After receiving an email from the Breakeven Crew about a boat cruise on the world’s most beautiful harbour and featuring some of Sydney’s best house DJ’s, my plans for Friday night were sorted.

The cruise was showcasing the talents of DJ Freestyle, a smooth as fuck selector from Bris Vegas who hadn’t played any major parties in Sydney, up until now. I was keen to hear Freestyle for a number reasons – first being he produced one of last years hottest house bombs, a bootleg of Susan Vega that sent dance floors crazy worldwide (called ‘Col’s Dinner’), the other was that I had heard a few sets of his online that were nothing short of amazing.

Soooo, the cruise was set to depart from the dock at the front of the ever-popular Cargo Bar at 8pm. After navigating through the stripy shirts and suits we made to a more a comfortable environment aboard the Lady Rose where the music was devoid of cheese and the crowd were happy-go-lucky. A well decked out boat it was. 3 levels, 2 bars, ample (but stenchy) bathrooms, 2 sets of decks and an open-air top level.

The boat set off with a good amount of people to the sounds of Jilbert playing some pitched down house grooves on the lower level and someone else playing more funky, Latin house upstairs.

Allan White got on the decks downstairs after Jilbert. It was the first time I’ve heard this guy and he impressed with proper underground house, just like the flyer promised, dropping tracks from producers like Midas and Jason Hodges. Deep and techy but still with good dose of funk.

Due to there being two big rooms, both dance floors were never packed. There were a decent amount of groovers most of the night but because of the spread out nature it seemed quite sparse which didn’t help in boosting a party vibe. A quick cruise around and a few ciggies outdoors before going up to hear Illya belt out some of his trademark house sound, accompanied by a bongo player. As usual, Illya’s set was the goods, lots of new stuff but the track that got the most asses on the floor being Kaskade’s bootleg of the old Hall and Oates classic ‘I can’t go for that’.

The headline act was due to start at midnight, but word got around that the cruise might finish early. The rumour was confirmed when Illya brought the music to a grinding halt upstairs and the crew was ushered downstairs to hear the beginning of Freestyles set. In transit, I met an interesting character – a real life magician who had to be seen to be believed. The guy kept people transfixed and dumbfounded throughout the night with his slight of hand, a welcome and unique serving of party entertainment.

So Freestyle was on and the party kept going. He played an excellent set of deep house, sometimes jacking, sometimes groovy, always tight mixing and a few surprises thrown in, the most obvious when the familiar beats of our beloved house music were put to a halt and the soothing sounds of the timeless ‘Remember me’ by Blueboy took over. How he found the confidence to add this soulful slab of trip-hop into his set at a party where there was an obvious policy of ‘house music all night long’ astounds me, but I’m 99% sure there were no complaints.

The boat arrived back at Cargo about 1am, the party people went their separate ways, some kicking on the free after party at Bohem for more madness, while others went wherever they went and probably had a good time. The first of my harbour cruises for the summer was a welcome change from the indoor action of our clubs and I recommend putting on your boat shoes ready for the next one. Finally to all those involved in getting Lost at Sea happening, MAD PROPS! : P