It’s inner-city living but not as you know it
CHEAP rent — or none at all, minimal traffic, incredible views and located right in the middle of the city. Plenty of locals have swapped suburbia for a contented life on the Brisbane River.
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OUR capital is in the TV spotlight thanks to new ABC drama series Harrow in which the star lives on his boat on the Brisbane River. But it’s not just his fictional character taking to the water — there are dozens of people living on their own boats in the heart of the city.
INNER-CITY LIVING COMES CHEAP FOR MARTIN
MARTIN Raynor has lived on his 12m steel sloop, Mostly Harmless , on the Kangaroo Point side of the Brisbane River for the past year — for free.
Raynor, 39, lives at anchor and enjoys magnificent views of the water and city that would be the envy of anyone owning or renting an expensive apartment nearby.
The part-time musician and medical student, who is soon to graduate and start his first job as a doctor, would not swap his lifestyle for suburbia.
He enjoys much the same view as actor Ioan Gruffudd’s character Dr Daniel Harrow (a forensic pathologist in the ABC drama series Harrow) whose yacht, Bettie, is moored in the river just down from his boat, towards the Kangaroo Point cliffs.
The new series, entirely shot in Brisbane, is shining a light on the River City, its meandering waterway and those who choose to call it home.
“I love how accessible the city is from here. On a boat you can get everywhere,” Raynor says.
Within minutes he can dinghy across to the Edward St jetty, have a picnic in the City Botanical Gardens, or zip around to South Bank or the West End markets.
Life on board the 16-year-old Van de Stadt Caribbean 40 is very economical and “green”, with Raynor using solar power to run his fridge, lights and laptop computer.
He usually fills his holding tanks with water for showers at Rivergate Marina, near the Gateway Bridge, when he cruises out into Moreton Bay every few weeks.
While Raynor has a car, he usually uses a bicycle to get around onshore.
He spent two years paying to stay on a pile mooring next to the City Botanic Gardens, but reckons he has a better spot now, across the river, towards the Story Bridge.
Living in the inner-city suits Raynor’s lifestyle, as he did his final hospital rotations at the Mater Hospital and plays solo gigs at local pubs, cafes and wedding venues.
Raynor admits taking a dinghy ashore can be challenging in wet weather and, only the other day, he lost a dinghy propeller that sank without a trace into the muddy brown river.
River life also has its dramatic moments, including the time someone set his dinghy on fire. And last year, he and a neighbouring yachtie and a CityCat crew helped extinguish a fire on a nearby boat and Raynor rescued the elderly boatie.
“I heard somebody yelling ‘help’ and looked up and the boat at anchor behind me was on fire,” Raynor recalls.
“Brian and I zipped across in our dinghies with fire extinguishers and together we helped put out the fire. I dragged the guy out through the top hatch.”
Raynor enjoys the privacy of having his nearest floating neighbour about 30m away.
“I don’t have any close neighbours peering over me here, like you would on a marina,” he says.
“I can play my guitar at one o’clock in the morning and nobody can hear me. But there’s also a nice sense of kinship with the yachties around here.
“You can’t live this existence without helping your neighbours. You don’t get that in the suburbs anymore.”
UNBEATABLE GARDEN VIEWS
WAYNE and Sami Smith think of themselves not just as boaties living on the Brisbane River, but also part of the inner-city Brisbane community.
Wayne, 52, and Sami, 31, live with their daughter Rosemary, 3, and cat Tootsie on a US-made Hunter 430 fibreglass yacht on the pile moorings next to the City Botanic Gardens. Before Wayne retired on an Army pension, after almost 30 years of service, he did his yacht master’s certificate, and six years ago bought their 13.1m yacht, Daily Rate.
They now rent their pile mooring from Brisbane City Council for $70 a week.
“Some people pay $350 a week for a dog box in the city. For $70 we get access to a laundry, showers and toilets,” Wayne says.
Every fortnight and during holidays Wayne’s other children, Justin, 13, Toby, 11 and Jasmine, 9, join them on board.
Wayne hires a car to drive to Toowoomba to collect the kids and take them back after their weekend on the boat.
The couple estimated owning a car would have cost them $160 a fortnight and they rarely need one at other times.
Sami says they are in the perfect spot for children, right next to gardens with a playground, just down the river from South Bank, with its beach, and not far from the museum and library.
“It’s got everything you need for a family, and it’s all free. We can get on any bus and even catch the free City Hopper ferry, from Sydney St to North Quay,” Sami says.
“The kids love being on the boat.”
They have a front-row seat for the fireworks during Riverfire and can hear concerts from Riverstage.
The family take advantage of everything the city has to offer — walking about four blocks to the supermarket and occasionally dining out at the city’s restaurants and cafes.
They sometimes head out of the river and sail up to Moreton Island.
The Smiths estimate they easily live on about $200 a week, including mooring fee, food, fuel and entertainment.
But there are always boat and dinghy maintenance costs on top.
Rosemary, who has been on board since she was three weeks old, has really taken to boat life. “I love the confinement of the boat. Rosie is safe and she really knows her boundaries,” Sami says.
“This is such a community. Everyone gathers near the jetty, to chat, and Rosie is like everyone’s grandchild.”
The Smiths love the fact that Harrow, which was filmed opposite where they live, is realistically portraying the liveaboard lifestyle and showing off Brisbane’s attractions.
HOME, BOAT AND OFFICE IN ONE
JENNY Gaskell thinks Brisbane residents don’t fully appreciate what a wonderful asset they have in the Brisbane River.
Jenny, 59, and husband Mark Gaskell, 60, have lived on their 22.8m schooner, on a private marina berth on the river between Kangaroo Point and East Brisbane, for five years.
The couple bought La Condesa Del Mar — The Countess of the Sea — in Mexico in 2011 and sailed it back to Australia, with the help of a crew member, over nine months.
They pay the equivalent of renting a small inner-city apartment for the privilege of living on a marina berth, with no neighbours, and views of the Story Bridge and the city.
Condesa is a US-built Herreshoff Staysail schooner with four staterooms, a sizeable galley, a saloon with stained glass and timber cabinetry, polished timber floors, brass lamplights, three showers and two bathrooms.
Condesa is also Jenny’s office, from where she runs a styling and events business.
Mark, along with the couple’s two sons, works in his family’s sporting products business at Coorparoo, a five-minute drive away.
“We like the inner-city. Living here keeps things light and simple,” Jenny says.
“My favourite thing is getting some prawns and sitting on the deck. Why go to a restaurant when you can sit here with a prime view of the bridge and the city?”
After crossing the Pacific Ocean the couple, who previously lived in a house and rented an apartment, saw no reason to go back onto land.
They live in sync with the rhythm of the river and the weather.
They love waking up to the “Churchie boys” rowing by at 5am or the first CityCats at 6am, giving them a gentle wakeup.
Express CityCats can rock the boat, but as Jenny says: “You don’t live on the water and not expect movement.”
A resident pelican does 360 degree turns around the boat and there are lots of ducks and fish.
“We have nearby coffee shops, restaurants, ferries, there’s everything in this precinct we need,” Mark says.
They have two cars and bicycles and Jenny enjoys doing riverside walks.
The couple had a scare during a cyclone a few years ago, when they had to move off their boat as parts of Rivergate Marina, where they were staying, began breaking up.
Jenny hopes Harrow will help people better understand the advantages of living on a boat in the river.
“I guess you have to love the water and the freedom it offers you,” she says.
“I’ve never felt better since living on the water, with the fresh air, freedom and movement. It’s a meandering, beautiful river and we should all enjoy it more.”
‘STRONG SENSE OF COMMUNITY’ AT MARINA
LEANNE Squires and her fiance Steve Hartley have a retirement goal — to sail around Australia on their own boat within the next five years.
Step one towards achieving that dream was trading in life in a Sunshine Coast four-bedroom, three-bathroom, two-garage mansion for a 9.1m yacht on the Brisbane River.
The couple, in their early 50s, used to commute to work in Brisbane, driving three hours daily, but now live at Dockside Marina at Kangaroo Point, only minutes from their offices.
Eighteen months ago they bought Orpheus, a Hartley Spindrift yacht, and moved it from Shorncliffe to the Brisbane River.
“It was a great opportunity to move into the city and stop the commute,” Leanne says.
Her health and safety job is based at Bowen Hills and Steve, an entrepreneur, works from South Bank — both a short distance from Kangaroo Point.
“Living in the marina, with other liveaboards, there’s a strong sense of community,” Steve says.
The boaties on “B finger” regularly socialise, share herbs from a communal garden and, as a team dubbed The Pirates, play trivia at the Story Bridge Hotel.
“I’d never sailed or owned a boat until I met Steve eight years ago. He took me out on a catamaran for my birthday, and I’ve been hooked ever since,” Leanne says.
“When we retire we want to be blue nomads, not grey nomads. Lots of our friends are already living that lifestyle.
“When the boat came up for sale we thought why not see if we can live on a boat, if we could live in such tight confines.”
At Dockside, the couple pay $925 a month for a marina berth with power, water and access to a communal laundry, showers and toilets.
“I love living on the river in the inner-city. It’s such cheap rent, compared to living in an apartment that looks out on the river,” Leanne says.
“It’s a central position and the ferry is right there and we can be in the city in 15 minutes,” Steve says.
The one drawback is the wash from passing ferries and Leanne has had to get used to a minimalist lifestyle, with only one berth in their boat.
“I just love the fact we are free and unencumbered. We can cast off our lines and motor down the river into the bay whenever we like,” she says.
“I wouldn’t change anything now. Living on the boat has freed up our passion and freed up our time to do what we love to do.”
kay.dibben@news.com.au
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