Steaming from Auckland to Melbourne

[Peterchapter 11]

Hello. I am planning to ake a 50 foot new NZ built power boat from Auckland to melbourne late next year. If any person has done this trip and can offer thoughts advice etc etc can we do this

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Peter,

[Adonf46]

Originally Posted by Peterchapter 11

Hello. I am planning to ake a 50 foot new NZ built power boat from Auckland to melbourne late next year. If any person has done this trip and can offer thoughts advice etc etc can we do this

With the right weather conditions it is a great trip , I have crossed it twice , what it the cruising speed of your vessel ? When do you intend to do this ?

[StuM]

You may find this useful:
http://www.cruiserswiki.org/wiki/New...d_to_Australia

[2Wind]

When I was last at Lord Howe, there was a 58 footer flybridge planing hull vessel who had made the journey from Auckland (off the plane for the first 48 hours while burning weight). They had quite a number of external fuel bladders strapped onto the deck. By pre-arranging their requirements they were able to take on fuel for the remaining journey, bearing in mind that fuel is generally not "pump available" there. I guess Lord Howe is OK for Auckland-Sydney, or Auckland-Brisbane - perhaps less so for Auckland-Melbourne. Nevertheless, a great stop-over for some rest and sightseeing. Just suggesting.....

[Snowpetrel]

Ive sailed Nz to Tasmania three times now. And many more trips the other way. If I was going Auckland to Melb in a high speed powerboat I would serously consider clearing in into sydney first, and then doing coastal hops down to melbourne. That way you stay north of the worst of the fronts can pick your weather down the aussie coast, and refuel so make high speed down the coast in the weather windows. And Lord howe is a possible stop enroute if you have any issues.

I have also cleared into Eden in the past. Not sure if its still a clearance port?

Approx Distances from cape reinga to melbourne heads via sydney 1600 nm vs 1400 or so direct. But just a couple of days bashing 30 knot headwinds through Bass strait could cost you more than that in fuel. Not to mention possible damage to the vessel.

Also consider the 200 mile EEZ. Its possibly an issue with insurance. Much cheaper to get insurance inside the EEZ, so that would leave about 300 miles of international water to get coverage for.

[Adonf46]

As mentioned in my previous message , I have done this crossing twice , I used Eden as a departure and re-entry port , the distance from Cape Reinga to Eden is 1,124 nautical miles on a heading of 262 Magnetic , the conditions we encountered on the way back were reasonable although we did get a strong SE front in the last 230 miles but the sea angle was good although a little uncomfortable on a Power Catamaran . The issue is fuel of course tp ensure that you get the range .Then from Eden it is a pleasant cruise down the Victorian coast , the only : tricky " part being to time your arrival at the RIP to get into Port Phillip Bay .
From Eden we went to Lakes Entrance , then Refuge Cove , Oberon Bay , San Remo , Flinders and BlairGowrie on Port Phillip Bay .
Hope this helps
Cheers

[Peterchapter 11]

Thanks for these responses. The vessel I will be doing the crossing in cruises at 28 Knots but at that rate fuel wont last. If I reduce to a leisurely 10 knots my range goes out to 1800 nm so plenty.
I plan on doing this Feb 2019 and sounds like a good time of year. I will depart Auckland and top up Houhora then head to Sydney where customs, immigration, quarantine etc will need to be sorted. Hope to get an agent to assist with this and then steam to Adelaide.
I will keep this forum going thanks and I really appreciate you guys passing on your experiences. Just shows we are not alone.
Peter