When am I Rready for Ocean Sailing?

[miabellabrian]

I really want to sail from Lake Maquarie to sydney this year and am trying to take the necesarry precautions needed, but Im **** scared on one hand as Ocean is totally different from the lake, and the Swansey inlet is a little tricky as it is narrow and shallow.
I have now owned my contessa 25 foot, lead finn keel boat for 6 month, and Im sailing in Lake Maquarie NSW AUS, previously I sailed a 14foot Marricat. I feel confident sailing my boat and the boat seam to be in good condition and Im slowly getting all the safety equipment together as I want to plan a trip to Sydney. My GPS is installed and Im learning to navigate (which is something I havent done before). Any advice ?? I guess like a pussy cat, I have to slowly widen my area, my concern is widening my area is going Ocean sailing, a total different kettle of fish I guess !!!
cheers
brian

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Brian.

[smaarch]

can you get some time on an experienced offshore boat?

[MarkJ]

Well, these are very good sea boats. If my memory serves, its the fibreglass version of the Folkboat, isnt it?

I think you will find they have cruised the east coast of Australia for many years. We did a trip from sydney to lake Macquarrie as part of a yacht club cruise in the late 1970s or 80s and there were a number of Contessas. None sank going up or back!

Its a short run of just 50 nms and theres a great opt out point of Pittwater at 30 nms. If the weather turns to hell in a handbasket you just slip in behind Barranjoey and drop the pick off the beach. Or better still you can set it up as a weekend passage and go to pittwater on Saturday and anchor in the Basin, and get drunk and BBQ on the beach with everyone else. then continue the 20 miles to Sydney the next day.

The weather between now and winter can be truly wonderful with those warm, light days continuing into May.

If you havent been out the Lake macquarrie channel before you can do that as a test run next weekend and just go out offshore for a couple of hours and slip back in. I dont have current information on that channel and if its silted - whats it called, the Overhang, or something? But your boat should be fine.

Just nose on out and look around and get the feel of your boat at sea.

Then the trip to Sydney will be fantastic.

They are good boats with a long history sailing in a nice spot with predictable weather. Thats a great way to start doing passages

[colz]

The east coast of NSW can be as treacherous as anywhere else in the world.The seas can build quickly and can be quite confused.A 30kt southerly is doable in a 25ft boat ,its not fun,take someone experienced,keep your eye on the weather.Have you checked your rig.Have a great sail

[miabellabrian]

Originally Posted by colz

The east coast of NSW can be as treacherous as anywhere else in the world.The seas can build quickly and can be quite confused.A 30kt southerly is doable in a 25ft boat ,its not fun,take someone experienced,keep your eye on the weather.Have you checked your rig.Have a great sail

thanks for your post, Im not too sure why you say "it's not fun" if the weather is bad right?? or just not compy sailing in a 25 foot in the open seas? I guess you would have to stay 6 kt of the coast line right?

[miabellabrian]

thanks to everyone for posting, Yea I guess step one is sticking my head out the Swansey inlet and spend a couple of hours in the open sea to get a feel for it all, if the weather turns bad I can put my tail between my legs and run back into the lake! Ill be pulling my boat out for antifauling next week, good time to check out the lower half of the boat i guess, not sure how to check all the riggings, everything looks to be in good working order, to the untrained eyes . Ill get the guys at the marina to give it a once over.

[Ozbullwinkle]

As the Swansea entrance to the sea is affected by sandbars your very first and most important lesson is to learn the correct way to cross the bar and also the effect that the tide, swell and wind have on this entrance. The correct way to return from out at sea is just as important. I have been over many bars on the NSW coast including Swansea. I am not trying to scare you at all but you need to do your homework on this by talking to knowledgeable locals then go and sit and watch the wave patterns on the bar and look for lulls in the wave patterns. You will also see how others do it with varying levels of skill although the majority that you will see will be powerboats which will have much more power than your yacht which will take longer to cross the bar.

Do not attempt to cross if the waves look large on the day you plan to go out the first time and remember that it is a requirement to wear an approved lifejacket during the crossing.

Once you are though the bar your yacht is more than capable of making your intended voyage. Hope this helps.

[SaltyMonkey]

This isn't the folk boat. Its another:
http://www.yachtsnet.co.uk/archives/...ontessa-25.htm

Having owned the folk boat version, only advice I could give (on either, looking at the pics) is to make sure the engine compartment on the floor of the cockpit well is sealed, and to build an extra removable plywood barrier to the cabin door frame. The current slat wasn't enough for me and bridge was very low. (Yours is a bit higher though). Water in the cockpit won't flood the hull or cabin area.

Check the chainplate for seals, and if you want to go farther, put some extra plexi over the windows (i didn't bother; you may not have windows).

[miabellabrian]

Originally Posted by Ozbullwinkle

As the Swansea entrance to the sea is affected by sandbars your very first and most important lesson is to learn the correct way to cross the bar and also the effect that the tide, swell and wind have on this entrance. The correct way to return from out at sea is just as important. I have been over many bars on the NSW coast including Swansea. I am not trying to scare you at all but you need to do your homework on this by talking to knowledgeable locals then go and sit and watch the wave patterns on the bar and look for lulls in the wave patterns. You will also see how others do it with varying levels of skill although the majority that you will see will be powerboats which will have much more power than your yacht which will take longer to cross the bar.

Do not attempt to cross if the waves look large on the day you plan to go out the first time and remember that it is a requirement to wear an approved lifejacket during the crossing


Once you are though the bar your yacht is more than capable of making your intended voyage. Hope this helps.

thanks for your advice, yea the Swansea sandbar is a worry for me, and going to have a look at what is going on there is a great idea, I hope to only cross it at high tide and that should hopefully make it easier. I guess that is easy to plan when I decide to leave Lake Maquarie, but a lot harder to plan when returning from Sydney depending on travel time due to weather/wind!

[NewEnglander]

When sailing is easy, it's easy for most people in most places. When it is less easy, one major contributor is waves. After all, other than running aground, essentially it's the waves that cause problems. Surely you can get some practice in with some serious waves before you head out for good.

Run in a big blow, heave to in a gale, try to keep the breaking waves off the deck.

My personal experience has only included one cyclonic storm in high latitudes, and it was manageable, but I have a hard time imagining myself in it on my first go.

That said, some time has to be the first time.

[captain58sailin]

Welcome to the forum. You'll get plenty of advice here, some of it good.