Sailing from Townsville to Sydney

[Morph]

Hi Everyone
I have just bought a 35' catamaran in Townsville (Australia) and at the end of Feb want to sail her back to Sydney. Would really appreciate any advice on where to pull into, what to look out for, what we must do and what we must not do, and any general advice people have for the trip.

She is a very good sailing boat, light, daggerboards etc but I would prefer to be going with the wind

Thanks in advance.


Phil

[ChrisJHC]

It would help to know some more about your requirements (eg do you have a schedule, are you happy to sail overnight, will you be solo or have a crew, etc).

There are good harbours every 4-6 days all the way down the coast.

[Morph]

We're probably going to do this in a number of chunks, eg, 7-10 days at a time and waiting for the right weather windows. It'll be two of us and no problem sailing through the night. The first stop will obviously be the whitsundays for a few days but its south from there that I'd like some thoughts on. For example, safe harbours/ bays to be able to dive into if the weather turns, places we really should see, places to avoid, any tips or ideas. We may end up taking a month of two to get down flying up between work gigs etc. Cheers Phil

[Hasbeen]

If you want to do this easily, down wind, wait until October, that is the only time you can be sure of some northlies on the north Queensland coast. If you don't want to become a statistic, wait until the end of the cyclone season at least.


I have done the trip many times so a few thoughts. The SE trades usually diminish at night, & drift to south & even a little west of south some nights. This makes beating much easier, particularly close in shore.



On the Queensland coast the trades are very reliable. You can anchor behind any headland or island for a rest from thumping to windward in the short seas generated by strong tides. If you are lucky enough to get a northerly do not anchor to the south of any protection as most northlies are followed by sharp south easters usually changing in the middle of the night. You usually get the swell before the wind, so have time to get out, but it can be nasty.



Use the quiet waters behind Curtis island into Gladstone, & Fraser Island, if you have reliable power. I'd also suggest going through Morton Bay, & out to sea at South port.



From there the fun stops. You are more likely to get favorable breezes, but in rough conditions there are virtually no safe anchorages. Ballina is fine in moderate conditions but is not for the inexperienced in more, unless you have bar crossing experience, or you & your boat can handle surfing some distance.


Coffs Harbor can be entered in most rough conditions, but I'm not sure there is space for visitors in the small boat harbor, & the outer harbor is very rough in rough conditions.


The next safe entrance is Port Stephens. It gets easier then with Newcastle & Broken bay available.


I have watched trawlers reverse into many NSW fishing ports, so as to take breaking waves on the bow, & speed boats riding the back of waves over the bars. Crossing them is not for anyone without bar experience, & a very sound knowledge of their boats behavior in any but quiet conditions. When available many of those little ports are interesting to visit for a few days.


Good luck, have a ball.

[RaymondR]

You will experience winds from NW to SW with a lot of easterly-ish sea breezes between about October to March or April all the way down the coast. The only places the SE trade winds really blow are north of Cairns. The prevailing winter winds down the Queensland coast are strong South Easterlies so you need to get the voyage done by late March unless you can accept a winter layover in Queensland.

The lowest cost marina on the east coast is probably the one at Maryborough on the Mary River but it's flood prone between January and April so you have to be willing to move your boat sown river should a flood occur. There are marinas at Urangan and Tin Can Bay which are below the 25 degree south restricted "named storm" (cyclone) areas. The Port Marina at Burnett Heads has travel lift and long term hard stand facilities if you want to leave the boat in Queensland for a winter. I think it is just above 25 south there so you would need to check whether it is acceptable to your insurer if you want to leave the boat there in the official cyclone season from about November until April.

You can day sail the entire trip from Townsville to the Gold Coast Seaway however things get a bit more tide time dependent further south from there because of the bar crossings. The longest hop in Queensland is about 50+ nm between Pancake Creek and Burnett Heads but since Burnett Heads is a well lit major river port with an anchorage just inside the harbor entry it's a low stress night arrival if you should have a slow trip. Shoal draft vessels can shorten the leg by going the 12 nm south to 1770 but it's a tide dependent entry and exit. There are two choices for the leg from Keppel Bay to Pancake Creek, inside via The Narrows or outside around Cape Capricorn. You need to work tides to go through The Narrows or if you want to break the outside voyage by going into the North Entrance of Gladstone harbor and anchor for the night behind Facing Island and go to Pancake Creek via the shipping channel.

Lucas's Cruising the Corral Coast and Cruising the New South Wales Coast covers the entire voyage.

There is a "Cruising Queensland" group on Facebook where you can request and receive lots of advice - some of it actually of value. There is also the Shag Island Yacht Club who have get togethers at various places.

There are yacht or sailing clubs at Bowen, Airlie Beach (best party town on the entire east coast but not the best of anchorages during the summer months and enjoys notoriety with insurers), Mackay, Gladstone, Burnett Heads, Urangan, Tin Can Bay and probably further south but I don't go further south than the Wide Bay Bar very often because of the excessive insanity and proliferation of Rivieras down there.

[BobFord]

I can relate to most of the previous blogs but would like to add-
- I found that best winds were aro' Nov/ Dec , but that was to avoid cyclones. In cyclone season , prepare a list of 'shelter holes' , in the rare event of being threatened by a storm.
- South of GC , I like Iluka , virtually no bar ,great harbour and supplies on Iluka shore.
-shelter from a Southerly - Byron Bay ,South West Rocks.
- if stuck for good wind ex Whitsundays , consider using the Broadsound and working tides . Good anchorages ,see pilot.
- of interest , internet available most of the passage with good antenna.
Good sailing !

[fxykty]

NSW coast will require longer hops to avoid bar entries - Byron Bay open roadstead), Coffs Harbour (open to the east), Port Stephens, Newcastle, Broken Bay are pretty much it. Systems are relatively short so you probably won’t be stuck anywhere too long. But if you get a favourable forecast then go right away to use it before the next southerly change.

[JPA Cate]

Southbound, we have anchored overnight at Trial Bay, too, and also, on the north side of Cape Hawke when getting out of a southerly. It is definitely an open roadstead, but slept just fine, and in a rollier than a cat mono, to boot. Just remember the anchor light at night, because no one will expect you to be there. Further south, we have stopped at Broughton Is, ahead of a southerly change. Anchor in the prevailing NE, it will go light at night ahead of the change. It's an easy go from Broughton to the Hunter River, or overnight into Pittwater, depends on how fast the boat is, of course, and the wind strength.

Ann

[Morph]

THanks everyone-- this is incredibly helpful. The boat is fast-- a Pescott Summersalt but only has a singe 20hp outboard (steerable) so we'll be trying to sail as much as we can.

We want to spend a bit of time in the islands to the south of the Whitsundays-- the Percys etc-- any suggestions on where to go around there?

Phil

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by Morph

THanks everyone-- this is incredibly helpful. The boat is fast-- a Pescott Summersalt but only has a singe 20hp outboard (steerable) so we'll be trying to sail as much as we can.

We want to spend a bit of time in the islands to the south of the Whitsundays-- the Percys etc-- any suggestions on where to go around there?

Phil

You need a copy of Noel Patricks Curtis Coast which details the area between Bundaberg and Mackay.

[clownfishsydney]

Have a look at my website and the two voyages I did to Queensland from Sydney. They have full details of sailing back, albeit not at the time of the year you plan to do it. Michael McFadyen's Scuba Diving Web Site

[chrisr]

unfortunately you're going to get a lot of headwinds and with your limited engine set-up, be prepared to wait

but when you see a weather window, grab it...make some miles south while you can...and then wait again

whitsundays are ok but crowded. mackay marina is good. stay away from airlie

keppels are nice but can be rolly. butterfly bay is good...there's loads of spots to stop (and you're going to need most of them). get lucas's book cruising the queensland coast

go inside curtis island through the narrows (for a cat it's easy) and gets out of the headwinds for a while. gladstone marina is super good if you need to hole up

1770 is really difficult entrance...pancake creek is much better

bundy is good as is urangan

going inside fraser island is easy and saves heaps. wide bay bar needs to be respected but mostly no problem.

the lagoon inside double island point is a great place to rest up and wait for weather

definitely via moreton bay and the inside passages to gold coast. crowded but gets away from the head winds

once you get down to qld / nsw boarder all the hard work is over. you can start to expect NE'lys plus you get the s'ly current. iluka is worth a stop...coffs can be very unpleasant in the wrong weather (although the marina is ok). port mac bar is difficult...camden haven is safer

as regards nsw coastal bars : always cross on an incoming tide (last half is best)...dont forget to allow for tidal (ie river induced) over-run. always subject to weather and swell direction. ballina/tweed/port mac are best avoided until you know what you're doing. the rest are easy enough...although every bar you go over you are going to wish you had more power !

have fun

cheers,

[JPA Cate]

We've only stopped at Middle Percy Is. Enjoyed same. There is a lagoon there, might be suitable for your cat.

I have to say, I agree with chrisr, mostly. However, when you're letting weather rule it all, then taking advantage of non-southerly-quadrant winds could easily mean going outside Fraser Island. To me, using what the wind gods give you trumps day hops. Day hops are for northbound travel, where you are battling the EAC. The EAC is like an escalator, it can give a huge boost, and it is fun to take advantage of it. The BoM web site has current information on it. All of your travel will be somewhat dependent on what kinds of weather windows you actually encounter. One of our fastest trips was outside Fraser, from Moreton Bay to Gladstone.

Safe places in mid to south Qld to leave the boat for a few weeks include Gladstone, Bundy, Urangan, and Mooloolaba. There are a number of places in Moreton Bay, as well.

From there, not Coff's. It is subject to serious problems in NE gales. and the marina was in sad condition when we last were there. Marina space south of there gets expensive fast, but there is one at Foster-Tuncurry; Laurieton has a couple of moorings, and is a nice little town. There are a number of places you can go in, but wherever there is a lot of impounded water, the water flows fast, and they are both barred entries. Port Stephens has three marinas, one of them a long way in, and not easy to get to. Newcastle has a good marina, check ahead, though. A friend of ours recently stopped at the marina between Kiama and Port Kembla, and also at Shellharbour, and liked both; Bermagui is also a fairly new marina. South of there, check your insurance, some policies have limitations about using Twofold Bay (town, Eden), but there is a river you can go up on the south side. It is a place where you anchor depending on the overnight wind change, either north or south. It will have an easterly swell in some conditions. We have stopped at Bitangabee prior to hopping off for Tassie, but usually leave from Twofold Bay. Hopping back north for a moment, we anchor at Pittwater, Port Hacking,
Broulee Is., southbound, but there are so many places to pop in, depending on the weather and the tides.

You will soon get a feel for what you enjoy the most.

Ann

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by Morph

THanks everyone-- this is incredibly helpful. The boat is fast-- a Pescott Summersalt but only has a singe 20hp outboard (steerable) so we'll be trying to sail as much as we can.

We want to spend a bit of time in the islands to the south of the Whitsundays-- the Percys etc-- any suggestions on where to go around there?

Phil

The Bunker Group is superlative - we enjoyed our time there much more than the Whitsundays. It’s a short sail over from Great Keppel to the northern islands.

NW, Wilson and Heron islands have moorings on their N and W sides - check the QLD moorings maps for details. Super snorkeling and diving on the reef walls and you’ll likely be the only boat due to the open roadsteads.

Fitzroy and Lady Musgrave are both lagoons with openings facing N, but fully reef protected once inside (some swell gets over the reef at high tide).

From there you can head back to the coast at Bundaberg to replenish supplies, then head south inside Fraser.

[NevilleCat]

* following*
Some useful advice here for a likewise one-day dreamer.
I think your boat and motor set up will be fine for the bar crossings, 20 hp would probably push it over 10kn for bursts I would imagine, but a bit tiresome and thirsty for very long bashes.