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Old 18-11-2016, 01:26   #1
Heg
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Weather -Sydney to Brisbane in December?

Hello,
Our new boat arrives into Sydney in the first week of December. We are Brisbane based, so have to get her to our home port, so that we can move on board and get prepared before we set sail up north next March/April .

We are newbie sailors and are wondering if two of us can easily do this sail in a series of short hops or should we err on the side of caution and get a delivery captain to do the sail for us?
Any advice very welcome.
Thanks
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Old 18-11-2016, 02:36   #2
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Re: Weather -Sydney to Brisbane in December?

That can be a very easy voyage in March when the breeze is mostly in the South East. You will have to watch the weather reports closely and only head out in in good conditions. There are always a few stormy days during the month with very heavy rain but good weather regularly holds for 3 or 4 days. Between Sydney and Coffs Harbour there are any number of places to pull in.

It would be safer to skip the northern rivers for now and sail Coffs Harbour to Southport in one hop. That will only take 25-30 hours.

Take 10 days to do the voyage and enjoy yourselves.
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Old 18-11-2016, 02:37   #3
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Re: Weather -Sydney to Brisbane in December?

Hi Heg,
congrats on the upcoming boat delivery. While you say you are newbies it would be better to answer you question if we knew more about your experience and also what type of boat you have purchased.
The trip down from Brisbane does require quite a bit of passage IMO. If you have not done a coastal passage previously I would highly recomend making sure you have at least one experienced person on board.
From leaving the Gold Coast Seaway all the way to Newcastle are either barred entried IE crossing a river entrance etc or open ocean anchorages such as Byron Bay or Trial Bay. If doing day trips, not only do you need to consider the weather, seas but also tide to ensure you cross the bars on a rising tide.
A great reference book is Alan Lucas's "Cruising the NSW coast along with another publication call Robs Passage Planner.
As far as weather is concerned the Beauru of meterology has an excellent web site and their Meteye section will give you a good indiciation of weather predictions and also wave predictions. I also use Predict Wind which I have found an excellent source of weather information as well. Willy Weather and Weather Zone also also good sources of information.
We are about to bring our catamaran from the Gold Coast to our home port at Lake Macquarie. Circumstances have changed and we will now be doing a non stop trip home. Our expected trip will take approximatley 48 hours in good weather and fair winds from the north.
Something to possibly consider is hiring a experienced skipper who is happy to have you on as crew on the trip. That way you get to see how an experienced skipper operate and also gain invaluable experiece at the same time.
Now this is me and ohter's may have greatly differing views but my rough rule of thumb for coastal cruising the NSW coast has been a maximum 2 metre sea on a 2 metre swell and up to 20 knots of breeze. This keeps the admiral very happy and we still cover distances very quickly, comfortably and safely. As weather can be unpredictable we have been caught out in significantly stronger winds and far bigger seas but we deal with that as it occurs.
Make your first trip fun and safe and not something where at the end of the journey you want to sell the boat.


Greg H
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Old 18-11-2016, 03:23   #4
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Re: Weather -Sydney to Brisbane in December?

At least in December you have long days for sailing. However, north-east winds are very common and this is almost certainly the wind that will prevail at this time of the year. You need to watch tides for the bar crossings as well as seas (only cross on incoming tide unless flat).

However, if you get southerly or westerly winds, you should have an easy passage.

From Sydney, first day to Pittwater. Then to Port Stephens. Then to Camden Haven or Port Macquarie. Then to Coffs Harbour and as has been said, possibly to Gold Coast overnight. This will take about 26 hours or so. If seas are totally calm, you can go Coffs to Yamba, then to Ballina and then to Gold Coast.

See my web site pages Michael McFadyen's Scuba Diving Web Site for details of our two trips north from Sydney.
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Old 18-11-2016, 03:40   #5
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Re: Weather -Sydney to Brisbane in December?

Quote:
Originally Posted by ozsailer View Post
Hi Heg,
congrats on the upcoming boat delivery. While you say you are newbies it would be better to answer you question if we knew more about your experience and also what type of boat you have purchased.
The trip down from Brisbane does require quite a bit of passage IMO. If you have not done a coastal passage previously I would highly recomend making sure you have at least one experienced person on board.
From leaving the Gold Coast Seaway all the way to Newcastle are either barred entried IE crossing a river entrance etc or open ocean anchorages such as Byron Bay or Trial Bay. If doing day trips, not only do you need to consider the weather, seas but also tide to ensure you cross the bars on a rising tide.
A great reference book is Alan Lucas's "Cruising the NSW coast along with another publication call Robs Passage Planner.
As far as weather is concerned the Beauru of meterology has an excellent web site and their Meteye section will give you a good indiciation of weather predictions and also wave predictions. I also use Predict Wind which I have found an excellent source of weather information as well. Willy Weather and Weather Zone also also good sources of information.
We are about to bring our catamaran from the Gold Coast to our home port at Lake Macquarie. Circumstances have changed and we will now be doing a non stop trip home. Our expected trip will take approximatley 48 hours in good weather and fair winds from the north.
Something to possibly consider is hiring a experienced skipper who is happy to have you on as crew on the trip. That way you get to see how an experienced skipper operate and also gain invaluable experiece at the same time.
Now this is me and ohter's may have greatly differing views but my rough rule of thumb for coastal cruising the NSW coast has been a maximum 2 metre sea on a 2 metre swell and up to 20 knots of breeze. This keeps the admiral very happy and we still cover distances very quickly, comfortably and safely. As weather can be unpredictable we have been caught out in significantly stronger winds and far bigger seas but we deal with that as it occurs.
Make your first trip fun and safe and not something where at the end of the journey you want to sell the boat.


Greg H
Sunshine
Hi Greg
Thanks for such a detailed reply . We are actually heading Sydney to Brisbane on our newly purchased Fountaine Pajot Lipari cat. I think we may try to find a captain that is happy to have us onboard. We have done our RYA competent crew cert but have little offshore experience. I'd rather be safe than sorry
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Old 18-11-2016, 03:43   #6
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Re: Weather -Sydney to Brisbane in December?

Quote:
Originally Posted by savoir View Post
That can be a very easy voyage in March when the breeze is mostly in the South East. You will have to watch the weather reports closely and only head out in in good conditions. There are always a few stormy days during the month with very heavy rain but good weather regularly holds for 3 or 4 days. Between Sydney and Coffs Harbour there are any number of places to pull in.

It would be safer to skip the northern rivers for now and sail Coffs Harbour to Southport in one hop. That will only take 25-30 hours.

Take 10 days to do the voyage and enjoy yourselves.
Thsnks so much for taking the time to reply You say an easy voyage in March but we are doing it in December. Any thoughts on that time of year?
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Old 18-11-2016, 03:45   #7
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Re: Weather -Sydney to Brisbane in December?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Heg View Post
Hello,
Our new boat arrives into Sydney in the first week of December. We are Brisbane based, so have to get her to our home port, so that we can move on board and get prepared before we set sail up north next March/April .

We are newbie sailors and are wondering if two of us can easily do this sail in a series of short hops or should we err on the side of caution and get a delivery captain to do the sail for us?
Any advice very welcome.
Thanks
I did a similar thing, hadn't sailed before and bought a boat in Cairns. The owner sailed it back to Brisbane with me. Most valuable experience, I would recommend having a pro sail it up with you both if you were going straight away but you have a few months I'd go for day sails with an instructor and make up your mind from there.
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Old 18-11-2016, 03:52   #8
Heg
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Re: Weather -Sydney to Brisbane in December?

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Originally Posted by Dave_S View Post
I did a similar thing, hadn't sailed before and bought a boat in Cairns. The owner sailed it back to Brisbane with me. Most valuable experience, I would recommend having a pro sail it up with you both if you were going straight away but you have a few months I'd go for day sails with an instructor and make up your mind from there.
Thanks for the advice Dave. I think we will probably get a pro on board and pick up some experience along the way like you did.
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Old 18-11-2016, 04:17   #9
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Re: Weather -Sydney to Brisbane in December?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Heg View Post
Thsnks so much for taking the time to reply You say an easy voyage in March but we are doing it in December. Any thoughts on that time of year?
Maybe because your post #1 said you were going in March/April. Nothing there about sailing in December.
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Old 18-11-2016, 04:35   #10
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Re: Weather -Sydney to Brisbane in December?

Hey Heg. Huge congrats on your new vessel. I agree with some of the above. Maybe get some help from an experienced person to help you along and learn along the way. Not just the sailing, but passage planning, weather, bar crossings, so many pieces of the puzzle.
I'm actually bringing a cat the other way at the same time, Qld to Sydney, so I'm hoping for northeasters. From my experience, a fair bet in December, plus the East Australian Current should be running well.
If you decide to go on your own, maybe go on the back of a southerly, and stay inshore a little to keep out of the current. No doubt some more experienced folks will add to the picture.
Happy sailing and wind at your back,
Jeff
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Old 18-11-2016, 04:35   #11
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Re: Weather -Sydney to Brisbane in December?

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Originally Posted by savoir View Post
Maybe because your post #1 said you were going in March/April. Nothing there about sailing in December.
My thread is titled 'Sydney to Brisbane in December' but appreciate your response regardless
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Old 18-11-2016, 04:37   #12
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Re: Weather -Sydney to Brisbane in December?

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Originally Posted by seaskip View Post
Hey Heg. Huge congrats on your new vessel. I agree with some of the above. Maybe get some help from an experienced person to help you along and learn along the way. Not just the sailing, but passage planning, weather, bar crossings, so many pieces of the puzzle.
I'm actually bringing a cat the other way at the same time, Qld to Sydney, so I'm hoping for northeasters. From my experience, a fair bet in December, plus the East Australian Current should be running well.
If you decide to go on your own, maybe go on the back of a southerly, and stay inshore a little to keep out of the current. No doubt some more experienced folks will add to the picture.
Happy sailing and wind at your back,
Jeff
Thanks Jeff. Super excited about our new boat Think we will definitely go with getting an experienced sailor on board to help us out. Seems like the winds will be more in your favour than ours
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Old 18-11-2016, 04:37   #13
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Re: Weather -Sydney to Brisbane in December?

Heg. Essential, as Ozsailor said, Alan Lucas' book needs to be crammed. It's dead easy reading. Keep in mind the fact that not only will you be likely to have Nor'easters on the nose for most of your allotted time window but also the East Australia Current, flowing N to S for the whole trip.
What the eac means is that if you do run with a southerly, the wind over current effect can mean that a bit of slop is to be expected. (southerly set to the current, wind coming from the south going in northerly direction.
Clearly you have a good boat which should be well prepared upon delivery, but make sure that
you have THE one most important thing apart from water tight hulls, namely, great ground tackle.
And my personal opinion of great ground tackle is
1. New gen/state of the art anchor. i.e. Manson Supreme or Rocna or Ultra, Spade. (not stainless steel because it work hardens and you don't want the cogniscenti laughing at you.
Given that shortly you'll be heading into the wide blue yonder at some time or another you
MUST acquire the right pick. If I had to guess I'd say that a 55 lbRocna/manson/ultra/
spade is a starting point. In case you don't know, there is no such thing as too big an
anchor.
2. At least 3/8 " chain should do the job but better brains than mine might say 1/2".
And I would think that 60 metres is minimum. PWB (oz made, will not rust for years).
3. A damned good windlass. The length of you boat doesn't need 24 volts, 12 is fine.
4. Ignore people trying to sell you Lewmar Delta anchors, they drag in mud. No Bruce, no
CQR. An anchor, for you intended use, has to be concave in shape. Convex drags when
chips are down.
Plenty of help on CF yours for the asking.
Remember, cheap is often seriously expensive in the long run.
Only your own confidence will dictate if you need a skipper.
And as you're still cutting your teeth....... N O N I G H T E N T R I E S.
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Old 18-11-2016, 04:41   #14
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Re: Weather -Sydney to Brisbane in December?

Hi Heg
We did exactly what you propose. Picked up our first yacht in Sydney and came to Brisbane, actually in November three years ago. We had no experience. I would hate to become one of those who say you can't do it without experience. You absolutely can do it but we found it exhausting and not a positive first trip. Things break, it's actually really busy offshore with shipping, the weather windows this time of year are really tight, some of the bars are tricky to say the least, there are some pretty long hauls and when you are trying to tackle everything at once for the first time it's mentally very fatiguing.
A captain will teach you all about it as you go, get to know your own yacht, basic mechanical maintenance, seamanship, how to enjoy yourself as you go.
There's nothing like your first dawn on the open sea in the cockpit of your own yacht so make it fun- get some help.

We're in a monohull but you'll love your Lipari off the East Coast.
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Old 18-11-2016, 04:48   #15
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Re: Weather -Sydney to Brisbane in December?

[QUOTE=Bluewatercruise;2260271] "it's actually really busy offshore with shipping, the weather windows this time of year are really tight, some of the bars are tricky to say the least, there are some pretty long hauls and .....

QUOTE]


And you'll end up loving all of it! [emoji1][emoji1][emoji1]
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