About Us
Red Sky Cruises is owned and operated by Gay Potter and Graham Bulford. There is no better way to explain our history than reproduce an article written by Gay and published in the RRR Network News, a West Australian regional publication in Winter 05.
‘What a lifestyle’ – a frequent comment when we tell people that we live aboard a beautiful boat for seven months of the year with the Kimberley coastline as ‘our backyard’. Many also say that it is something they have always dreamed of doing. For us, rather than a dream, it seems to have been more of a predetermined course.
After many years as a crew member, I bought my first yacht in 1990 and after getting lost on the Swan River during my first race, applied myself and was awarded the Most Improved Skipper trophy the year after. I made sure I had lots of practice and especially enjoyed the Friday afternoon sail from Perth Flying Squadron Yacht Club. It was difficult at times to leave my computer consultancy business early so I was always running late for the start. A friendly sailor helped by sailing close and telling me the course and the time to go. He turned out very friendly indeed and Graham and I have now been together for 14 years. Graham was a 'seasoned' sailor and a past Soling State Champion and I also skippered a Farr36 in Women’s State and National Titles after commandeering his boat for a year for our lady’s crew.
It is a natural transition with sailors to always want that bigger boat. So after racing and cruising for many years, we started looking. One day a very pretty catamaran sailed into a bay at Rottnest Island and after Graham circled it several times in his ‘rubber ducky’, the owner invited us aboard. As soon as we realised how much room there was, we knew the type of boat we wanted to build. Our discussion that afternoon over a couple of bottles of WA wine made us realise that we could not afford a boat like that ‘for fun’ and would need to make it earn it’s way as a charter boat. Once we established that it was possible, but only with a large labour input from the both of us, we chose our design, hired a large shed and started building ‘our dream’ within three months of our first discussions.
‘Red Sky at Night’ was launched in October 1998 after 18 months of very hard labour. Graham worked all day, every day while I ran three businesses, calculated quantities and ordered all the materials, and worked 3 days a week plus weekends. There was fairing, rubbing, lifting, cleaning and a lot more that we would rather forget. We kept a photo album of the building process to remind us never to do it again. But at the time, we did not feel like that. Every morning when we arrived, we would sit in the car and look at the embryo of ‘Red Sky’ and say ‘how have we done this?’ amazed at our progress. We also managed to both obtain our Cockswain certificates heading off to classes at night.
As we were nearing completion, one of many visitors to wander into our shed suggested that we contact a resort near Broome about work for the coming winter. At that point, we had never been to Broome and knew very little about the north of our state.
In 1999, we sailed to Broome for the winter which was an adventure in itself and we were very successful with day trips, sunset and dinner cruises. Late in the year, we hired a plane to tour over the Kimberley coastline. That was it – we both looked down and thought that is were we want to be.
We came ‘home’ in 2000 – our first cruises in the Kimberley but it was not until 2002 that we decided to spend the whole season in the wilderness without returning to civilisation. This was partly to avoid the trip from Broome, which can be uncomfortable and does not offer anything in the way of a scenic cruise. but also because we just love being here and it is only the cyclone season that sees us reluctantly leave. We always have at least two days in between each charter and although there is a lot of preparation for the next one, we do manage to have time to ourselves and head off exploring or fishing.
The organisation required is phenomenal. And still is, years after. Our passengers fly in and out by seaplane and supplies have to be ordered by satellite phone. This is where my computer knowledge helps as all our ordering is on a database . After extensive maintenance before leaving Broome, we spent our first day in the Kimberley with a fuel blockage to the generator, a fuel blockage in the tender, a leaky tap in the 2nd bathroom, the email on the satellite phone not working and the computer going crazy thinking the serial port was a mouse. Just a normal pre cruise day! We have to rely on our own resources to fix these problems but we do have a network of specialists to call on for advice. Any major emergency requires a tradesman to be flown in by seaplane.
Combining our love of the Kimberley, a desire for an interesting and adventurous lifestyle and a determination to provide unsurpassed service to our guests has brought many rewards. Firstly, we love our job! The majority of our cruises are now repeat guests and referrals. We have also received many accolades and awards, winning the West Australian Tourism Award for Adventure Tourism in 2003 plus being finalists many times. The Kimberley Tourism Association also awarded us Best Charter Boat Operator and Unique Accommodation in 2003. In 2004, we were chosen by a panel of judges from ‘The Australian’ for their inaugural ‘Travel and Tourism Awards’ in the category of Best Innovative Tourism Experience. This then became a reader vote and unfortunately we were outvoted by The Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb!
For the next 6 months, we may not even see a newspaper, certainly no television, we will meet some wonderful people and end up with so many stories to tell. Apart from that, there will probably be a few barramundi, lots of mudcrabs and just too many oysters. ‘What a life!’
Gay Potter of Red Sky Charters can be contacted on 0407 739 738 or email mail@redsky.com.au or website: www.redsky.com.au
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