Bar Crossing Course.

[tenzing]

I know that much has been written about Bill Cortens bar crossing course, but I really wanted to plug it some more.
I did the course on Easter Saturday with my son and two mates. Most people stayed away from the south passage bar due to the weather but Bill had us back and forth over that bar from 7.30 am till 3.30 pm and wasnt it the greatest fun/ learning experience of all time!
We did that bar crossing a few dozen times all up, and Bill had us all pretty comfortable with it by day's end.
Bill Really knows his stuff, and more importantly is extremely good at passing it on.
We all had a great day , and came home hopefully safer and wiser boaties.
Thanks again Bill, and thanks too to Mrs Corten for the tasty cakes and sangers
(Mmm the cakes).
I heartily recommend this course to anyone considering doing their first bar crossings or wanting to brush up on their knowledge.
Bills boat is beautiful, and I am sure that like me , you'll find that this is the best money you can spend on boating safety.
Brendan

[cormorant]

What motor does he have and does he still run a cruiscraft?

[tenzing]

What motor does he have and does he still run a cruiscraft?
cruisecraft 685 explorer with 250 hp 4 stroke yamaha(?)

[Fish Guts]

i totally agree Brendan ! did the course with my dad with Bill about a week or two ago. Definately knows his stuff when it comes to bar crossing and teaching the best practice. Definately recommend it to anyone. awesome teaching and a genuine guy.

[datamile]

Does he tell you how to apply to tinny bowrider like mine ? Wife and kids start screaming if I even approach a bar, and I'm not sure the course would convince them.

[tenzing]

Does he tell you how to apply to tinny bowrider like mine ? Wife and kids start screaming if I even approach a bar, and I'm not sure the course would convince them.
Better to let Bill give you the skinny on the bow rider and bar crossing.
One of the guys on saturday had a bow rider too, Bill discussed the limitations of his boat in detail with him on the day. I think he still got heaps of value from the day too

[gofishin]

Brendan, did it in January with two mates after many failed attempts because one of us had something come up with work, or were overseas, or sometimes the swell wasn’t up enough... In the end the planets aligned and we all made it – with perfect weather and pretty good swell too. And yes, absolutely worth the money, and a bonus when you don’t know this bar very well, as I didn’t! Sadly, I have only been back out for a play once, and it was very tame at the time.

I think the most fun all of us had was surfing his boat in the white water section north of the bar, dodging sand boils and darting among the backs of waves nearly all the way in to the beach – not what you’d do in your own boat, but absolutely fantastic fun!

Cormorant, yes, but it’s not your average Explorer, as it is built to survey, and he carries quite a bit of gear/equipment. From memory it’s about 350 - 400kg heavier than the normal 685, and although you can feel this weight (especially with 4 blokes aboard), it still handled pretty damn good.
Cheers
Brendon

[tenzing]

Brendan, did it in January with two mates after many failed attempts because one of us had something come up with work, or were overseas, or sometimes the swell wasn’t up enough... In the end the planets aligned and we all made it – with perfect weather and pretty good swell too. And yes, absolutely worth the money, and a bonus when you don’t know this bar very well, as I didn’t! Sadly, I have only been back out for a play once, and it was very tame at the time.

I think the most fun all of us had was surfing his boat in the white water section north of the bar, dodging sand boils and darting among the backs of waves nearly all the way in to the beach – not what you’d do in your own boat, but absolutely fantastic fun!

Cormorant, yes, but it’s not your average Explorer, as it is built to survey, and he carries quite a bit of gear/equipment. From memory it’s about 350 - 400kg heavier than the normal 685, and although you can feel this weight (especially with 4 blokes aboard), it still handled pretty damn good.
Cheers
Brendon
Yes Brendon , I think Bill refers to that area as "the playground" , and for good reason. It was great to sit right on the top of some steep breakers, then duck off to find some to jump over the back of on the way to the beach.

[TimiBoy]

It is a Yammie on the back of Bill's boat.

I did the course with him in October 2007, and I'll back everything said here about Bill and his bar crossing course.

As an extra, do you know he also does an offshore fishing course, as well as running the odd charter? The quality of education he brings to the fishing course is up there with his bar course, well worth it, I learned buckets. Watching him use the sounder and nav gear is an experience...

Datamile, ring Bill and have a chat with him. He'll tell you if he can help you, and he won't blow the sunshine up your ar$e just to get the work. If you need his number pm me.

Cheers,

Tim

[gofishin]

...As an extra, do you know he also does an offshore fishing course, as well as running the odd charter? ...Tim Tim, yes, full day offshore fishing course after you do a night of tuition at his place. But, he doesn't call it a fishing charter, "as he is not taking you out to fill the esky" (his words). I believe the day also involves learning how to get the boat anchored/positioned where you want it, using the ball float sytem etc, and i think using a parra too. Pretty much learning about everything you might do/use on a day's fishing yourself.
cheers

[Alchemy]

I did the bar course back in 2002. I was lucky in that it was a horrible day on the bar (or so I thought) and there was only two of us to teach that day, so we had heaps of time at the wheel. He had a 650 Outsider then. Was so impressed that a mate and I went back a few months later and did his fishing course. This too was great as I had no experience fishing offshore at that point.

Would thoroughly recommend both courses, especially if you're new to offshore fishing and bars.

Dave.