Sydney to Adelaide

[GILow]

Add to the all of the above between Melbourne and Adelaide, the only section I know.

Robe is a bit of a wiggle to get into, you must have good charts, but well worth a visit. Lovely place, terrific people. Did not enjoy Portland at all, but I hear it is better now.

Leaving the run late in the lobster season can help, we had no problems with the lobster pots when we came round and I found out later that was because it had been a good season and the quota had been filled early. I assume the same applies for the end of the lobster season.

I had the latest Pilot Guides for the sections we travelled, but they were no substitute to a phone call to the harbour beforehand. If I had phoned ahead I would have known to go to Port Fairy instead of Portland, which was a pity as former is a superb town.

Backstairs passage is problematic (between KI and Cape Jervis), try to find some good notes on that section, there are plenty available if you Google around. It was the only point on the journey that I felt real fear, we got caught by currents meeting wind. If I had better understood the problems beforehand I would never have attempted the passage when I did, on paper the conditions looked perfect, in practice, they were terrible and if the engine had conked I probably would have lost the boat.

Matt

[GILow]

Originally Posted by scruzin

Yes, advise not sailing that part of SA's coast.

That said, night sailing between Adelaide and Kangaroo Island is to be recommended. Often beautiful offshore winds on flat seas

Katabatic magic!

[scruzin]

Originally Posted by GILow

Add to the all of the above between Melbourne and Adelaide, the only section I know.

Robe is a bit of a wiggle to get into, you must have good charts, but well worth a visit. Lovely place, terrific people. Did not enjoy Portland at all, but I hear it is better now.

...

Backstairs passage is problematic (between KI and Cape Jervis), try to find some good notes on that section, there are plenty available if you Google around. It was the only point on the journey that I felt real fear, we got caught by currents meeting wind. If I had better understood the problems beforehand I would never have attempted the passage when I did, on paper the conditions looked perfect, in practice, they were terrible and if the engine had conked I probably would have lost the boat.

Matt

Robe is indeed a beautiful place to visit.

Re Backstairs Passage, timing is everything, so don't be in a rush to negotiate if if the conditions aren't right. Sailing to a schedule is a sailor's worst enemy. If coming from the south, you can always duck over to Antechamber Bay on KI, which is out of the main tidal flow, and offers protection from SE thru NW winds.

[Andrew G]

I know that this is an old post but it is relevant.
Shortly after joining this discussion I was elected as the President of the Cruising Yacht Association of Victoria. I was spurred on by this thread and it wasn't hard to convince the association that "someone" had to write a cruising guide to Victoria. It has just been released!

Cruising Victoria - New Cruising Guide Now Available - Cruisers & Sailing Forums

I'd be happy to provide further information or you can check out "www.cyav.com.au"

Andrew Garrett