Shore Thing Charters featured in SuperYacht Times. Features Editor Leona Caanen travelled to Sydney to sit down with owner Luke Geelan and hear how a 35-metre motor yacht became the centre of family life for one Sydney family — and why charter guests keep coming back for more. Thank you to Leona for taking the time to tell the story properly.
Here’s the story behind Australia’s family charter yacht.
A family built around boating
Luke Geelan grew up on a river in Sydney. His father taught him to sail and water ski. Sailing turned into wakeboarding, wakeboarding turned into game fishing, and the water never let go.
In 2024, after selling his business, Luke bought Shore Thing — a 35.05-metre motor yacht built by Lloyd Ships in Australia in 1986. It wasn’t about the yacht. It was about giving his family a way to share what he loves.
“My two boys are especially big on game fishing, and my daughter is very passionate about snorkelling and marine life,” Luke says. Shore Thing gave the whole family — and now charter guests — a way into that world.
A three-phase refit, done properly
Shore Thing needed work when Luke bought her. He’s taken the refit in three stages rather than rushing it.
Phase one ran September to November 2024 at the Gold Coast City Marina & Shipyard: bridge upgrade, new soft furnishings, extensive paintwork.
Phase two remodelled the saloon — new flooring, carpeting, ceilings, plus mechanical upgrades. It also added the beach club: an inflatable pool, protective netting and a shaded cabana that’s become a favourite with charter guests. The most important addition, though, was the zero-speed stabilisers. “My wife suffers from really severe seasickness — the stabilisers are essential in making the yacht comfortable for my family,” Luke says.
Phase three lands in 2027 and covers the crew quarters. Luke pushed it back a year on purpose — Shore Thing’s charter and personal calendar is nearly full for the year, and he wants the refit to have the time it needs. “Our crew is so amazing. I’m super lucky to have what I believe is the best crew.”
Shore Thing 58: Australia’s leading game fishing platform
Six months after buying the mothership, Luke added a second vessel: a custom-built 17.7-metre (58’0″) Assegai sportfisher, purpose-built for marlin fishing along Australia’s east coast. She runs a gyro stabiliser and a Furuno Omni Sonar System that scans 360 degrees around the boat to significant depth — a real edge in a sport that still comes down to instinct and patience.
The reason for buying her: his sons. “My sons and I have been game fishing together for the last five years or so,” Luke says. They’ve won state titles competing around Sydney. On a recent trip to the Great Barrier Reef, Shore Thing 58 landed a 1,223lb Black Marlin.
Luke is clear about how they fish. “We only catch what we eat; everything else goes right back in the ocean. We’re not hunters, we just fish for the joy of it.”
Why guests charter Shore Thing
Luke’s favourite moments onboard are the same things charter guests come for. He hosted his 50th birthday on a Shore Thing charter to Whitehaven Beach in the Whitsundays — 40 guests, all friends and family. His favourite memory is a recent Christmas onboard, sharing meals cooked by the onboard chef with another family. “Your kids grow up so quick. Getting to share that time together, feeling like you can really share laughs and stories as they become young adults — it was just special.”
That’s the pitch for chartering Shore Thing: a boat built for exactly this. Family time, real fishing, and a crew that runs it properly, cruising between the Great Barrier Reef, the Whitsundays and Sydney Harbour.
Charter Shore Thing
Shore Thing 115 and Shore Thing 58 are available for charter along Australia’s east coast, from Sydney Harbour to the Whitsundays and the Great Barrier Reef.
Read the full feature on Shore Thing at SuperYacht Times. Photography credit: Nick Jones / Shore Thing.
