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Delivering a multimillion-dollar catamaran across the Tasman will be anything but a luxury journey for the four-man crew.
No frills on transtasman voyage
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Spirit of Queenstown ready for its voyage to Bluff by sea and to Kingston by road. Photo supplied.
Those aboard the 26m Spirit of Queenstown, which is destined for Lake Wakatipu, will be ''sleeping on mattress squabs on the floor'', or more likely not sleeping at all, and dining on noodles during the three-day sea journey.
The Southern Discoveries' purpose-built catamaran, which cost up to $5 million, will soon make the journey from Eden, New South Wales, to Bluff.
It will then be partially dismantled for the journey to Kingston by road. The whole trip is expected to take a week.
By year's end, Spirit of Queenstown will be operating on Lake Wakatipu, carrying up to 150 passengers from Queenstown across the lake to Mt Nicholas Station.
Before leaving Australia, the catamaran will undergo 10 days of sea trials.
The departure date will depend on the weather.
Southern Discoveries general manager John Robson said two of the tourist company's most experienced skippers, Queenstown-based Richard Moore and Milford-based Max Darroch, will help crew the catamaran across the Tasman.
They will familiarise themselves with the vessel before it leaves Australian waters. Mr Robson said maritime law required two crew to be awake and on the bridge at all times.
''The reality is that most of the time they'll all be up. You get very, very little sleep on a trip like this, because you're coming across the ocean and it's not that easy to sleep lying on a mattress on a floor - so luxury it is not,'' he said.
''She's not an ocean liner, so she could be moving around a bit in the sea.''
Additional fuel for the journey will be carried in containers on the deck.
During the estimated three-day journey, the catamaran will travel at a speed of 15 knots.
Once it reaches Bluff, the catamaran will be hoisted out of the water, partially dismantled and transported by road to Kingston, where it will be launched.
It was hoped the catamaran would be operating on Lake Wakatipu towards the end of this year.
Southern Discoveries also operates four vessels in Milford Sound and cruises in Milford Sound and on Lake Wakatipu.
The company also owns and operates Harrisons Cove Kayaking, the Blue Duck Cafe and Bar in Milford, a Te Anau-based coach service, four information centres in Te Anau and Queenstown and owns half of jet-boat operator KJet.
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