It’s a tempting prospect.

Load the boat with provisions, assemble the members of your immediate household, plus a few crew if required, and head North to the sunshine and largely COVID-19 free waters of Queensland.

After all, it would take months to explore a fraction of Queensland’s vast 7,000-kilometre coastline and 1,900 islands. Right?

Wrong. Very wrong in fact.

While recreational boating has not been specifically covered in Queensland government announcements as yet, it is clear that ever-tightening restrictions being applied to limit the spread of COVID-19 will affect recreational boating.

So, the message is clear. Stay in your home port. Do not cast off and load co-ordinates on the chart plotter for any destinations north of 28 degrees 10 mins S.

Of course, there are boats that have already arrived in Queensland waters over the past week, and they are now having to self-quarantine at anchor.