different, too. You need to conserve water and power; and you live in a different space in which you can pare down to just the basics. You don’t need many clothes or other things on board, simplicity is part of the art of boating.

The different activities contribute to your holiday enjoyment, too – the movement of the boat, the water, and the wind, and handling the boat, watching the weather, reading the map. It’s all great fun and very special.

Also, the boating fraternity – those other happy souls you’ll meet out on the water – are a nice lot. There’s something about boating that brings out the best in people – they lose their city reserve and become friendly and helpful.

If you’re new to boating, here’s some advice to get the most from your holiday:

Don’t rush! If you don’t see all the Lakes on your first boating holiday you can easily come back another time. It’s important to replace workday time with boating holiday time – it’s quite different. So the first step is to SLOW DOWN. All the better if you can start to slow down in the last few days at home, so that the first days of your holiday aren’t spoilt by remnant tension.

Think of your holiday as starting from the moment you leave home – the trip to Riviera Nautic should be relaxing and enjoyable, not just a nuisance that stands between you and your holiday.

A lovely way to slow down is to focus on the environment around you – this can transform your holiday into something special. Its sad how we can so easily keep our home eyes and not have the wonders of a new place revealed to us. So actively see this world around you: the birdlife, the wind patterns on the water, the sunsets, the night sky, the rolling breakers on the ocean beach.

Have a rough plan for your whole holiday – of what you want to see and do – but remember, there’s always a chance that the weather will require you to change your plans. That’s part of the experience, to have to work with nature rather than be cut off from it. Theres the sense of the pioneer in this, acknowledging that there are natural forces we can’t control.

Do things that are different. Eat your egg and bacon breakfast as you cruise along – it’s a fantastic start to the day. Use the wood-fired barbecues for lunches: fish you’ve caught or from the fish shop in Paynesville. Dine at a port-side cafe with only a few steps between it and your boat. Play Scrabble in the evenings, or sit and talk the night away with your friends. We find that on summer evenings, sitting out on the deck, everyone talks almost in whispers – the silence is so enchanting.

Keep your boat shipshape. Not only is this a safe practice, when youre living in a small space it’s far more relaxing to have everything stowed. If you think you’ve brought too much stuff, we’ll happily mind anything for you, such as your box of red wine!!

Most of all, shape your holiday in your own special way. To help plan, following are some suggested itineraries and a map. When you arrive, you’ll find our map briefing gives you more ideas, so don’t make your plans too rigid at this stage. This is a time for dreaming and anticipating. . .