We want to bring them into Australia and then send them on their way to shipyards, marinas, wherever they need to go. This is the Ben Taylor Podcast, the home of marine industry insights. Enjoy. Hi everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the Ben Taylor Podcast. This series is designed to profile the Australian yachting industry and what's going on down under. And today I'm here with Sarah Toxford. Hey, nice to meet you. So give us a little context. Who are you? What do you do? What's the mission here? Thank you for this opportunity. I am Sarah from Carter Marine Agencies. We're a yacht agency based in Australia. So I guess our role is to make super yachts that are visiting into Australia, their time here as seamless and as easy as possible. So we deal with their crew visas before they've arrived. We'll do their clearing in with the Australian Border Force, their biosecurity needs. And then when they're on the ground, anything they want, we get. So it's provisioning, refueling, crew accommodation, hire cars, the works, basically everything. But to get into Australia with a boat, I mean, going into most regions, there's a couple of nuances. I feel like there's quite a lot with Australia. Yeah, look, I think, you know, there can be, but I guess our job as an agent is to make it as easy as possible. Yeah, that's your value. That's our value. That's our value adding. Making sure you can get in and everything goes smoothly and timely. And so as soon as we get an inquiry, we make sure that, hey, this is the information you're going to need. This is how you're going to do it. This is how we can help you so that it does eliminate all the red tape. Because there can be, and especially with biosecurity, we want to keep our amazing country as, you know, bug free as possible. So we work really well with the chefs. Bug free as possible. That's right, yeah. So we want to make it, you know, we work with the chefs and everyone to make sure that when they're coming in, everyone's aware of what they can and can't bring into the country. Yeah, and could you take us through an example? I can think of one from the other day when we first met. Yes. No need to name the boat if you don't want to, but like, just from like a typical scenario. Yep. When a yacht's coming into Australia, what typically happens? What's the process there? Sure, so if a boat's coming in, you know, there's usually a foreign flag, which means they need to come in and meet with Australian Border Force. That'll be your first port of call. We had a boat come into Southport Yacht Club here in Queensland, nice and early at 6.30 in the morning. So we're on site making sure they get fresh as day, making sure they're ready to go. And then they met by Australian Border Force. So, you know, we've already submitted their paperwork 96 hours beforehand. So they've got it all. So that's just making sure that they've got the right passports, the visas, which again, we've already done. Yeah, it's all as expected. All as expected. Yeah, happy days. And then once that's done, then biosecurity comes on. And I actually will often go on with biosecurity to find out, you know, because it changes all the time. What can you bring on and what can't you bring into the country? And again, you know, they are trying to make it as seamless as possible. You know, make it an easy transition for the boats coming here. So and then once they're here, then it's like, what can we do for you? What do you need? You need a hire car. This particular boat really needed day workers in a hurry. So we rushed around and got people ready to get the boat because actually the boat was here in the Santrico Boat Show. So we do a bit of everything. Quick turnaround and everything ready. And look, what I love about what we do is there is nothing we can't do. Some of the questions we get asked to do, he's like, oh, that's a good one. You know, I just saw a didgeridoo and I wanted a really authentic didgeridoo. So I raced around and found one made from, you know, an aboriginal alder and stuff. So things like that, you know, make the job, keeps us on our toes. Yeah, every niche needs serving. Absolutely, absolutely. I tell you what, it's been a, you know, we don't, we're not in the nature of saying no. We're a yes, yes, you know, service value adding company, you know. So, you know, these people are coming to us and trusting us to help them with what they need. To deliver, yeah. And so the company's gone through some changes. Yes. And so what's kind of happening there? What's now the impact of that? What's the strategy going forward? Myself and business partner, Angela Pennyfather, we took it over in October. So from Carrie Carter. Yeah, really recently. Really recent, yeah. And Carrie Carter is, had been in the industry for 20-something years. And she was a household name in yachting. And so we've stepped into her shoes and we're adding sort of slight difference. She was based in Cairns. So we look after pretty much anywhere in Australia. So predominantly boats will come into Cairns, Brisbane and Gold Coast and we can assist them there. But we're also getting boats that are coming into Darwin, into Western Australia, to the Coral Sea Marina, into Mackay, all these places. And we, you know, Australia-wide basically. You know, we want to bring them into Australia and then send them on their way to shipyards, marinas, wherever they need to go. Yeah, there's a lot happening with the Australian market. Like I feel like, I feel like it's set for growth. You've got very exciting opportunities coming up. Like you've just had charter reform a couple of years ago. Like all that brought like new potential, new opportunities in the region, new visitors. And then you've got things like the Brisbane 2032 Olympics coming up. So how do you intend to kind of prepare everybody for that? What's your expectation? That's a great question. I think, you know, what we get is a lot of boats will say, we are coming to Australia in the next 12 to 18 months or 6 to 12 months. And they start planning their trip a long time. So we can actually give them the information they need. Do they come and visit and like see the place and get an idea? Sometimes they... Do they sometimes remove the need to do that? Sometimes there is. Sometimes they will send crew members out or they've been here before on other boats and stuff like that. So it's usually quite a, you know, a transition phase of starting off with all the information that they need and then firming up their plans and their itineraries and where they want to go and what they want to do. Are they coming here for crew downtime? Or are they coming for an owner's trip on the Great Barrier Reef? Or, you know, are they coming for a shipyard? So it really just depends what they're here for. Okay, super. Sarah, thank you very much for coming on the podcast. You're welcome. I've learned a lot. It's really insightful. Thank you. Thank you, Ben. You're very welcome. Everybody, if you find content like this insightful and useful to your business, make sure you're following here to see plenty more of it. All being well, we'll see you next time. Bye for now. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Ben Taylor Podcast, the home of Marine Industry Insights. We'll see you again very soon. Bye for now.