Fremantle to Cairns, departing November, across the bight... how long?

[pwillems]

I am tossing around some options and am keen to get some first-hand experience on the suggested passage.

All cruising we have done to date has been VERY leisurely, tending to stop and spend a few days to a few weeks in any anchorage we find enjoyable. But now, I am facing the possibility of a more focused cruise to relocate the boat and would like some opinions on how much time to set aside.

Fremantle to Cairns under the bight, departing towards the end of the year, reasonably focused on moving the boat, but not so much as to ruin all the fun and make the trip miserable. Picking only good weather windows and with no hesitation to crank up the engine when not moving fast enough... If you have done this trip, how long would you recommend I set aside?

[HankOnthewater]

Hi there, distance is approx 4000 NM which some minor diversions, otherwise 3500 NM. If you do 120-130 NM per day (easily done in your boat I assume), than that is 31 days of sailing (4000 NM), then adding the stops you want to or need to make, than that is your time needed. Therefore a minimum of ~40 days (6 weeks).
I have have been only as far as the Goldcoast in Qld.

About weather window...... across the Bight you will get one or two fronts. Best to leave Perth/Fremantle on an approaching front with lots of NW winds, stay in Albany to let it pass over, and leave with the worst of the front over. Or if you run out of time, pick Augusta. If you like, do the same in Esperance, leaving after a front has passed. However leaving in November, not too many severe fronts at that time and latitude anymore.

This winter we had no really bad fronts coming through at all, and we already had a few times a summer pattern of a High (pressure system) sitting in the Bight for a few days. If that is the case, you need to wait for a Low, or pick a route a bit further south to get more westerlies.

[GILow]

I think JPACate had some useful contribution but it ended up posted to a different thread.

I'll see if I can find it.

[GILow]

I THINK this, written by JPACate was intended for this thread. Sorry Ann if I'm.wrong.

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

a) ~ 50 ft waterline., should be able to do 8 knots under power easily, = 192 n. mi/day.

b) You can handle boat repairs well in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney or Newcastle, and then Southport (Boatworks on the gold coast) Brisbane, Gladstone, and then the farther north you go, the more difficult.

c) The more you've learned about your systems beforehand, the easier this will be for you.

d) please tell us the kinds of places you prefer to stop in? touristy things you like to do?
are you more hiking or urban in interests? Also relevant are your preferences wrt sailing vs. motorsailing, and whether you are comfortable with overnighters.

e) Your boat will be happier from Pt. Stephens north if you stay inside the East Australia Current (often strongest around Cape Byron.) We have stayed tucked in tight from Sydney, northbound, it depends on what the Current is doing, and the Bureau of Meteorology posts that. You will first encounter it before you turn north just past Gabo Is., because it swirls around the SE end of the continent before heading across to Tassie. If you're happy to skip a lot of Oz, you could go outside the EAC, and have a long ocean run, with no stops, but as Wotname warns, you are likely to experience "teething problems", and they may not be sorted by when you leave Lakes Entrance.

Honestly, I'd advise day trips for as long as fit with the weather you actually meet, because it can get demoralizing either to become overtired or have to fix too much stuff.

Most experienced people in your situation would seriously shake the boat down locally before taking off on a 4,000 mi voyage to anywhere. Doing this where you have warm showers and take out food to come home to civilizes the process.

Make us a list of what you think the essential parts of shaking down your boat will be, and let us critique it....

And, do be sure to find hidey holes in case of out of season cyclones, when you're up in the cyclone belt.

It would be good to tell us your draft and your waterline length.

Ann

[GILow]

Anyway, repairs here in Adelaide are fine if you are DIY, but all the really good shipwrights are insanely busy.

[JPA Cate]

Thanks, Matt.

Ann

[pwillems]

Originally Posted by GILow

I THINK this, written by JPACate was intended for this thread. Sorry Ann if I'm.wrong.

Thanks Ann. This is by no means a shakedown cruise, we have put many many miles underneath her keel living aboard and cruising for going on a decade and all systems on the boat are recent and maintained to the highest standard. There is no reason to expect an unusual amount of breakage.

The only difference here is that I am proposing to switch coasts and move a lot faster than we normally would when meandering the west coast.

Draft is reasonable at 2.1m, and typical speed is 5 to 6 knots in average conditions. We don't like to push the boat hard and choose comfort instead.

I am very roughly guesstimating, including stops, repairs and waiting for decent weather:
2 weeks Freo to Esperance, 2 weeks more to get to Port Lincoln, another 2 weeks around to Eden, and then 2 months up the east coast to Cairns = 3.5 months plus or minus 1 month.

[Diamond-Esp]

Regarding your plan, looks great except the time of the year will mean the easterly in the bight will likely be in full force (top end of the high). You may want to depart WA from Albany instead of Esperance (where I am based). That way you will be able to sail along the bottom of the high with favourable winds and then curve towards the coast in SA/Vic/Tas. Often in Esperance and the top of the bight we have very strong Easterly winds in Nov - Jan, this would make it very uncomfortable in the top end of the bight. If you do decide to come to Esperance you can depart Middle Island if there is favourable weather, if it looks like the high will hang in there then you can head south until better conditions prevail. The main thing is to watch how far north the high is and how fast it is moving, as it can sit there for some time.

[GILow]

To the OP, if you run into issues near Adelaide, drop me a PM. Always happy to assist fellow yachties in their travels.

[UFO]

Originally Posted by pwillems

Thanks Ann. This is by no means a shakedown cruise, we have put many many miles underneath her keel living aboard and cruising for going on a decade and all systems on the boat are recent and maintained to the highest standard. There is no reason to expect an unusual amount of breakage.

The only difference here is that I am proposing to switch coasts and move a lot faster than we normally would when meandering the west coast.

Draft is reasonable at 2.1m, and typical speed is 5 to 6 knots in average conditions. We don't like to push the boat hard and choose comfort instead.

I am very roughly guesstimating, including stops, repairs and waiting for decent weather:
2 weeks Freo to Esperance, 2 weeks more to get to Port Lincoln, another 2 weeks around to Eden, and then 2 months up the east coast to Cairns = 3.5 months plus or minus 1 month.

It will not take 2 weeks to do Esperance to Port Lincoln (Unless you get a real crap set of weather) - I did Port Lincoln to Albany in 6 days (East to West) and that included 14 hours of no wind and 12 hours on the nose (motoring) into Albany. I would personally go directly from Albany to Port Lincoln (which is amazing) and get the bight behind you.


Just plan your weather window and be patient



Have Fun and Good Luck