East coast of Australia in late winter, early spring

[Mr B]

Following this thread,

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Oceanride007

Manera knows the way. And knows Coffs very well, but I wouldn't commute to Armadale.

That she does. [emoji846]

As for commuting, yeah, not an option really. I’ll have to end up somewhere in bicycle distance of the school or leave the boat behind.

[chrisr]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

The sheet I was given by "maritime" stated that I was limited to 28 days in each anchorage with a total of three months total live aboard anchoring in any calendar year.

we are current live-aboards in nsw and have never been bothered by waterways. in fact, we've been told by a BSO that they can not and do not enforce these restrictions on anchoring etc unless folk make a nuisance of themselves in the wrong place. the further you are away from sydney, the easier it gets...

you cannot get a waterways mooring in nsw unless the boat is registered in nsw, and you cannot register in nsw unless you have a nsw address

many commercial mooring operators will be quite happy to see live-aboards on their moorings, but not all, and in any case commercial moorings on north nsw coast cost say $50 pw

cheers,

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Bundyon

If you get a gig in Armidale, then Coffs would be your best choice. You will need a car, Armidale is around a 3 hour drive West. Coffs Marina is good, but experiences a lot of surge. There are two public Bouys in the Harbour but not for long term. Coffs can experience large swells coming into the Harbour.
Your other option is to travel 54nm up the Coast to Yamba/Iluka. I would suggest anchoring in Iluka Lagoon. No problem for long term. Great Pub with a great Tender wharf. The Yamba/Iluka Bar can be quite treacherous at times and like all Bars, be treated with respect. 85nm South of Coffs is a little town called Laurieton, a beautiful calm river with good anchorage & shops. Again, the Bar can be bad news. Around 15nm North of Laurieton is Port Macquarie, which is a reasonable sized coastal town with most facilities & a large river to anchor up in. However Laurieton would be my choice if South of Coffs. North of Yamba/Iluka is Ballina, another large Coastal Town with a notorious Bar, even in reasonable calm conditions. Then Tweed Heads is just up near the Gold Coast & Qld Border. Shallow entrance/Bar.
If you decide on Coffs, keep in touch and I possibly may be able to help with advice/ bookings/weather etc.

Great summary, thank you.

[GILow]

But back to the original topic, no problems hopping from harbour to harbour, but how much time would you I’d get for the trip?

A month?

[chrisr]

Originally Posted by GILow

But back to the original topic, no problems hopping from harbour to harbour, but how much time would you I’d get for the trip?

A month?

difficult question...how long is a piece of string ?

how comfortable are you to push into unpleasant weather ?

i'd allow 6 weeks (from adelaide), because we're wimps and allow plenty of time holed-up waiting for weather. if all goes well you could do it much quicker, but it's boating - when did all ever go smoothly ?

it's roughly 512' fm eden to iluka, and abt 769' from adelaide to eden, so say 1281' all up. at 5k, that's say 11 days...but...

the attached distance tables might be helpful

don't forget to knock abt 1k off yr usual speed when going north, to allow for the current

cheers,
Passage Planner V2.2.pdf

[GILow]

Originally Posted by chrisr

...

i'd allow 6 weeks (from adelaide), because we're wimps and allow plenty of time holed-up waiting for weather. if all goes well you could do it much quicker, but it's boating - when did all ever go smoothly ?

Yep, I’m pretty much in the same camp, sailing is not supposed to be a sufferance.

The original owner of this boat told me to assume a five knot average for planning, and he turned out to be absolutely on the money for the 500 mile trip from Melbourne to Adelaide.

But the boat is now three (or more) tons lighter, with new sails and a feathering prop, so I feel like 5.5 knots is a reasonable assumption.

Thank you for the table of distances, that will save me from some bad guesswork.

[Mr B]

Phillip Island to lakes Entrance takes 72 hours in a approx 60 foot wood yacht with two masts,
They went from Rhyll to lakes Entrance, in one hit,

Last week we did a seven day cruise from Westernport to Port Albert, It took 24 hours at 6 knots on the motor,
We had one day with wind we could sail in, The rest of the time we had no wind at all,

But we did wait in Refuge Bay for two days as a wild storm went thru,

[RaymondR]

At that time of year I'd allow the six weeks, you don't want to be trying to run a schedule at that time of the year on that part of the Australian coast. One needs to remember that conditions of bar crossings are often not dictated by local weather but what might be happening way out in the Tasman Sea.

[Wotname]

Well Matt, there are far more qualified CF members than me to give you advice but here is mine anyway !

You need to treat this trip as a delivery, not a cruise! Get going whenever the weather allows and keep going until the weather forces you to stop. Motor anytime the SOG drops too low (say 4 kts).

There is fair chance you will ahead of the equinoctial gales but that means you have to cope with the winter weather systems, especially along the southern section (Adelaide to Eden). As you know, that means W & S gales interspersed with patches of calms. You will need to motoring along during the calms not having a gentle snooze!

The western approaches to Bass Strait can get seriously lumpy after prolonged W and SW weather.

If you need to gallop up the east coast due to time constraints, you will more than likely need to keep well seawards of 100 fathom line to miss the adverse East Coast Current. You might even pick up some favourable eddies!

The later you leave, the more likely you will have to cope with the equinoctial gales.

Or not!

[sea-bee]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

At that time of year I'd allow the six weeks, you don't want to be trying to run a schedule at that time of the year on that part of the Australian coast. One needs to remember that conditions of bar crossings are often not dictated by local weather but what might be happening way out in the Tasman Sea.

Scheduling passages along north NSW coast is also dependent on time and size of the tides. You need to be using the last of the flood of the tide on the bar, and if that's in the middle of the day, that means 24 hour passages from bar to bar. As the days get longer, you might be able to squeeze a 12 hour passage in daylight hours. Also the phase of moon can have an impact, where neap tides and their reduced current flow could allow some relaxing of the flood tide rule. On some bars, you can use the ebb to flush you out (if you're game) and then arrive at the destination on the flood. Port Macquarie is a case of that, where you can hug the north wall in the ebb flow, and then turn north immediately once you are past the end of the wall, getting you out of the pressure waves.


If you don't like the bars, then there's nothing between Port Stephens and Coffs Harbour.

Originally Posted by Wotname

... you will more than likely need to keep well seawards of 100 fathom line to miss the adverse East Coast Current. You might even pick up some favourable eddies!

Or hugging the coast. You can pick up some good eddies along the beaches, but you then get clobbered getting around the next headland.

Originally Posted by chrisr

... we've been told by a BSO that they can not and do not enforce these restrictions on anchoring etc unless folk make a nuisance of themselves in the wrong place ...

Probably the same BSO; on hearing we'd been in the same anchorage for months, says "so, what am I going to tell my boss?"

[RaymondR]

The lack of bars and fairly short distances between all tide anchorages is what make Queensland such a good coast to cruise. Between the Wide Bay Bar and Cooktown the longest stretch without an anchorage is the 55 or so nautical miles between Bundaberg and Pancake Creek, both of which are all tide entry.

In addition, although Queensland has move on laws applying on it's south coast I have never been approached by anyone, official or otherwise, regarding the length of time I have remained at anchor anywhere in eighteen years of traversing Queensland waters.

[GILow]

It’s interesting, I went to bed last night thinking pretty much what Wotname was saying.

That is, if I do this, it’s going to be more like a delivery trip than a cruise, no matter how much time I give myself.

I REALLY do not want my first trip up the East Coast to feel like a delivery trip, so here’s to hoping I can sort out the bureaucratic dramas and avoid the thing altogether.

The alternative is six days driving a light commercial van back and forth across Australia, combined with living in the thing for a month, which appeals even less.

Thanks to all for the insights, at least it appears to be possible, and not total craziness, just pretty crappy. If I have to do it, I have to do it I guess.

[JPA Cate]

I don't agree that going outside the 100 fathom line will for sure get you outside the south setting current. What you can do is look on the BoM site, and see what the EAC is doing at the time: it is quite changeable. And I do agree with Chris R that keeping as close inshore as you dare and doing day hops where possible is a much safer way for a singlehander. On our previous boat, I kept her 1/2 mi offshore, by radar, much of the way.

The 30 n. mi. offshore strategy is good for going straight through, and will see the OP clear of much of the shipping, thereby allowing better for rest while making progress. And would be fastest.

Perhaps the decision should be made closer to the time, I sort of think the OP will have a short notice problem, and if he does, then the forced march well offshore would be about the only way. Plan on no stops at all. Wind vane steering. But, still gotta check it every 15 min. or so, so only interrupted sleep. Once the corner is turned, it will start getting warmer. I'd really feel better if someone were going to crew for him. Having two just makes life so much easier, because watches allow one to sleep, don't have to be experienced sailors, just another pair of eyes, who is biddable enough to trust to get him up if they see something they don't understand.

I favored the offshore route from Adelaide to SW cape Tasmania, because there is so little traffic out there, there is far more traffic between Adelaide and Cape Howe.

Ann

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

I don't agree that going outside the 100 fathom line will for sure get you outside the south setting current. What you can do is look on the BoM site, and see what the EAC is doing at the time: it is quite changeable. And I do agree with Chris R that keeping as close inshore as you dare and doing day hops where possible is a much safer way for a singlehander. On our previous boat, I kept her 1/2 mi offshore, by radar, much of the way.

The 30 n. mi. offshore strategy is good for going straight through, and will see the OP clear of much of the shipping, thereby allowing better for rest while making progress. And would be fastest.
............

Ann, you are certainly one of those far more qualified to give advice than me - both in terms of sea miles and familiarity with the voyage in question.

So I raise the following as a discussion point rather than an opposing argument.

The OP will be sailing to a timetable (i.e. he has to be near the Armidale area by a certain date.

IMO, the day hopping in-shore route is both the safest (and interesting) if there is plenty of good weather windows or if there is plenty of time. But if pushed for time, he may be tempted to accept less than ideal weather forecasts and if the weather deteriorates he can be caught out not been able to seek coastal shelter and be forced to push on with a potentially close lee shore, traffic and coastal refraction; not a good place for a single hander.

Well offshore (and off soundings) seems to offer potentially safer options except for a really serious Tasman gale and be fastest (in terms of total days of trip, not necessarily in total days at sea).

Presumably the Swanny 42 is stout enough to heave to and ride out most adverse off-shore weather.

I guess this dilemma highlights why we don't sail to a timetable .