Hello from Perth

[Shay Twomey]

Hi,

Very fresh to sailing, looking to build some skills and techniques to perhaps enjoy some retirement life cruising up and down Western Australia.

Any help, opinions, suggestions etc greatly appreciated!

Cheers,
Shay

[Tin Tin]

Motor Boat or Sail Boat?

[Shay Twomey]

Hi Tin Tin,

definitely sail boat for me. Prefer a multihull, but not to fussed either way

[Grith]

Have you thought about a larger trailerable yacht cruising equipped as the WA coast is long and somewhat boring whilst Shark Bay, The Kimberley’s and even further afield can be reached quickly via land and then just cruising the destination.
We have one of these and are now located in South East South Australia and our next big planned major cruise is 3 months out in the Kimberley’s and last years cruise was 9 weeks out in The Whitsundays.
It only took 4 days of daylight hours only driving to return from Airlie Beach to our home. This journey would have taken weeks to months to sail and I don’t even want to think of the effort and time to sail from the mouth of The Murray to the Kimberley’s.
They also have some other unique advantages as seen here.

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by Grith

Have you thought about a larger trailerable yacht cruising equipped as the WA coast is long and somewhat boring whilst Shark Bay, The Kimberley’s and even further afield can be reached quickly via land and then just cruising the destination.
We have one of these and are now located in South East South Australia and our next big planned major cruise is 3 months out in the Kimberley’s and last years cruise was 9 weeks out in The Whitsundays.
It only took 4 days of daylight hours only driving to return from Airlie Beach to our home. This journey would have taken weeks to months to sail and I don’t even want to think of the effort and time to sail from the mouth of The Murray to the Kimberley’s.
They also have some other unique advantages as seen here.

Very good suggestion for the OP, though of course it’s more like camping than a larger boat. And it may preclude cruising the S coast of W Australia or Tasmania. But it’s definitely a quick way to enjoy far away cruising areas!

We’ve cruised three of Australia’s coasts and met trailer sailor flotillas in Hervey Bay (doing a one way Cairns/Airlie Beach to Gold Coast trip) and a trio of trailer sailors in the W Kimberley last year. Those guys were going Wyndham to Derby and even though last year was wet they were having a terrible time getting enough water. Unlike the East Coast, there are very few places to resupply accessible by water in the Kimberley, so that definitely needs planning in a smaller boat. I’m sure you’ll love it there, it’s an awesome area.

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by Shay Twomey

Hi,

Very fresh to sailing, looking to build some skills and techniques to perhaps enjoy some retirement life cruising up and down Western Australia.

Any help, opinions, suggestions etc greatly appreciated!

Cheers,
Shay

Fremantle Sailing Club has a very active and welcoming cruising section. You can start with sailing other people’s boats as you develop skills and a better idea of what kind of boat and cruising suits your personality.

If you’re in Perth city check out the local sailing clubs for learn to sail and casual racing - great way to meet people and develop sailing skills.

[Grith]

Originally Posted by fxykty

Very good suggestion for the OP, though of course it’s more like camping than a larger boat. And it may preclude cruising the S coast of W Australia or Tasmania. But it’s definitely a quick way to enjoy far away cruising areas!

We’ve cruised three of Australia’s coasts and met trailer sailor flotillas in Hervey Bay (doing a one way Cairns/Airlie Beach to Gold Coast trip) and a trio of trailer sailors in the W Kimberley last year. Those guys were going Wyndham to Derby and even though last year was wet they were having a terrible time getting enough water. Unlike the East Coast, there are very few places to resupply accessible by water in the Kimberley, so that definitely needs planning in a smaller boat. I’m sure you’ll love it there, it’s an awesome area.

Agreed but not all trailer sailers are that small, old or space constrained internally if the OP is not planning ocean crossings or living permanently onboard. Most are but there are exceptions like ours.
We were very comfortable last year out in The Whitsundays for 9 weeks and only a house purchase back in South Australia had us pack up early and drive quickly home.
We are currently planning 3 months without resupply in The Kimberley’s and have added a reverse osmosis watermaker to our existing cruising modifications removing water issues for us.
PS We have an enclosed shower toilet, hot water, two large double berths not requiring dinette deconstruction and standing headroom at the galley for me at over 6 foot. It’s a bit better than camping!

[ChrisJHC]

Have a look at “Free Range Sailing” on YouTube.
They spent a lot of time sailing along the WA coast.

[Grith]

Hi Chris Thanks. Yes I have looked at their videos but actually have far more experienced trailer sailing friends who have done The Kimberley’s on many many occasions.
The are many areas that super low draft trailer sailers capable of drying out flat on the extreme tides open up creating a world of further opportunities beyond those available to those with conventional draft and keels.
These include a huge range of inland waterways and alternative cruising destinations ( like Lake Argyle or The Coorong for instance) that are denied regular cruising yachts by draft or location.
It’s the wide range of relatively quickly accessible (50knots upwind by road) coastal and inland waterways destinations that a big extended cruising equipped trailer sailer can access that had me proposing it as an alternative to the OP.
Western Australia is particularly challenging due to its very long coastal sails to reach many cruising grounds outside the immediate area around Perth.
I am an ex West Aussie who considered coming home to retire who has instead found a very cheap home directly on The Murray River in South Australia that is proving to be a perfect base from which to tow our yacht to access cruising grounds right around Australia both inland and coastal.

[NBJS]

Hi Shay..All good advice above from ppl who know...FSC [Freo] is a good start as is South Perth and Royal Perth...they welcome new sailors.Get around and sample as many different yachts as you can and take the cook and the kids if you have them...Solo sailing will teach you a lot about yourself but it can get boring and youll probably end up talking to yourself or yelling at the newsreader on the ABC radio.[I ve done it]...WA coast is very unfriendly at times ...theres a long way between safe anchorages and I would want at least 10ton displacement or 40ft length with a very reliable motor to play around in the southerly sort of comfortably.
Griths idea of a TS is an excellant suggestion for WA...Albany..Walpole Nornalup Inlet..Geograph Bay...Rottennest..Cockburn Sound...Shark Bay..Ningaloo..Exmouth Gulf..Dampier Archipeligo...Broome KImberlies..Lake Argyle ..Ord River...are all brilliant destinations for a TS.Also the convenience of not having pen fees..slipping fees..yacht club member fees..fees on fees and more fees is a load off yoor pocket and the cost of maintenance is a LOT less than a bigger yacht too.And less worry when the storm fronts come thru and you dont have a boat in the water.Size is the compromise with a TS and the need {preference ] of more protected waters.Its up to you what you really want just check everything out and think about what you will be doing in " reality" before deciding on a boat.
Anyway ...go the "cardies" and good luck in your search....JD

Disclaimer: I have a 23ft TS and love what Shark Bay has to offer. Its just magic.

[UFO]

Originally Posted by Grith

Hi Chris Thanks. Yes I have looked at their videos but actually have far more experienced trailer sailing friends who have done The Kimberley’s on many many occasions.
The are many areas that super low draft trailer sailers capable of drying out flat on the extreme tides open up creating a world of further opportunities beyond those available to those with conventional draft and keels.
These include a huge range of inland waterways and alternative cruising destinations ( like Lake Argyle or The Coorong for instance) that are denied regular cruising yachts by draft or location.
It’s the wide range of relatively quickly accessible (50knots upwind by road) coastal and inland waterways destinations that a big extended cruising equipped trailer sailer can access that had me proposing it as an alternative to the OP.
Western Australia is particularly challenging due to its very long coastal sails to reach many cruising grounds outside the immediate area around Perth.
I am an ex West Aussie who considered coming home to retire who has instead found a very cheap home directly on The Murray River in South Australia that is proving to be a perfect base from which to tow our yacht to access cruising grounds right around Australia both inland and coastal.

Not sure I'd like to dry out in a small boat in the Kimberlies - We saw more crocs there than anywhere else, and we saw a LOT of Crocs across the top and Northern Qld

[CatAdventure]

Originally Posted by Shay Twomey

Hi Tin Tin,

definitely sail boat for me. Prefer a multihull, but not to fussed either way

Many of the local sailing clubs have the keelboat training, it's a good starting point. Then you can start racing or having casual sailing on the club as well.

I did some training with a guy with a cat in Busselton, he also does trips in Geraldton in winter.

[RaymondR]

The trailer sailor scheme is a good fit for WA, had a keel boat there from 1987 until 2001 and the cruising range is very restricted because of the distances involved and mooring fees in the marinas are fairly expensive.

I've been through the Kimberlies four times now and the most crocs I've seen are in Cairns harbour and the locals there seem to get along with them fairly well. I would not be at all worried about them when dried out in a trailer sailor.

[Adelie]

Welcome to CruisersForum!

I would suggest updating your profile with your boat make & model or “Looking” in the "Boat" category. This info shows up under your UserName in every post in the web view. Many questions are boat and/or location dependent and having these tidbits under your UserName saves answering those questions repeatedly. If you need help setting up your profile then click on this link: https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ml#post3308797

I would happily help more if the link above is not enough.