Nov 19, 2013

News /

Rod and Brad of O Boats are excited to have launched the renamed and refurbished Noosa Fishing and Crab Adventures, pictured above. Photo: AWP.

FRESH from their amazing Tourism Experience Award win over the weekend, owner of Noosaville’s  iconic O Boat Hire, Rod Baker and Brad Gray are excited to have also launched the renamed and refurbished ‘Noosa Fishing and Crab Adventures’.

O Boat Hire has been part of the nostalgic Noosa River landscape for an incredible 68 years. Located in Ely Park, Gympie Terrace, the historic business was established by the Park’s namesake, Len Ely, and has been in the capable hands of entrepreneurial owners Rod and Brad for the past eight years.

Last week, the business partners celebrated the official re-launch of their recently acquisitioned and renamed tourism venture, Noosa Fishing and Crab Adventures by unveiling the vastly overhauled, custom-built 7M Pro Punt, Jay-Lea.

Established 13 years ago as ‘Noosa River Fishing and Crab Tours’ and running from the nearby Noosa Marina, the operation is the only estuary crab charter business in Queensland – making it a truly unique tourism experience.

Since taking on the business a month ago, Rod and Brad have been kept busy with the restoration and revamp of Jay-Lea and relocation of the tour office. On Monday, Jay-Lea was officially re-launched on the river and the boys have already conducted several group crabbing tours.

“Brad and I saw an opportunity to take an existing business and give it a whole new lift in quality, style and service and to add it to our existing boat hire business to give the people a greater choice of experiences,” Rod explained.

“It’s a similar concept, but we’ve given it a whole new polish and feel – and it’s now running from the O Boat Hire jetty.

“We’ve renovated the entire boat; it was all looking a bit tired. And, we’re just about to launch a brand new website –completely independent of O Boat Hire.”

Outside of the tourist season, Jay Lea will head out on skippered crab and fishing tours around 3-4times a week – depending on demand, with tours increasing to daily during peak times.

“The boat is custom-built and specifically designed with a casting platform for estuary conditions. As well as regular fishing, we go out and pull up a few crab pots and people get the unique experience of crab fishing,” Rod said.

“Although the pontoon can accommodate 12 persons, we only take a maximum of 10 per trip so there’s plenty of space for everyone.

“We supply the bait and tackle, and a delicious lunch and refreshments are included in each tour; we’ve also got a special recipe to cook up a steamed mud and sand crab onboard for tasting.”

Rod and Brad are well versed in business success and, with a brand new Tourism Experience Award under their belts, there’s no doubt they will continue to build the profile and popularity of their latest venture.

It is the second year running that 0 Boat Hire has been named as a Tourism finalist in the Sunshine Coast Business Awards and, while that in itself is a major achievement, for Rod and Brad near enough was never going to be good enough.

“We were surprised and quite chuffed to be announced the winners amongst such good company,” Rod said.

“We simply try the best we can to give good services, experiences and products. It’s the customers who are the winners and they keep coming back.”

O Boat Hire offers 15 different types of boat for hire – from the small tinny runabout, to BBQ pontoons and up to the 15-16ft deluxe style pontoons.

“You don’t have to actually have a licence for any of the hire boats except for the couple of bigger ones if you put more than 13 people onboard.” Rod said.

“The majority of our hire business is self drive, but we do offer skippered boat tours if requested.”

O Boat Hire also offers jet ski, SUP boards and Kayak hire, as well as taking bookings for a wide range of other tourism activities and tours – and supplying snacks, refreshments, bait and tackle.

With the addition of their unique ‘Noosa Fishing and Crab Adventures’, the O Boat jetty has become a one-stop shop for a perfect Noosa family holiday adventure.

The hardest part will be choosing which boat or tour is best for you to experience the beauty, adventure and calm, pristine waters of Noosa River whilst fishing, crabbing and sightseeing!

For a comprehensive look at what O Boat Hire has to offer, visit www.oboathire.com. To find out about Rod and Brad’s newest adventure tour, visit the just launched ‘Noosa Fishing and Crab Adventures’

http://thenoosaindependent.com/2013/11/award-winning-o-boat-owners-embark-on-new-tourism-venture/