East coast of Australia in late winter, early spring

[GILow]

Hi all,

I am considering the wisdom/practicality of getting up the East Coast of Australia in August or early September, leaving from Adelaide.

My departure date would be pretty flexible, but I may need to get to the Northern Coast of NSW by mid September.

Crazy difficult?

The boat is a 42 foot Swanson, so very much in its element, the skipper, not so much,but I can generally keep the boat pointing in the right direction.

Matt

[chrisr]

sure...not difficult at all...no problem

just watch the weather as usual. on nsw coast, make sure you get tide and swell right for entry over any bars. hug the coast going north to stay out of the current

you'll probably pass us heading south at some point, although we're likely to be further offshore

'northern coast of nsw'...where are you heading for ?

cheers,

cheers,

[GILow]

Originally Posted by chrisr

sure...not difficult at all...no problem

just watch the weather as usual. on nsw coast, make sure you get tide and swell right for entry over any bars. hug the coast going north to stay out of the current

you'll probably pass us heading south at some point, although we're likely to be further offshore

'northern coast of nsw'...where are you heading for ?

cheers,

cheers,

Thanks Chris, very reassuring.

Not sure exactly where on the coast, it’s all a bit of theoretical exercise based on a sneaking suspicion I have that I will need to need to get over there for my final teaching placement.

My uni is in Armidale, so take that as the basic latitude and then look for water accessible towns with high schools nearby and it would be one of those.

I’d rather be heading south to tassie, to be honest, but if the last two years have taught me anything, it’s that I need to be open to anything happening to my plans.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by GILow

Thanks Chris, very reassuring.

Not sure exactly where on the coast, it’s all a bit of theoretical exercise based on a sneaking suspicion I have that I will need to need to get over there for my final teaching placement.

My uni is in Armidale, so take that as the basic latitude and then look for water accessible towns with high schools nearby and it would be one of those.

Nearby? Armidale's about 200km from the coast
You're probably looking at Port MacQuarie, Nambucca Heads, Coffs Harbour.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by StuM

Nearby? Armidale's about 200km from the coast
You're probably looking at Port MacQuarie, Nambucca Heads, Coffs Harbour.

In my defense, I did say take the LATITUDE and look nearby. I concede the longitude is a problem.

But the uni reckoned they could find me a gig on the coast easily enough (shortage of maths teachers) though of course, that was BEFORE Covid-19.

[RaymondR]

NSW appears to have a lot of restrictive live aboard rules if you intend anchoring out. Don't know how vigorously they are applied but they were bought to my attention as soon as I crossed the Qld/NSW border at Tweed Heads.

[Jono as 2234]

Originally Posted by StuM

Nearby? Armidale's about 200km from the coast
You're probably looking at Port MacQuarie, Nambucca Heads, Coffs Harbour.

Nambucca? Good luck

[GILow]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

NSW appears to have a lot of restrictive live aboard rules if you intend anchoring out. Don't know how vigorously they are applied but they were bought to my attention as soon as I crossed the Qld/NSW border at Tweed Heads.

Yes, that’s on my mind. Seems to be pot luck as to whether you get moved on. I’m not optimistic about going un-noticed, my red and white boat is rather distinctive.

[Bundyon]

If you get a gig in Armidale, then Coffs would be your best choice. You will need a car, Armidale is around a 3 hour drive West. Coffs Marina is good, but experiences a lot of surge. There are two public Bouys in the Harbour but not for long term. Coffs can experience large swells coming into the Harbour.
Your other option is to travel 54nm up the Coast to Yamba/Iluka. I would suggest anchoring in Iluka Lagoon. No problem for long term. Great Pub with a great Tender wharf. The Yamba/Iluka Bar can be quite treacherous at times and like all Bars, be treated with respect. 85nm South of Coffs is a little town called Laurieton, a beautiful calm river with good anchorage & shops. Again, the Bar can be bad news. Around 15nm North of Laurieton is Port Macquarie, which is a reasonable sized coastal town with most facilities & a large river to anchor up in. However Laurieton would be my choice if South of Coffs. North of Yamba/Iluka is Ballina, another large Coastal Town with a notorious Bar, even in reasonable calm conditions. Then Tweed Heads is just up near the Gold Coast & Qld Border. Shallow entrance/Bar.
If you decide on Coffs, keep in touch and I possibly may be able to help with advice/ bookings/weather etc.

[Oceanride007]

Manera knows the way. And knows Coffs very well, but I wouldn't commute to Armadale.

[TDB1227]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

NSW appears to have a lot of restrictive live aboard rules if you intend anchoring out. Don't know how vigorously they are applied but they were bought to my attention as soon as I crossed the Qld/NSW border at Tweed Heads.

Hi Raymond,

Can you tell me more about those NSW restrictive live aboard rules? My boat is now on the hard in QLD and I have not been able to make it back as all flights are cancelled. I now suspect that I will not be able to make it back to BRISBANE until Q4 2020 and that means I have to stay in the area or go south to avoid the cyclone belt.

Thanks Teun

[chrisr]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

NSW appears to have a lot of restrictive live aboard rules if you intend anchoring out. Don't know how vigorously they are applied but they were bought to my attention as soon as I crossed the Qld/NSW border at Tweed Heads.

not so at all. we are one of many live-aboards we know who are mainly around nsw and provided you don't make any trouble, we are left alone. in fact waterways treat live-aboards better than day/weekend boaties...

cheers,

[chrisr]

Originally Posted by Bundyon

If you get a gig in Armidale, then Coffs would be your best choice. You will need a car, Armidale is around a 3 hour drive West. Coffs Marina is good, but experiences a lot of surge. There are two public Bouys in the Harbour but not for long term. Coffs can experience large swells coming into the Harbour.
Your other option is to travel 54nm up the Coast to Yamba/Iluka. I would suggest anchoring in Iluka Lagoon. No problem for long term. Great Pub with a great Tender wharf. The Yamba/Iluka Bar can be quite treacherous at times and like all Bars, be treated with respect. 85nm South of Coffs is a little town called Laurieton, a beautiful calm river with good anchorage & shops. Again, the Bar can be bad news. Around 15nm North of Laurieton is Port Macquarie, which is a reasonable sized coastal town with most facilities & a large river to anchor up in. However Laurieton would be my choice if South of Coffs. North of Yamba/Iluka is Ballina, another large Coastal Town with a notorious Bar, even in reasonable calm conditions. Then Tweed Heads is just up near the Gold Coast & Qld Border. Shallow entrance/Bar.
If you decide on Coffs, keep in touch and I possibly may be able to help with advice/ bookings/weather etc.

nice summary

would echo that coffs is not a comfortable anchorage, although the marina is (relatively) cheap and friendly

and iluka is the best place in the world for a live-aboard...but don't tell anyone as we like it nice and uncrowded !

cheers,

[billgewater]

A bit off topic but the shortage of suitable river entrances on the NSW and QLD coast has an historical back story. When the early settlers moved into these areas (often by ship) they removed all the red cedar trees from the floodplains and then planted crops or cleared it for grazing land. When it rained, the run off deposited at the river entrances creating the common existing sand bar problems. The Nambucca River entrance is a classic. You can see photos of timber boats going up to Macksville but that was ages ago. The river entrance is now clearly stuffed. The building of training walls has not had a happy ending as most of the bar entrances are still dangerous. Cairns once had large sugar vessels using the Barron River and now you can hardly get any vessel past the entrance. Same reason. Port Douglas seems to have escaped the worst of this as the river entrance is still highly accessible although dredging is still required.

The area from Port MacQuarie northwards is often called the Beauty Zone for its scenery, and climate, so it's a tragedy that there are not any really great small boat facilities. Coffs is about it.
Also, there are few (read none) off shore islands to visit until you get well north.
However, if you can get into any of these coastal rivers, the life style and climate is magic. Macksville is a gem of a place. Great High School. Lovely community.

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by TDB1227

Hi Raymond,

Can you tell me more about those NSW restrictive live aboard rules? My boat is now on the hard in QLD and I have not been able to make it back as all flights are cancelled. I now suspect that I will not be able to make it back to BRISBANE until Q4 2020 and that means I have to stay in the area or go south to avoid the cyclone belt.

Thanks Teun

The sheet I was given by "maritime" stated that I was limited to 28 days in each anchorage with a total of three months total live aboard anchoring in any calendar year.

I did not enquire about being on a mooring however another yachty I spoke to in Iluka told me he had lived aboard on his mooring for about two years without any problems.

I suspect that like most places if you don't upset the locals and make a nuisance of yourself you could stretch these limits.

My last insurer required that I spend the official cyclone season south of 25 degrees south which is about where Bundaberg is situated. I generally spend it in the Great Sandy Straits which is a very good cruising ground so it's no hardship.