Crew Wanted: sailing north from lake maquarie must have experience

[nickcompass29]

Hi there looking for 1 or 2 people to help me crew a 29 foot compass from newcastle area to cairns or as far as someone / they are willing. Immediate departure , someone that has cruised before. this is my first boat and I am a novice so I don't need another one on board.
Next week is looking really good to get to Brisbane with the winds etc.
Looking to take 3 weeks only day legs till confidence builds.
She is fitted out for coastal sailing including tv and dvd, would be happier with a man with experiece , this is an unpaid position, pay own alcohol but I will buy food fuel etc.
Please email or reply through this forum.
thanks nick

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by nickcompass29

Hi there looking for 1 or 2 people to help me crew a 29 foot compass from newcastle area to cairns or as far as someone / they are willing. Immediate departure , someone that has cruised before. this is my first boat and I am a novice so I don't need another one on board.
Next week is looking really good to get to Brisbane with the winds etc.
Looking to take 3 weeks only day legs till confidence builds.
She is fitted out for coastal sailing including tv and dvd, would be happier with a man with experiece , this is an unpaid position, pay own alcohol but I will buy food fuel etc.
Please email or reply through this forum.
thanks nick

Welcome to CF.
We have just arrived at Southport having left Lake Macquarie on Good Friday. We stopped over in Nelson Bay, anchored in the lee of Hat Head, Coffs Harbour, Yamba, then here. We had to motorsail most of the way.
If you hug the coast you will get a bit of countercurrent helping you some of the time.

You need to reconsider your timing. The trip is around 2000 miles. With 3 weeks you'd need to do 100 miles/day, every day. That means favourable winds every day. That's just not going to happen, and if you're day hopping along the coast initially you'd be lucky to do 50 miles per day.
You then have to cross bars into rivers, particularly on the NSW coast and that calls for correct tide timing, and not too much swell. A boat capsized and one person died on Easter weekend on the bar at Camden Haven.

You also need to have reasonable gear for night sailing. There are a lot of fishing trawlers working the coast at night.
Do you have an auto pilot or wind vane, chart plotter etc.

If you outline what the boat has there are plenty of people here who will give you advice.

The Compass 29 is a good boat, but long stretches hand steering for 3 weeks is not realistic.

Sorry to sound negative, but this is a big trip you're planning with many hazards, so make sure your sailing companion really does have experience, that your boat is properly equipped, including good ground tackle, and that you can allocate at least twice as much time.

Good Luck.

Vic

[nickcompass29]

yea mate, thanks for the reply, really not into night sailing , am very tentative about that. There is alot of gear, yes chart plotter and auto pilot , solar , wind gen, 40 litres of diesal then another 40 in jerrys, boat in good condition.

[Jim Cate]

Ahhh, Vic, on my chart the passage from the Lake to Cairns is only around 1200 miles, not 2000.

None the less, I agree that the three week schedule is unrealistic... very unrealistic, as is the idea that night sailing can be avoided completely.

For the OP, I hope that you can indeed find an experienced crew, because it is apparent that you are not yourself prepared for this trip. How can I tell this? Well, when you listed tv and dvd as essential equipment the warning flag went up!

At any rate, I wish you (and whomever joins you) a good trip. There are a lot of nice spots to visit along the way, and the wx just keeps getting better as you go north!

Jim

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Ahhh, Vic, on my chart the passage from the Lake to Cairns is only around 1200 miles, not 2000.

None the less, I agree that the three week schedule is unrealistic... very unrealistic, as is the idea that night sailing can be avoided completely.

For the OP, I hope that you can indeed find an experienced crew, because it is apparent that you are not yourself prepared for this trip. How can I tell this? Well, when you listed tv and dvd as essential equipment the warning flag went up!

At any rate, I wish you (and whomever joins you) a good trip. There are a lot of nice spots to visit along the way, and the wx just keeps getting better as you go north!

Jim

Hi Jim,
I stand corrected. 2000 was an old figure in the back of my head from a road trip 30 years ago! And probably still a lot short of what it will feel like in a Compass 29

With an open ended time frame it would be a good trip, and they're solid little cruisers. I suspect he is trying to get the boat up there during whatever leave he has available. If he had a bit of long service leave to add in it would be better.

Regarding the weather getting better heading north... not much evidence of that yet
Gusting 25kts and cold here in Southport.

But I believe you've had to dig out your woollies down there too.

Vic

[atoll]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Ahhh, Vic, on my chart the passage from the Lake to Cairns is only around 1200 miles, not 2000.

None the less, I agree that the three week schedule is unrealistic... very unrealistic, as is the idea that night sailing can be avoided completely.

For the OP, I hope that you can indeed find an experienced crew, because it is apparent that you are not yourself prepared for this trip. How can I tell this? Well, when you listed tv and dvd as essential equipment the warning flag went up!

At any rate, I wish you (and whomever joins you) a good trip. There are a lot of nice spots to visit along the way, and the wx just keeps getting better as you go north!

Jim

whadayamean,,,,,the dvd is over kill on the aussie coast,they really only need the tv as terrestreial reception is very good upto 25 miles offshore........

i know this for a fact as i have narrowly avoided fishing boats before on the coast and as i looked through their pilothouse windows i could see all the crew glued to the latest episode of "Neighbours" on the box whilst the autopilot did all the important stuff

[mischief]

To the OP
Have you given the vessel a shakedown yet? Surveyed all sails and rigging? I would highly recommend cleaning scrubbing the diesel tank down. Putting in all new filters with spare back ups and a treatment in the new diesel you put in for good measure.
Check all essential electrics thoroughly etc.
how's the engine? Doing a service would be warranted too IMHO new boat to you and on a time frame means likely lots of steaming or motor sailing. I would still try and line up at least 2 others for crew as it would make shifts easier. Especially if your auto pilot fails in one way or the other.

Don't be put off Sailing through the night personally I love it and after you get into the swing you'll see it's not as much of a worry as you might imagine. Plus sailing in shift through the night can speed your trip significantly.

My first fixed keel boat I bought was a compass 28. I sailed in heavy weather with it from Brissy to Port Stephens. Just 2 of us and auto pilot died, a third crew member would have been nice. In the end I'm glad I did everything I recommended to you.
I also serviced the thru hulls and ensured the rudder was up to scratch. Along with some other things. Basically make sure you are sorted. Have all safety requirements some experienced crew with you and stack the odds in your favor.

Fair winds



They are a great seaboat.

[lockie]

I've been part of a somewhat similar discussion on another Oz forum: newcomer to cruising wants to sail newly-acquired boat a long way within a pretty tight time-frame. The consensus, which I heartily agreed with, was to cough up and get it shipped there instead. Then you can spend as much time as you need, gradually building your skills and getting to know your boat in the relative safety of day trips in familiar waters.

I'm sorry to be a party-pooper, but there's a huge amount to learn both about your self and the boat, and the best way to do that is with baby-steps, not out on the blue. And just be aware that in admitting your lack of skill, you're implicitly asking your "crew" to take responsibility for your safety. They might want more than a bit of tucker for that (and I'm not talking booze here).

If you do end up going ahead with it, make sure you've got the basics well sorted - anchoring, heaving to, sail handling in 20+ knots, coping with engine failure, fatigue management, navigation, radio operation, nav instrument failure etc etc.

Despite being the Devil's Avocado, I wish you all the best with your new boat. I love Compasses - I've flogged my 28 all around Bass Strait and loved its "Volvo station wagon meets brick shithouse" build philosophy.

Cheers, Graeme

[Amnesia II]

Lots of excellent advise above for you to ponder, I'll just add, try to get hold of Alan Lucas' guides "Cruise the NSW coast & Cruise the Coral coast", lots of helpful info.

Good luck, fair winds!

[aclmck]

Hi Nick,

the trip is around 1250nm so do your sums on the trip properly

how fast does the boat cruise under motor ?

how fast will the boat cruise under sail ?

allowing a boat speed of 3.5 knots it will take you 350 hours approx

how many daylight hours did you plan? in 3 weeks thats 16.5 hours a day

if your not up to night sailing get a paid skipper to take you and one that will teach you along the way, but you will normally be non stop apart to refuel with a skipper even then 3 weeks will be tight.

i have completed similar trips and always takes longer than expected, boats have lots of things that break and a trip like that something normally does,so allow a day or so extra for small repairs.

your 3 week trip can easily turn into 6 with bad weather so plan on time not being important, safety and comfort being crucial, sailing at night over this trip is as easy as day sailing only thing missing is the scenery of some of the sights, the only thing you can't see easily at night are crab pot lines or floating rubbish but neither are likely to cause you a lot of grief, you will have maps ,plotter and plenty of lights to let you know where you are and where to avoid,most boats are lit and your going slow enough to re calculate your position.