Australia west to east north or south

[sartorst]

I have been asked to crew on a possible trip Perth to Whitsundays! and having owned my own boat and needed crew it is nice when you have someone on board to help with knowledge about the trip planing etc I know nothing of the weather patterns in the southern hemisphere/Australia and would like some input and info to study and be more than a grunt. and I have search this forum and not found anything.Thank you in advance!!

[vayacondios]

Are you going across the bottom or top it's makes a big difference?

[vayacondios]

If going North from Perth (Freemantle) you would leave in May and travel North to Darwin. Going East from Darwin you really don't go before Late September or October and crossing the Gulf of Carpenteria is best after the first part of November. Heading South for the top of Cape York you can get light winds and NE winds from November. Remember there are stingers crocodiles etc to consider. Stingers come out sometimes as early as October in Queensland.

Trust me when I say it's foolish to cross the Gulf of Carpenteria before November. But maybe your skipper plans to go down in the gulf. We could talk for hours just on gulf crossings. I did the trip from Cairns to Darwin and back last year.

If going South from Perth I believe you would leave in September but I'm not 100% sure when is the best month to cross the bight.
Hope that helps.

I would say avoid the top of Australia December through April the wet season, and cyclones come earlier in the west coast before the east coast. Maybe someone else can add more about the Southern route. I've only ever sailed North from Perth.
Rozzie
Vaya con Dios

[Factor]

Short story - the easiest way to get anywhere in Australia is to keep it to port, in other words from Perth to Whitsundays, go south to the east and then go north.

[boatman61]

Did Perth to Pt Fairy then across the top of Tasi' and then down to Pt Huon Oct last year... no big deal..
Stopped at Albany so the owner could run a new ST2000 down to me then next stop was Portland for 1 night for fuel.. long walk with jerry cans so headed on to Pt Fairy (fuel jetty) where I stayed a couple of nights till the wind dropped back to below 25... lovely place..
the run across the Bass Straits was under motor.. it was like glass.
Don't hug the coast is my only advice.

[sartorst]

Just what I was looking for thank you ,and keep it coming and if we cant coordinated our plans some lucky captain will get to move the boat.The owner is a super guy! Also some of the best stops would interest me also, Ultimately the owner/captain will make the decisions.thank you again

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Factor

Short story - the easiest way to get anywhere in Australia is to keep it to port, in other words from Perth to Whitsundays, go south to the east and then go north.

This has been the prevailing view since about 1788 or thereabouts and still holds good.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Did Perth to Pt Fairy then across the top of Tasi' and then down to Pt Huon Oct last year... no big deal..

Some would say you were lucky

Originally Posted by boatman61

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3]Stopped at Albany so the owner could run a new ST2000 down to me....

Very lucky

Originally Posted by boatman61

Don't hug the coast is my only advice.

Very sage advice IMO; at least not until you can start heading north.