Australia - What a Beautiful Place to Cruise

[ausaviator]

I reckon that the gold coast is THE worst place to sail. It's shallow, narrow chanelled and very busy at the weekend. Most people run aground sometime because the sand banks shift all the time. Moreton bay( Brisbane) is by far the better choice if you are deep keeled. I have lived on or near the gold coast for 20 years, and before that spent 17 years on Pittwater, north of Sydney, and there is no comparison between the two for sailing pleasure.

Agreed, the Gold Coast is quite cryptic to navigate around. Moreton Island area provides much more open areas. There's a bit of shallow stuff off Tangalooma area though (first picture below)

Pictures for those interested are Moreton Island artificial reed near Tangalooma Resort that I took from my plane last winter when I was up in Sunny qld.

Marina is Redcliffe.

[As Time Goes By]

AiniA

Haven't been to Darwin, but I have a mate who as just completed a circumnavigation of Australia and could give you some info if needed. He set off this time sat year and returned about 3 months ago.

We come from Queensland so we know the Coast from Brisbane as far as the Whitsundays. Basically I think you can have a pleasant time doing day sailing probably as far as Cairns, with only the occasional overnight. Not much between Mooloolaba and Fraser Island. Noosa is too shallow but you can anchor outside fine weather. Main hurdle North of Brisbane is the Wide Bay Bar at the Southern end of Fraser Island. If the weather isn't good I'd skip it and just keep going North. Last year we went Double Island Point direct to Lady Musgrave and avoided the bar. North of the Wide Bay Bar it's easy going all the way North, pretty much.

Plenty of places to stop on the way but I would make sure you visit Lady Musgrave Island at the Southern end of the Barrier Reef.

North of Cairns and across the Gulf the distances would be getting longer. But you'd need to speak to someone who's done the trip. I guess if I was going Brisbane to Darwin I might take a fairly leisurely 6-8 weeks to get to Cairns and allow another month to get Darwin. The run up the Qld coast this time if year is mostly a downwind run. But across the top from Cape York to Darwin you might want to allow a bit if time to wait for a weather window.

[As Time Goes By]

Originally Posted by ausaviator

Agreed, the Gold Coast is quite cryptic to navigate around. Moreton Island area provides much more open areas. There's a bit of shallow stuff off Tangalooma area though (first picture below)

Pictures for those interested are Moreton Island artificial reed near Tangalooma Resort that I took from my plane last winter when I was up in Sunny qld.

Marina is Redcliffe.

I agree. Tangalooma is a good spot. Tide runs quite fast inside the wrecks and at weekends there's a fair bit of activity. Midweek you will have it on your own. We prefer to anchor South of Tangalooma. There are a few quiet anchorages 2 or 3 miles S where you will be comfortable and have the place to yourself. Lucinda Bay is the spot if I remember correctly. Catch a fish or two there.

Spend a bit of time there then head for Mooloolaba.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by As Time Goes By

AiniA

Haven't been to Darwin, but I have a mate who as just completed a circumnavigation of Australia and could give you some info if needed. He set off this time sat year and returned about 3 months ago.

We come from Queensland so we know the Coast from Brisbane as far as the Whitsundays. Basically I think you can have a pleasant time doing day sailing probably as far as Cairns, with only the occasional overnight. Not much between Mooloolaba and Fraser Island. Noosa is too shallow but you can anchor outside fine weather. Main hurdle North of Brisbane is the Wide Bay Bar at the Southern end of Fraser Island. If the weather isn't good I'd skip it and just keep going North. Last year we went Double Island Point direct to Lady Musgrave and avoided the bar. North of the Wide Bay Bar it's easy going all the way North, pretty much.

Plenty of places to stop on the way but I would make sure you visit Lady Musgrave Island at the Southern end of the Barrier Reef.

North of Cairns and across the Gulf the distances would be getting longer. But you'd need to speak to someone who's done the trip. I guess if I was going Brisbane to Darwin I might take a fairly leisurely 6-8 weeks to get to Cairns and allow another month to get Darwin. The run up the Qld coast this time if year is mostly a downwind run. But across the top from Cape York to Darwin you might want to allow a bit if time to wait for a weather window.

I concur and just to fill some blanks:

Quite a few overnight anchorages are available between Cairns and Cape York, the winter (dry season) prevailing SE's freshen up a bit particularly north of Cooktown to a steady 20 -25 kts becoming more easterly and easing a bit across the gulf towards Darwin so really it is a downwind trip most of the time. I am not familiar with anchorages between Cape York and Darwin.

@ATGB, did your mate circumnavigate Oz anticlockwise? If so, can you PM me with his contact details - assuming it is OK to contact him!!

[As Time Goes By]

Originally Posted by Wotname

I concur and just to fill some blanks:

Quite a few overnight anchorages are available between Cairns and Cape York, the winter (dry season) prevailing SE's freshen up a bit particularly north of Cooktown to a steady 20 -25 kts becoming more easterly and easing a bit across the gulf towards Darwin so really it is a downwind trip most of the time. I am not familiar with anchorages between Cape York and Darwin.

@ATGB, did your mate circumnavigate Oz anticlockwise? If so, can you PM me with his contact details - assuming it is OK to contact him!!

His name is Brian Midgely. Haven't got his email on my iPad but here is his blog. You should be able to contact him through that. I'm sure he'd be happy to share his experiences.

http://truansea.blogspot.com/

Boat is a Seawind 1000XL cat "Truansea"

[surfingminniwinni]

Originally Posted by ozmate

Hi As time goes by !
Do you know where abouts will be ? we will probably spend 3-4 weeks in sydney but we are looking for a reasonably priced mooring or maybe just dropping anchor somewhere

Hi oz & astgb,

We are in Sydney at the moment, working & topping up the cruising kitty, look us up, we are at Gladesville Bridge Marina. Sailing to Pittwater weekend 10th March, ccca Hawaii party at Hallets Beach.

Glenn & Jen

[ozmate]

Hi Shane, We only expect to reach Sydney at the end of March, our plan is to anchor or get a mooring for about 3-4 weeks and will not be staying at marinas as we are hopeing this is going to be long term cruising therefore we want to stretch the cruising kitty as much as we can. Will keep an eye open for you and please do the same.

Kind Regards

[savoir]

You can't anchor just anywhere in Sydney Harbour. Blackwattle Bay is it or the cops will be stopping by for a chat. Both of these places have moorings for around $450 pm and a good bus service close by.
Gladesville Bridge Marina
The Spit Marina | Sydney Harbour Marina | Moorings & Berths - The Spit - Sydney

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by savoir

You can't anchor just anywhere in Sydney Harbour. Blackwattle Bay is it or the cops will be stopping by for a chat. Both of these places have moorings for around $450 pm and a good bus service close by.
Gladesville Bridge Marina
The Spit Marina | Sydney Harbour Marina | Moorings & Berths - The Spit - Sydney

Actually, we have not found this to be true over the past years. We've anchored in many places and the only place we've ever been hasseled is... Blackwattle Bay! You are right under the noses of NSW Maritime's big office building, and they just can't bear for you to have a good time there... or so it seems. The approved anchoring areas in Blackwattle and Rozelle Bays are very restricted in size and are mostly too shallow for many boats, and they watch you like hawks to be sure that you don't swing out of the authorized areas.

Anyway, other areas include Manly (near the ferry wharf), all the little bays on the eastern side, north of the heads, Balmoral, Sugarloaf and Bantry bays in Middle Harbour, Balls Head Bay (the official overseas anchorage), Iron Cove (near Birkenhead), and many other spots, usually just outside of a mooring field. If you were to take up long term residence they would likely get pushy, but for a few days at a time it seems to be ok in our experience.

But, unless you crave bright lights, crowds, excessive officials and so on, the Broken Bay/Pittwater area is far better cruising IMO.

So, enjoy the area whatever your choice of venues may be. We will be transiting the area sometime around May as we trek northward from Tasmania. Won't be stopping in Sydney, though... just Pittwater.

Cheers,

Jim

[savoir]

Must be the inherent charm. Those guys absolutely love to wake you up late at night and move you on. They cruise the bays in the small hours looking for anyone not on a registered mooring. This isn't the regular cops in blue but the Waterways guys who wear brown - and act like brownshirts too.

They don't bother during December and January because there are too many cruisers around.

[ozmate]

Thank you Savoir and Jim, really appreciate your comments, this is all new to us as its the beginning of our cruising life.

Hope to see you around

[savoir]

I should have added that I agree you can anchor anywhere out of a channel for one night. People do it all over on Saturdays. I have been moved from Cobblers Beach and also from Sirius Cove.

Pittwater is totally different and to limit anchoring there would screw up the local charter industry.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by savoir

Must be the inherent charm. Those guys absolutely love to wake you up late at night and move you on. They cruise the bays in the small hours looking for anyone not on a registered mooring. This isn't the regular cops in blue but the Waterways guys who wear brown - and act like brownshirts too.

They don't bother during December and January because there are too many cruisers around.

How unpleasant! But, what justification for "moving you on" is offered? I believe that the official definition of being moored in Sydney is to stay in one place more than three days. AFAIK, there are no statutes against temporary anchoring in the general area of Sydney Harbour. To be official, restricted anchorages need to be gazetted and announced in the local notice to mariners publication (as they have done for Blackwattle and Rozelle Bays).

Of course, a few of the Maritime patrol chaps have small Hitler ideologies, and can be a bit annoying. Some years ago, after one of the hassles in Blackwattle a group of us yotties went into the big office building and lodged a formal protest about one specific officer. We were treated respectfully by the Big Boss, and he called off his dog and the hassles stopped for a while.

They do have strict anti-discharge rules, including grey water, and that has been used (rather selectively) to harass cruisers. I don't know any single yacht that has a greywater collection system, so that usually works for the cops with harassment in mind!

A pity that they are so unwelcoming...

Cheers,

Jim

[susanna reiter]

Don't miss the Whitsunday Islands......gorgeous. An amazing area to spend some time.

[jm21]

Hi All,

So my wife and I are tentatively planning to move to AUS within the next 2 years. She's a PR and wants to get her citizenship before the PR expires. I was looking at it as an opportunity to dramatically downsize our lifestyle, live cheaply for a few years, try out some different jobs and probably try some internet business ideas I have. We would love to get to the point where I am making $1,500 US a month or so and just live very cheaply travelling around the world.

We were looking at starting out in someplace in rural AUS and living off our savings for a few months or a half year while I tried to get some internet business ramped up (already making maybe $500-600 per month).

But then I started thinking maybe a boat? I've always wanted to cruise...owned a boat for a few years, lived on a boat, decided it was too difficult to do a professional job and live on a small boat (not enough hanging storage for suits/shirts/etc., difficult to do laundry and shower all the time).

Is cruising in AUS financially feasible on an extremely low budget? If we weren't able to do work over the internet is it possible to dock at a marina and find work? Is it cheaper or more expensive than living on land, and if so by how much? The rental prices in the cities are insane but don't know about how feasible it is to liveaboard in a city either.

My wife doesn't like the idea of living on a sailboat too much, but would do it if it saved a significant amount of money....she thinks the trawlers and such are OK but our budget is too low for that. Seems like boats are quite a bit more in AUS right now compared to the USA. She also really likes the idea of being able to cruise to SE Asia, especially Indonesia, but I'm kind of thinking it's probably about the same price to cruise in Indonesia as renting a cheap hotel room for a month (she found some for $200US per month).

Anyways, any information would be appreciated. Especially on the economics of it. Might be my only shot at living aboard in the foreseeable future and the only way I can do it is convince the wife it's a really good move financially as compared to living in a cheap rural location.

Is it hard to catch seafood (crustaceans, clams, more-so than fish) due to over-fishing or government regulation?

Sorry for all the questions...