Sydney to Perth over top end of Australia

[knockabout]

September queensland coast you may meet with northerlies / today wind strength 0 / there is very little water on the off shore islands / provision carefully / you can have provisions shipped to you by rendezvousing with the coastal supply barge that looks after trawlers / needs to be organised in cairns (if you are going to stop at lizard or somewhere for snorkelling) / further north if there has been rain the water is usually reddish-brown and so are the unmarked rocks and reefs(keep a lookout at all times) / sticking to the deeper water helps with this situation / Dinah Beach YC was good anchorage between Darwin harbour and sadgrove creek / there are crocodiles everywhere / west coast , nt pearl farms inhabit anything that looks like a good anchorage / they are usually marked with small white flashing lights and aren't always marked on charts / some ports are privately owned (port headland) / port headland yacht club were good last time we went through there / the anchorage was between pylons just outside the shipping channel out off the yacht club / we stayed well off shore on the west coast except when we wanted to look at something / Hampton Harbour YC at Dampier was good / Carnarvon YC was good / be aware of oil rig pylons with various craft and barges hanging off them seemingly in the middle of nowhere and unlit / check the direction of the Leuwin current on the west coast usually flows south at 1-3 kts but has been known to reverse

[nzldude]

Originally Posted by knockabout

September queensland coast you may meet with northerlies / today wind strength 0 / there is very little water on the off shore islands / provision carefully / you can have provisions shipped to you by rendezvousing with the coastal supply barge that looks after trawlers / needs to be organised in cairns (if you are going to stop at lizard or somewhere for snorkelling) / further north if there has been rain the water is usually reddish-brown and so are the unmarked rocks and reefs(keep a lookout at all times) / sticking to the deeper water helps with this situation / Dinah Beach YC was good anchorage between Darwin harbour and sadgrove creek / there are crocodiles everywhere / west coast , nt pearl farms inhabit anything that looks like a good anchorage / they are usually marked with small white flashing lights and aren't always marked on charts / some ports are privately owned (port headland) / port headland yacht club were good last time we went through there / the anchorage was between pylons just outside the shipping channel out off the yacht club / we stayed well off shore on the west coast except when we wanted to look at something / Hampton Harbour YC at Dampier was good / Carnarvon YC was good / be aware of oil rig pylons with various craft and barges hanging off them seemingly in the middle of nowhere and unlit / check the direction of the Leuwin current on the west coast usually flows south at 1-3 kts but has been known to reverse

Thanks for the info knockabout.
Are the reefs well charted?
I've got navionics and iSailor on phone and tablet, navionics gold on the chart plotter and paper charts. Will not navigate near reefs at night as way to dangerous. That is my biggest fear! Oh and partially submerged sea containers. Sounds like a Liberian registered ship has somehow just lost 80 contains yesterday off NSW! Ahh!

[MollyJo]

Hi nzldude
I spent a week sailing through the Abrolhos Islands. Of course I had the paper charts but was very surprised by the accuracy of Navionics. It wasn’t so long ago you needed hand drawn maps made by fishermen to be safe. Now there are markers in many locations and courtesy moorings in some. Having said that, you still need to “keep your eyes open”. A fantastic place to explore. A week definitely not long enough.

[davegeorge44]

Hi Gareth,
My wife and I have done that trip a number of times - competed our 5th circumnavigation of the continent a couple of months ago. We are Fremantle based and love the Kimberly and also the Abrolhos. In general I prefer to go clockwise about Australia due to prevailing winds. On both the east and west coasts there tends to be a southerly component to the prevailing winds, but you can sail south from Cape York at the start of the cyclone season. The SE trades go more east and you get NE sea breezes. Heading N you should have no problem. Where it will be difficult is from NW Cape south - mostly on the nose all the way, and with a SW swell.

You have to learn to work the tides in the north. In the Kimberly you really can't buck them, which means you can only travel when the tide is with you - close to the coast that is. Tide and wind don't always work together - or there's not enough wind to sail, so be prepared to motor. Of course when you do move, you really move.

The Bruce anchor will suit you well. Most anchorages you will encounter will be sand or mud.

Crocodiles. 40 years ago, first trip up we didn't see any. 2016 they were showing up in the bays almost as soon as we dropped anchor. People cleaning fish off the back of their boats and dumping the carcasses I think, but no one swims off their boats. In the river canyons where we often anchor there is usually a fresh water stream flowing down to the tidal part. We would follow the stream up, preferably up over a cliffy area, to find a billabong to go for a swim.

A big rib should be safe enough, but be aware you are vulnerable to croc teeth if one should take a dislike to your dinghy - especially if parked on and beach while you go walkabout. Also be aware you are vulnerable sitting on the tube / side. Crocs have been known to jump up and latch on to people sitting in dinghies.

The West Australian Cruising Guide, published by the Fremantle Sailing Club (of which I am a member) is excellent. We now have an electronic version free for download to anyone - either from the FSC website, or Western Australian Cruising Guide

We sailed from Brisbane to Sydney just before Christmas last year and found the east Australian Current quite strong, even close to the coast. Shipping was quite a ways offshore so stay close to the coast for minimal current against and less chance of getting in the shipping lanes. I prefer to day sail all that if possible.

Lastly - good luck!
Dave

[grahamb]

Hi...….done a lot of deliveries along the East Coast. ….and yacht races.....ships never a problem....we were always inside their track.....always aimed for 150nm per day......below 5 knots we fired up the engine......owners generally do not understand bad weather....or at least do not want to pay for extra days...….chart plotter quite adequate …...coupled with the Alan Lucas guide.....

In the Kimberlies …..went ashore on a beach without a footprint and some wind eroded giant sandstone mini headlands......headed for tidal pool 200m up......the sand just exploded......we were between the water and the 4m saltie croc...….extremely dangerous indeed.....fortunately he went for the pool....we headed for fresh underwear.....

In 2017 a saltie was trapped at Katherine …...300 km inland.....

At the head of a Kimberly river we climbed a rope ladder to the top of the waterfall…...a 3m saltie was waiting at the bottom of the ladder when we returned….

Needed to evacuate a crew from the moth of the Berkeley River...back to Darwin....septicaemia from a scratch whilst cleaning the prop in Darwin...
by helicopter......cost reminded me of a telephone number

Take a satellite phone

Kimberly day and night temperatures only vary between very very hot, dropping to very hot.....imagine an oven

lots of snakes ashore

Only swim/bath in tiny pools where the bottom can be clearly seen and that are not joined to a big pool ….there are crocs all over

Seeing aboriginal artwork insitu makes it all worthwhile.....and colours in the river cliffs.....

Be wary of the Sandy Straits with your draft.

Best sun protection is an vastly oversize mens business shirt with long sleeves past your wrist......tails go over the knees

Enjoy...…

[MikeDofFreo]

I haven't done the Sydney north trip since 1980 but did Darwin to Perth with a 50 foot cat last year. Left Darwin early Sept and took 5 weeks. only stopped in Broome, Exmouth, Denham and Geraldton for a couple of nights each.

Darwin to Broome was very very light wind and from there on still quite light or against us down to Denham. Started getting some wind from Denham but generally southerly.

I would say that its a good plan to have plenty of fuel. You can organise a fuel card with baileys before you leave Perth to pick up the boat. Be prepared to pay a huge premium for fuel in Broome + $100 fee for the pleasure of fueling.

Geraldton is a good port.

I wouldn't worry too much about volume of commercial shipping down the West coast. Most of it will be coming in to the coast from deep sea or servicing the rigs. The only place we encountered lots was off Dampier.

I would not swim anywhere north of Geraldton.

I strongly second the suggestion to check anchor recommendations with the manufacturers. Both of yours sound light and whilst everyone has their own preferences I would not give space to a CQR.
Anchoring in the area of Thursday Island can be an interesting experience at the best of times.


Good luck
Mike

[bill99]

I do not want to be a party pooper but because of a personal experience I have had with a 1990 Bendytoy 430 that I stepped off 300 miles south of Fiji onto a container ship, and left the boat to drift, I need to share something with you re the beneteau rudders.
They have a rudder stock that has 3 sets of tangs that are welded to the stock which holds the rudder in place. My understanding is these tangs are about an inch wide and are ALL that holds everything in place. Six one inch welds. If the rudder gets salt water inside, it can rust the welds so in a biggish sea these welds can let go and the rudder falls apart. We watched bits of it drift away in the wash at the back of the boat.
This has happened to me. Apart from leaking water into all of the hatches and ports, which the uprated bilge pumping system I installed easily took care of, the boat was fine, but as I had no steerage in side on big seas, I choose to think of the safety of the crew, and called for help. I was worried about the boat being rolled and crew becoming injured. I would not go offshore again in a yacht with a spade rudder unless I had an emergency rudder. A complete clip on the back emergency rudder that had been built to suit the boat and had been tested in a big sea to ensure it actually works. What I did when I got home was google Beneteau rudder failure. I was horrified. Hindsite is an easy thing. My boat had a Cat1 clearance before it left NZ. They do not check under the boat.
I saw this post this morning and have been thinking all day about whether to pour cold water on the parade, but hey its your life after all. Lucky for me the insurer Club Marine paid out. A $3500 premium with a $240K pay-out. Thank you Club Marine. The investigator suggested that a rudder that age should be cut in half to check the welds and then re fibreglassed. Spade rudders be careful.

[Mike Banks]

N0--both of those anchors are not adequate for a serious storm on a boat with the weight yours has. I would recommend at least a 60 lbs Manson Supreme. Your Bruce, if it genuine and not a cheap knock-off, is inadequate for a forty foot mono. Sell it and put the money towards the Manson Supreme. Your CQR, if it is a proper CQR or a Manson, would be adequate for calm water and good holding. The knock-off ploughs are not really good enough and I do not trust them.

I used a 60 Lb Manson on my trimaran. Yes, it was heavy--but it never budged an inch once set--and my trimaran weighed less than your mono with all that ballast, and not settling as deeply in the water it was less affacted by strong currents.

It is the surge back against the anchor of tons of vesel and ballast that lifts out anchors. A kellet is an essential on my vessels, I use a cheap kettle-weight bought from any bulk sports store for about thirty bucks and weighing about ten to twenty kilos. I fasten them to the anchor chain rode by a shackle and chain, or sometimes by a doubled up nylon rope lanyard made into a soft shackle.When recovering the anchor, as soon as it is close to the bow roller, drag the weight aboard using a boat hook, then release the loop of the lanyard to slide out of the chain before bringing the rest of the rode and anchor aboard. Deploying it is much easier than recovering it. Even if you have to use a dinghy to collect the kellet. I set mine about one third of the distance from the anchor to the vessel--but some people prefer it to be one third minimum to half of the maximum distance in chain from vessel to to anchor.

The reason we go on about yet another thread on anchoring, is because so many vessels are lost through dragging and inadequate anchoring cable.

[JPA Cate]

Hello, again, nzldude,

I'll add my voice to those who have said the Bruce is way too small. Our present boat was thumping on the beach, having dragged while we were off her. #40 lb Bruce, between 11 and 12 tonnes displacement, wet.

I am not familiar with the bottoms you'll encounter, so will not comment about the CQR, except for this: they do have a failure mode. If the pivoting hole gets wallowed out, the flukes do not set properly. It is fixable, and if yours does not have a good fit, I would see to having it fixed before you take off, if you plan to trust your boat and life to it.

Ann

PS. CF had a Crew Wanted section, if you want to use it to try and find crew.

[NevisDog]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

... so will not comment about the CQR, except for this: they do have a failure mode. If the pivoting hole gets wallowed out,...

Anne is too polite - CQR has multiple failure modes. On one occasion I lost count of number times I raised sail again, beat back to chosen anchoring location, dropped, skidded back without engaging bottom, hoisted sail again... five, six, seven times - genuine CQR in as-new condition with heavy chain - before finally dropping an old fisherman-type with nylon rode and staying put. Even when they engage they are equally likely not to when wind or tide turn and flips them. Maybe use it as a kellet/anchor-buddy if you decide to keep it.

[nzldude]

Appreciate all the comments here people

So basically my CQR is useless for the Australia conditions.
I like the look of the manson supreme (https://www.whitworths.com.au/manson...e-anchor?q=573), $800 AUD for the 27kg option is quite reasonable.

[RaymondR]

I have done the Perth to eastern states twice and Maryborough-Exmouth-Maryborough once.

The first P-ES was with a plough type anchor, the M-E-M with a Bruce style and the last P-ES with a Delta.

I have found that the plough was a bugger to set and sometimes required dragging around an anchorage to get a set but usually held well once set. However in clay bottoms it sometimes required retrieving and cleaning to get a reset.

The Bruce style usually took a set as soon as it hit bottom, I often sail into anchorages and set the anchor on the run to bring the boat to a stop. However, whilst it more reliably set and reset it would not hold as well as the plough.

The Delta appears to be about half way between the two. It sometimes takes a bit of mucking about to get it to set, but not as badly as the plough. It appears to hold very well once set but I have only done the one voyage of about 4,000 nm of coastal passages with a fair bit of anchoring involved.

My backup for the Delta is a Bruce style with about 20 metres of 5/16 chain and 100 or so of 3/4" nylon rode.

Both the boats were around 12 tons displacement with the main anchor rode 3/8" chain. All the anchors were around the 30 kg range.

[RaymondR]

The hardest part of the voyage is likely to be that from North West Cape down to Fremantle. South westerlies tend to prevail.

[nzldude]

Thanks for all the constructive replies guys. Appreciate all the information/knowledge.

Will ensure I get a larger more suitable anchor for the trip.

[bill99]

Manson supreme, or for real one and not a knock off, get a Rocna