Please help. Passage info, Darwin to Perth Australia

[Just Awesome]

We have bought our yacht which is in Darwin NT. We are planning to sail it home to Mandurah WA in July. Any info about the trip would be greatly appreciated. Especially the lower half of the journey.
This will be my wife's first trip and she is a very nervous, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance

[Toph]

Get the West Australian Cruising guide written by the Fremantle YC. It is our version of Cruising the Coral Coast or Coast to Coast etc.. A must have and it start from Darwin..

I would le d you my copy but I need it for when I bring my new boat home from Brisbane in May. How long do you intend to take to bring it back to Mandurah?

[boatman61]

I've done that trip but stayed offshore as it was a delivery I wanted to get over with..
Darwin to N of Admiralty Gulf involved a lot of motoring.. from there on we picked up S'ly winds so while sailing it involved long tacks as we made our way S.. I've been told there's some awesome anchorages along that coast but did not get to see them.. sadly lacked the time.
The only stop I made before Perth was Geraldton.. a bit of a one horse town but I needed smokes..

[Just Awesome]

Hi Toph, we have the guide you suggested, were just looking for some first hand knowledge, our plan is to take about 4 weeks with a stop in port headland to resupply. I have a couple of questions, like would to be better to stay close to the coast or go out a 100 nm or so? What winds to expect and where will to change as we go around the coast?
Sightseeing will come later.

[Atraxia]

Made the trip a few years ago. Sailed non stop till Broome. Then a stop at Exmouth.
A stop at Ningaloo Reef is a must!
Then a stop at Carnarvon (great little spot) and stops at the islands of Shark Bay.
From there we did a non-stop to Perth.
Sorry I can't give more updated info of further south. Did that too long ago.

[picklesandjesse]

I did that trip 30 years ago and went non stop to Freemantle in a 30ft S and S. We left Sept 1st and the trip took 24 days. Stayed well offshore. Got hammered the last week or so but we were used to it by then. Stayed outside the shelf and the seas were big but not confused. Could always tell when we were near the shelf as it got bumpy. No GPS those days. The Freemantle Yacht Club used to give you a month free in the marina as a reward for making the passage. Those days are maybe over ??. Good luck.

[Isabella Jane]

Don't forget the Montebellos, off Onslow, S of Port Hedland. Relics and awesomeness of the Brits' 1940s/50s atomic tests and wonderful fishing. Always some shelter.

[Perfusser]

We joined a friend in Port Hedland who was completing a circumnavigation last year in his Leopard 40. We had the Fremantle cruising guide- get it it is bloody useful. It took us 20 nights to travel from Port Headland to Geraldton, but we were sight seeing. There was 5 on board, so overnight passages were not an issue. We always had someone on watch, and if we were in channels or closer to reefs/ or islands, someone was up the front as well. Unfortunately the wind was frequently on the nose, so had did a lot of motor sailing. We did have some big seas and winds in the Indian ocean. The radio contact from the commercial ports was clear and precise. They generally wanted to confirm you weren't going to linger in their channels.

I wouldn't plan on resupplying at Port Hedland, unless you want to use the dink and get wet it was a long walk from the beach to the shop as well. The "harbour" at the yacht club is only suitable for dinghies.
Karratha is the next port, and much more amenable, with a good marina. \

We has a jaunt to the Montebello islands- definitely worth it.
Exmouth was also a convenient and friendly stop, with great marina. We hired a car and did a day trip to the Yardie Creek and completed the Yardie Creek trail up the gorge, then got to sail past the next day.

The trip down the Ningaloo coast was amazing- sharks, whales, turtles, dugongs and rays galore. We didn't see any whale sharks though. The whales stayed well clear when the motor was running. We had several very close breaches when under sail only- less than 50m from us. Spectacular but a bit close for comfort.
We checked out Dampier and Dirk Hartog Islands too, going ashore in the dink.
Denham was a great place to stop, channel clearly marked, we hired a car and went to Monkee Mia to check out the dolphin show, that saved a day sailing and was worth it. We took the channel between Dirk Hartog Island and the mainland, well marked, several dugongs spotted.

After Steers Point we went to the Abrolhos Archipelago. A glorious place to visit, it was weird seeing so many buildings floating on the sea...then seeing the island only 4 foot out of the water. There were two men on the island, performing routine maintenance out of season.

We got off at Geraldton, which also had a great Marina.

The Marinas were high quality and safe floating style. The guide was accurate in determining where safe anchorage was found. I would do the trip again tomorrow if I could get the time off work.

[spiv]

I have done the Broome /Perth trip a few times, and I swore that I'd never do it again.... But I was on a schedule every time....

Being from Mandurah you'll be well aware that we have powerful winter storms in July along the West Coast, I'd wait for October.

Anyway, do not sail on a schedule, but with the weather.
Our Coastal weather is very much affected by the sea breezes: easterlies at night, SWesterlies in the afternoon. And everything else nature throws at you......

The plan is to sail S-SE on easterlies (night time) and stay put the rest of the time.
If you want to beat it, then sail W on southerlies unti the wind shifts SW, then sail hard SSE.

During the crayfishing season, stay well offshore at night, it's a minefield....

[knockabout]

https://1drv.ms/b/s!AusSHB8PBryVgqsyUytdCxv_Ez-J2Q

link to an old cruising guide / cruising west

you can buy a copy of west coast cruising guide published by fremantle y c

dinah beach yc Darwin dbcya@iinet.net.au may have members recently cruised from south to north west coast

[boatman61]

Actually.. 4 boats down from the bar (just past the toilets) in Cullen Marina there's/was a liveaboard with a dog.. a 'Blue' I believe its called who's very knowledgeable about the coast going West.. if he's still there have a chat with him.. be late 40's now I think.. nice bloke.. watch the dog tho'.
He'll happily let you on board but he gets a bit stroppy when you try to get off again..

[CapnBazza]

I would suggest that this is not a good choice for your wife's first trip. Give her a chance to get to know your new boat, to build some confidence in the boat, in you as a skipper and in herself. You run the risk of joining the thousands of lone sailors who still don't understand why their partners don't want to participate in this great pastime.

[svseachange]

Originally Posted by CapnBazza

I would suggest that this is not a good choice for your wife's first trip.

What he said.

But I'd love to read more information on a Darwin to Perth cruise. We may do it in the next few years.

[boatman61]

As a first trip for the Missus I'd have to agree with the above.. unless you picked your windows very carefully and motored a bulk of the way...
That's on the assumption that she's never sailed.. as opposed to this being her 1st non local long distance sail.

[El Pinguino]

Possibly a two legged trip... I've only done the run south from Carnarvon via Geraldton 22 years ago.
North of there you want to be out by start of cyclone season... south of there you don't want to be too early in the spring.

North of there good trip for the wife maybe...south not so much.

We went outside the Abrolhos... another boat went inside... about September by memory... both got smacked. Went into Geraldton and sat for a bit.

Interesting south of there with the sea breezes that blow straight up the coast ie on the nose... same same northern Chile coast... quiet from late evening until mid morning.. and the pots as mentioned.. don't forget the pots...

Both Carnarvon and Geraldton were good places to prop for a bit.