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dennisail · 20-09-2010, 19:43

My mate and I are sailing his new boat from Adelaide to Brisbane in November. Its a Duncanson 35. This is a sister ship DUNCANSON 35 boat details - BoatPoint Australia

This will be our longest trip yet. We both have similar experience and have sailed from Lake Macquarie to Brisbane in boats like a Piver Nimble and Roberts Spray (thats only us two on the boats) plus loads of trailer sailer experience in Moreton bay etc. I only have a month off, but if we don't make it in a month I am sure he can find extra crew.

Any cruising advice you can think of would be great. What places should we stop in at along the way? Weather cycles at this time of year? Should we be worried about Bass straight? Essential safety gear for this trip?

Weyalan · 20-09-2010, 21:54

My list of potential places to stop, on the East coast, include Eden, Jarvis Bay, Sydney and Coffs Harbour

Places that i would only use if I had to, and the tides were right, would include Ulladulla and Bermagui (because of the barways).

It would be great to take a month over it, if you have time, but you don't need a month (unless you get some seriously bad weather, for weeks at a time). I bought my boat from Mooloolaba to Hobart in about 10 days, and that included overnight stops in Coffs, Sydney and Eden. If there is breeze, you can sail, if not you can motor.

The East Australian current may well not be in your favour at that time, so you might be advised to stay reasonably close in to shore, to avoid it.

rusky · 20-09-2010, 22:03

Duncansons are good cruisers. Keep us posted about your trip

Ozbullwinkle · 20-09-2010, 22:17

I'd put Port Stephens on your stop off list as well which would give you a mid point between Sydney and Coffs Harbour. If you go into Port Stephens you enter on the southern side of the entrance but an alternative is to go 8 miles past Port Stephens and go to Broughton Island which is the only island on the NSW coast that has certified overnight anchorage spots. Coalshaft Bay on the Southern side is my favourite in a NE wind and you can go around the other side in a Southerly or into Esmerelda Cove in a Westerley. Check your charts - it is a great stopover spot.

All the best,
Steve

Johnathon123 · 20-09-2010, 22:49

I would agree with bullwinkle. Port stephens is worth the effort!

dennisail · 21-09-2010, 00:13

Thanks guys. We have done Lake Maquarie (Sydney) to Yamba in a Piver Nimble so we are aware of this part of the coast, but thats not to say we missed a lot of great places. We stayed at Newcastle and decided to go to Broughton Island instead of Port Stephens last time. But I regret not going and we will surely get there this time as I have heard it is beautiful. We stopped at Coffs as my mate used to live there and his Dad still does.

Sydney Harbor is a definite place we want to go. I have scanned google earth and found a few places but I am not sure how suitable they are to get in. I will ask more direct questions later on. Do you think it might be worth a stop at Tassie? Are the island in Bass straight worth a look?

I guess the east coast is not much of a drama for us but our concerns are more about Bass straight and the treacherous looking coast of Vic and SA. Google maps doesn't show a lot of easy safe harbors along some sections a few 100km long, just rock cliffs

But on closer inspection there are small bays which you can sometimes zoom in on to find boats anchored. So who has cruised this area?

Here are a few pics of our last trip because everyone loves pics.

First 2 are Broughton Island, Forster and a new years eve gale which had us rip a jib and break a shroud. last pic is Christmas morning. Felt good to see the sun and the wind die back down. Good experience though.

We will try to take good video and pics of this whole trip.

dennisail · 21-09-2010, 00:42

dennisail · 21-09-2010, 01:16

I cant edit that post anymore. The above are just the places between eden and Adelaide I found on google maps. Quite a few of those stops are 150-200km apart and a lot don't look that easy to get into and or would be very wind and swell direction Dependant.

Steve Thompson · 21-09-2010, 01:52

Dennissail
Completed the reverse in Dec 2009 The weather should be ok.The only place we got blasted was between Warnambool and Portland.Robe is a good place to stop and has a great marina with plenty of spare berths if required.Its run by the council and they give you keys to the local sailing club showers and toilets ,shops close by and fuel available. No problem with water depth
Portland is a great place to stop but you need to call harbor master before entering Everything is available and one of the friendliest places we stopped at.
Warnambool is no problem very safe and protected again all supplies available , water depth no problem
From Warnambool make sure you have a good weather window and head straight for lakes Entrance.Watch the bar crossing at lakes Entrance . Once accross the bar its a great spot averything available . You can tie up at the trawler dock and fuel available at the fish coop If you need any further info let me know
cheers Steve

Steve Thompson · 21-09-2010, 02:19

dennisail
The sailing between Adelaide and Warnambool is very relaxing not much traffic.After that more ships . I would strongly recomend radar for the East coast. I used the V.M.R Radio network.Log on in Adelaide and they will foreward all your dtails to next station. They are great people all the way and the local knowledge is worth gold.
cheers Steve

dennisail · 21-09-2010, 02:33

Thanks Steve. Why go straight from Warrnambool to Lakes entrance? There seems to be quite a few places in between. Is the case for doing a fast trip in a good weather window just to get out of Bass Strait as soon as possible?

We used the VMR network log on our Sydney to Brisbane trip and done it without radar. However we did feel like we dodging ships and a good lookout is essential.

Steve Thompson · 21-09-2010, 03:27

Dennisail
A month is not a long time if the weather turns sour.Bass Strait is no place to be in the wrong conditions.If I were doing it again I would get to Lakes Entrance pretty quick so as the last half of the trip can be more lesurly.Troll a lure we caught monster Baracuda , Tuna and Dolpin fish.
Be very carefull crossing bars / entrances in the wrond conditions they can be hell
Check your charts there are quite a few exclusion zones around oil rigs.I have a full set of charts from W,A, boder to Northern Morton bay if you need to borrow some for the trip
cheers Steve

dennisail · 21-09-2010, 17:20

Thanks I will keep that in mind. What sort of lures and gauge line do you recommend? We usually tow a spoon lure but we never caught anything south of Brisbane on one. I have had great success with a spoon lure in the tropics though.

I don't have any paper charts for the trip yet besides a chart book for some of the east coast leg. I have no idea about oil rigs what areas are they in? I have C-Map electronic charts on my laptop and Wes will have a new GPS. I think some paper charts would be a good idea too. Thanks for that offer.

Steve Thompson · 22-09-2010, 00:33

Dennisail
The lures we used were approx 150mm long and looked like a fluro green squid on 100 lb line If you get a hook up the difficult part is slowing down
From memory oil rigs are in Victorian waters after Wilsons Prom
I wouldnt rely totally on electronic charts, I mark current position every hour on paper chart that way if the **** hits the fan you'll know within 5-6 miles of where you are. Maybe a little old school but electronics can play up.
cheers Steve

MarkJ · 22-09-2010, 01:42

Port Fairy is definitly the cutest fishing port out side the Med. And Lauriton, Camden Haven is just a nice old fashioned country town. Anchor opposite the RSL and explore how Australia was in the 1950's... cinema and all! Its not hick, just ...

Theres not many places on the north NSW coast to pop into in a blow so once you are at sea you're there.

The only major weather problem can be an East Coast Low forming near the Gold Coast and coming south. Large, powerful and kicking up big seas they can pop up quite quickly with little warning so keep your ear on the weather.

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