Boating community unites for Raft Up 4 Life – a floating festival for connection

Content warning: This blog includes mentions of suicide, which may be confronting or distressing. Please take care while reading and consider your own needs. If you need support, free 24/7 services are available: Lifeline 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636.

Sydney’s Northern Beaches community was facing a silent crisis. 

A spate of tragic suicides, particularly among teens and young adults, had left deep scars on the local community.

Local resident and Royal Motor Yacht Club (RMYC) Broken Bay CEO Jayson McDonald could see the impact on the community, including young casual staff at the club who, like many in the area, had personal connections to those lost lives. 

“Being an insular peninsula, it affects everyone,” he says. “You see the helicopters doing the recoveries and everyone talks about it. ‘What’s happening up at Bangalley Head again?’”

Jayson, whose community-focused family including his wife Justine and two adult children already mentor and support young people in the community, knew the silence needed to be replaced with connection and conversation, so no-one worried alone. And it needed action before more loved ones reached crisis point.

So he looked for a charity the club could help to get the message out into the community – and discovered Gotcha4Life. 

Our delivery of mental fitness education programs in primary and high schools to reach children from a young age struck a special cord with Jayson.

As a police officer, he had attended youth suicides, including a 14-year-old girl who had taken her life in a shed in her school uniform.  

“We have to address the immediate problem – but we have to address the future. If we are going to solve anything, even though we can help reactively straight away, we need educational programs in place,” he says.

Jayson had found his charity – now he needed a way to raise funds.

He was planning a ‘Raft Up’ social event, where boats would moor alongside each other for an afternoon of entertainment on Pittwater’s Refuge Bay, when inspiration struck. 

“That’s when I put the two together. I thought, well, instead of doing this big Raft Up for the club, let’s do it for Gotcha4Life.”

‘Raft Up 4 Life’ was born – a floating music festival celebrating connection, wellbeing and the joy of being on the water, while raising awareness and funds for Gotcha4Life.

The event saw 83 boats form a circle of connection around the main stage – a floating pontoon that hosted six hours of live music by bands, solo artists and DJ sets, while a floating prawn and oyster bar delivered fresh seafood to those enjoying the festivities. 

The unique event with a powerful purpose raised $58,000 for Gotcha4Life – enough to deliver a year of mental fitness workshops to three schools – equipping hundreds of students with skills for life. 

More than a fundraiser, Raft Up 4 Life became a platform that united the boating community, sparking meaningful conversations and connection.

When Jayson put the call out for support, the boating and marina industry came to the party, from donating raffle prizes and providing sponsorship, to club staff going above and beyond to make it all possible. 

“It was the marina industry and boating people supporting Gotcha4Life. The whole community was blown away by it.”

“Raft Up 4 Life was five days of setting up, let alone a year of preparation, and my staff were all there, they all committed. When we got back on Sunday when it was all finished and we sat in the club, it was quite emotional. They’ve all contributed to something that is going to be a legacy of the club.”

That legacy will continue, with sponsors committing to ongoing support for the event, including Ampol for the next three years, and Club Marine for another five.

Now, Jayson’s goal is to raise even more awareness and funds with the next Raft Up 4 Life on 7 March 2026.

“If I can raise $100,000, that’s five more schools we can help out.”

With a licence for a circle of 110 boats, it will be the southern hemisphere’s biggest ever Raft Up. There’ll be a second floating pontoon for VIP guests, a charter boat so more people can buy tickets to attend, and four floating swimming pools. “We call that the water mosh pit,” Jayson laughs.

And he’s not stopping there. He’s already thinking about more fundraising events on land for non-boating social members and the wider community when the club’s $12.5 million redevelopment including a new 22-metre deck is completed. 

It’s all part of the club’s commitment to making a positive impact by helping create a world where people of all ages can connect with each other and seek help during life’s ups and downs, so no-one worries alone.

“Raft Up 4 Life will be the hub, but we’ll be doing fundraisers back at the club and working with Gotcha4Life so we can build that relationship, not just with us, but with the community.” 

“The wider we get the message out there, the better. I’ve got four grandkids. Four boys. I look at them and I know the world’s changing so rapidly. I just want tools for my grandkids – when they’re going to school or whatever – to know that they’re not alone.

“The more awareness we have in everyday life – at school, at home and around their friends – that’s the way we beat this thing.”

Raft Up 4 Life 2026 will be held on Sunday, 7 March in Refuge Bay.

Find out more about the event and buy tickets here 

You can join Jayson in supporting Gotcha4Life by donating here 

If you found any of the above content emotionally challenging, talk to a trusted friend, your doctor or mental health professional. There are free, 24/7 support services available – Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636 or Lifeline 13 11 14.

You can help equip more people to live

Every donation powers Gotcha4Life to keep developing and delivering life-changing programs and initiatives to equip more people with the mental fitness skills to live.