Sailing Cairns to Brisbane

[Mentosfly]

Hi All,

I am after some information on sailing Cairns to Brisbane, how was the trip, when did you go and how long it took? I want to do it over winter which is not the ideal time to do it but don't want to keep my boat in Cairns till the northerlies come.

Thanks
Jack

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Mentosfly

Hi All,

I am after some information on sailing Cairns to Brisbane, how was the trip, when did you go and how long it took? I want to do it over winter which is not the ideal time to do it but don't want to keep my boat in Cairns till the northerlies come.

Thanks
Jack

I have never sailed this route in winter, I have always waited for the northies but I think the best answer is "how well can you sail / motor / motorsail with 15 to 25 kts right on the nose. Presumably you will be going inside the reef so you are reasonably well protected and there are plenty of anchorages to stop and rest etc. In fact you can day / night sail most of the way - if you can make 5 kts with the wind on the nose.

Hopefully the Qld crowd will chime in soon with more detail

[JPA Cate]

Mentosfly,

We've made that trip twice. How easy it is will depend on the strength and persistence of the SE winds. We usually picked a day where sea breezes would come in in the afternoon, watch for the cloud build up over land. We'd leave the anchorage and head out as close to E as we could fetch, then, ride the NE seabreeze into the next anchorage.

If you really need to get the boat to Brissie, you could consider approaching it like a delivery, rather than as a cruise, motorsailing as close as possible to the desired course. We've never done this, it is hard on the boat and the crew, but sometimes, the bullet must be bitten.

Figure on 25 to 40 miles per day, cruising, with overnight stops, depends on how hard you drive yourself, and your boat's capabilities. If you go on through the nights, sometimes the wind drops out inshore, and motoring on the rhumb line is possible. Generally, you'll find stronger winds further offshore, if there's any at all.

I'd suggest you look at Lucas' "Cruising the Coral Coast", and think about the distances that will work for you. One good thing about winter, is that you can make a lot of progress going through the night, and the warming up that happens with sunrise is welcome.

Ann

[ozsailer]

Hi Jack,
as you are aware and others have already pointed out you will be going against the prevailing Sou Easterly trade winds. I note that you have a Wharam Catamaran which will restrict your saling to windward or make for very long days. There are many safe anchorages on your trip down the coast and all can be made on a day sail. Relevant anchorages can be found in puclications such as "Gone Troppo", Lucas's "Sailing the coral Coast", "The Curtis Coast" and of course "100 Magic miles" which covers the Whitsunday Islands.
On our cat (Lagoon 410 ) I have found that we comfortably go with the wind on the nose to 15 knots after that the waves tend to build and with wind against tide we start to get some green water over the bow at times.
It is very doable just pick your weather windows.


Greg H
SV Sunshine
Lagoon 410 S2

[Snowpetrel]

Excellant advice above. I've done Townsville south to Hobart in winter. It was a bit of a bash and being a delivery I had to keep moving, but if you have time to wait the trades sometimes drop down for a few days, use those light days to make as many miles south as you can.

In this case motor day and night and don't stop for anything until the winds build again, then take a breather and recoup. We ended up motorsailing into the 15-25 knot SE, where we had to making small hops each day. If it was 15 we would keep going, if it was nearer 25 it wasn't worth the fuel spent and we would just make short hops for a change of scene and to charge batteries.

The wind also tends to swing slightly, so if it goes south you can hug the coast and get a bit of a lee. If its forcast to go more east head offshore while its SE, and try to tack and then sail (or motorsail) the ESE when it swings to make miles down the coast.

Know where your fuel stops are, and plan around them over daylight hours. Much as its temping to stay a night in a marina and have a shower and meal out, if the conditions are good you just head in, fuel up, pick up fresh food if its close and head straight back out to make the most of the better weather, because you will have plenty of time to chill out when the winds are 25-30 knots SE for days and days... At least there are plenty of nice anchorages to wait this stuff out.

[44'cruisingcat]

We've usually come south in October or November, but did travel down from magnetic island in August/September once.

It can be pleasant enough if you're willing to wait for weather windows.

Just have to wait for the back ends of the highs, and hope the usual ridge is weak.

[catsketcher]

Gday Mentos

I can only agree with the observations above. A few more points from my trips.

You may get stuck in a strong system for a week. If this happens, have fun waiting behind an island and get ready to go.

When you can make it south, go hard and fast. Don't stop till the wind comes around southeast again. Sail through the night, motor, get up early and sail till midnight but get going when you can. If you can get in synch with a system ride it for all it is worth. We were one week later in leaving the Whitsundays than friends in a Crealock 37 (nowhere near as fast as Kankama). We never saw them again - they got northerly after northerly whilst a week later we waited in southerlies and heard them skimming south. Go hard when you get the chance, it may not come again for a month. Add some extra jerry cans in case the wind dies and motor on quickly.

The further south you get, the more northerlies you get. Early northerlies are rare in Cairns, more common in the Whitsundays and pretty regular down at Keppel. Every mile you get south improves your chances of getting south more.

Get the boat working well. Clean the bottom, tighten the forestay, trim the sails well, get the heavy weights out of the ends to reduce hobbyhorsing. You can't sail well to windward if your boat has lots of drag. Pull down the code 0, think racer.

Consider using the reef as cover. This applies more to Lizard south to Cairns but we sometimes sailed out to the reef on starboard tack and then tacked to port in the smooth water in the lee of the reef. Harder to do further south. Behind Hinchinbrook and Curtis you can get out of the blow and motor up the channel.

You may have a bugger of a time. Some days may be a total waste. Give yourself some leeway and take some treats. It should be as fun as possible.

Have fun

Phil

[Dave_S]

We sailed Cairns/Brisbane August_ish last year.

Forecast said we had a window of easterly and northerly breezes for about 7 days, so off we went. Not once did it blow from anywhere but from the south quarter. We sailed the whole way, no motoring.

We stayed inside the reef all the way. We were anchored up at Airlie Beach for 3 days waiting for the wind and swell to go down. We sailed 4 x 24hr runs, otherwise we pulled up for rum o'clock behind an island somewhere for the night.

Winds were anywhere from glass to 25kn, mostly 10ish.

Had a few minor squalls,

Lots of whales.

We made Tin Can Bay in 14days.

[Hasbeen]

I have done it a few times, but the most interesting would be when my folks joined me in Cairns for the trip to the Whitsundays.


When we pulled out of Cairns & ran straight into 25 knots on the nose, my 70 year old mother had the nearest thing to hysterics I had seen. She thought it must be a cyclone.


Knowing the wind usually diminished a fair bit, & pulled south or even slightly west of south at might, I reorganised the trip to be done at night. This gave much smoother sailing, which mum could handle.


No sat nav for we humble folk back then, so navigation had to be reasonably serious. For much of the passage the coastal dangers are in less than 10 fathoms, & often less than 5. You can't hit the reef until you have been in over 20 fathoms for a while, so I kept tacking between 10 & 20 fathoms. I did not need to know exactly where I was, as long as I kept to those depths.


Once past the Whitsundays the trades become less consistent in both strength & direction, so hopping out a making a hundred or 2 miles becomes easier.


A friend has just sailed from Bundaberg to Brisbane, in a 24 footer with just an outboard for motor power, & had a fairly easy trip he said, but then he is an old Kiwi, & I'm not sure they believe we ever have rough whether.

[Fine Tolerance]

I have done the winter trip from Cairns to Bundaberg many times (and onto Brisbane occasionally as well) and all that is said above is correct. Winds are overwhelmingly from the south easterly quadrant. The only thing not mentioned is, inside the reef, how short and sharp the seas get which makes heading to windward so much more difficult. The best advice I can give is to not have a time limit. It is nothing to get caught for a week or two with strong SE winds which will make it nearly impossible for you to push a Warram 40 into. Like those before me have said, go and keep going as long as you can whenever there is any sort of weather window, be prepared to motor when ever conditions for making ground that way presents itself. Use the Hinchenbrook channel and the Great Sandy Straights to your advantage to make ground. The most over riding thing is that you will need time. Having said all of the above you can also be optimistic, you never know but you may get lucky and have northerlies for the whole trip. It can happen although so far, between June to September on over 25 years , it's never happened to me.

[Hasbeen]

One little word of warning I forgot to include above.


Watch out for the late night switch from northerlies to southerlies during winter. The stronger the northerly the more likely it will come in from the south overnight, & the harder the southerly is likely to be.


I used to run a bareboat operation in the Whitsundays. In many cases I was thanked by charterers when I had insisted, much to their annoyance, that they anchor somewhere safe from a southerly change, rather than one of these in a northerly.


There are some lovely beach anchorages on the southern side of Whitsunday Island, & a magnificent snorkelling/dive anchorage on the south western bay on Hazelwood island, but they become dangerous as overnight anchorages.


The one time I ignored my own advice & anchored in a southern bay on Middle Percy, I was flushed out at about 1.00AM, & had an unpleasant time nosing into a coral filled bay on South Percy.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Hasbeen

One little word of warning I forgot to include above.


Watch out for the late night switch from northerlies to southerlies during winter. The stronger the northerly the more likely it will come in from the south overnight, & the harder the southerly is likely to be.


I used to run a bareboat operation in the Whitsundays. In many cases I was thanked by charterers when I had insisted, much to their annoyance, that they anchor somewhere safe from a southerly change, rather than one of these in a northerly.


There are some lovely beach anchorages on the southern side of Whitsunday Island, & a magnificent snorkelling/dive anchorage on the south western bay on Hazelwood island, but they become dangerous as overnight anchorages.


The one time I ignored my own advice & anchored in a southern bay on Middle Percy, I was flushed out at about 1.00AM, & had an unpleasant time nosing into a coral filled bay on South Percy.

^^ plus 1.

And a mate's Dad used to say that the southerly change after a northerly was always way worse if the northerly was 3 or 5 days in duration in the southern region (i.e. south of Frazer Island). I dunno how true this is but he was a fisherman in Moreton bay from the 40's to the 70's and I always took heed of it.

[jasonleeau]

Yep. Definitely agree. If it's a strong consistent northerly for a few days, the Southerly will hit hard and be stronger for a few days.

[Mentosfly]

Well it looks like ill be going in August, I have planned the trip using Cruising the Coral coasts but forgot to allow for fuel stops, thank you Snowpetrel. I will treat it almost like a delivery but with a bit more freedom. Lets hope for some good weather and fun times.

Thank you for all the advice it is much appreciated.