First trip across the bay

[Furnari]

hi guys,

Bit new to all that goes on here but slowly making my way around. The mrs and i Bought ourself a new 509 stacer easyrider for xmas with a 75 merc on it. I really want to use this boat to its full potential and get it out on moreton bay for some fishing and trips to tangalooma and so forth. Been out with the old boy many moons ago but never by myself. Any advice on what i should look for...wind, tides etc would be more than greatly appreciated....

matt

[robothefisho]

A forecast of 5-10 knots, head out early come home before afternoon seabreeze. Anthing over 10-15 will be uncomfortable. 15-20 will probably scare the wife and kids. 20-25, will be slow and wet. 25 and over, should have come home earlier. All really depends on how comfortable you are in your boat. generally a NE wind in the bay is bad. If you were at tanga and started seeing whitecaps probably a good idea to start heading home.

[Kdog]

Gday Matt,

Congratulations on your purchase mate, you will find its a great relaxing lifestyle, well, most of the time anyhow!!
Matt, I've alway found that Moreton Bay is a great place, but you need to be aware that it can get nasty at times,especialy the afternoon summer storms that can pop up pretty quick.
If you can, until you gain confidence, and get to know your new boat, check out the Meet and Great section as there is a post from Marlin_Mike { Australia Day Mac Chasing}
We are looking at Australia day over at the Western side of Moretom Island weather depending of course.

[captain rednut]

Hi Matt
The Only Advise I Got Is Welcome To The Site And I Hope You Enjoy Your Time On The Water With Your New Boat,and Maybe Log On And Off With The Coastgaurd On The Marine Radio??? Many Thanks Jim

[Furnari]

Thanks for all the advice guys..will take it all on board. Im not sure if this is a stupid question but is there any particular way to get over to moreton say i put in at victoria pt? Or once again any advice always appreciated.

matt

[Damned67]

Matt,
Head down to your favourite boating store/book store/newsagent, and pick up a copy of 'Beacon to Beacon'. From memory it's about $30, but worth it's weight in gold.
Enjoy your new ride!

[White Pointer]

G'day,

Lots of good advice so far. These are the compulsories by my reckoning.

Your boat should have come with PFDs. You and your wife should put one on and tighten it to fit you and keep it in a place where you can grab it quickly. You have to be in a position to help others after you have helped yourselves. Get into the habit of making all who come aboard put on a life jacket and fit it - then put it in a place allocated to them.

Join your local VMR or Coast Guard. It's like joining the RACQ - a bit of extra insurance but it comes with life saving capability.

Your boat should have a VHF radio. You should both have a recreational boating license and a VHF radio marine operators certificate of competency. Its hard for one person to be all things at once so train to have back up.

Join the local boating club and go to meetings. You will meet the fanatics and learn some things about fishing and meet people who will be willing to assist.

Welcome aboard.

White Pointer

[datamile]

Study the Beacon to Beacon hard. There's more sand than water in lots of places in the bay. If possible try to get one the laminate bay maps as that gives you the bigger picture when planning.

I've got the 525 stacer ( also based at VP ), the weather is the post 2 is the important stuff. Great boat when calm, a real long hard slamming trip if not. I'd try a few trips out to peel first as its fair easy ( out along the bottom of coochie, when you pass the tip of macleay, head at goat island, when rough in line with east end of peel beach, head straight at it )

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=victoria+point,+qld&sll=-24.527135,135.703125&sspn=51.030622,69.257812&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Victoria+Point+Queensland&ll=-27.541153,153.381672&spn=0.099849,0.200672&t=h&z=13

Join the VMR ! ( oh be prepared for family arguments at the ramp, and 3 or 4 total screw ups ( no petrol, battery issue, bungs out , straps still on... )

After the first couple of trips, get the Wife practicing as she'll be the one rescue you if you fall out.

[Damned67]

A forecast of 5-10 knots, head out early come home before afternoon seabreeze. Anthing over 10-15 will be uncomfortable. 15-20 will probably scare the wife and kids. 20-25, will be slow and wet. 25 and over, should have come home earlier. All really depends on how comfortable you are in your boat. generally a NE wind in the bay is bad. If you were at tanga and started seeing whitecaps probably a good idea to start heading home.

And to me, this is about spot on for the bay. I'll personally still plan to head out if the forecast is about 12-13 knots at max, but anything over that and I'm staying at home.

[charleville]

And to me, this is about spot on for the bay. I'll personally still plan to head out if the forecast is about 12-13 knots at max, but anything over that and I'm staying at home.

Ditto - especially for crossing the Bay.

Some other points from my experience...

(a) Usually in summer, when I go across the bay to, say, the Tangalooma area, I like to do it early in the morning and plan to turn around and head for home not much after 11 am as it is often after that time that the winds get up and the going gets a bit lumpy for a small boat.

(b) Remember the wisdom about wind against tide. The sea bottom across the bay is more-or-less wedge shaped so that if wind is opposite to the tide direction, expect the waves to stand up pretty lumpy.

(c) I actually bought my GPS after I had owned my boat for a while and was caught in a thick fog on the other side of the bay without a GPS. If it were not for my compass, I would not have known whether I was traveling north, south, east or west. On that occasion, I set a route by compass to a bearing as shown in the Beacon to Beacon guide and although wind and tide took me far north of where I had thought that I was going, I did nevertheless end up back at the mainland and could hug the shoreline inside Mud Island, St Helena and Green Island getting back to Manly boat harbour. Daytime fogs and dust storms are not common but they do happen and it is well to have non-visual navigation tools onboard, viz GPS and the Beacon-to-Beacon guide book at least. It can feel very lonely in the middle of the Bay in pea soup conditions.


Notwithstanding all of that, the eastern side of the Moreton Bay can offer stunning wildlife displays - pelagics doing somersaults out of the water, turtles swimming close beside the boat, dolphins swimming up to the back of your boat looking for a feed, unstoppables peeling off all of whatever length and strength of line that you may have, sand crabs by the score - and unfortunately starfish by the hundreds if you drop your crab-pots in the wrong place. :-[


Not forgetting, of course the stunning water colour ranging from pale blues to deep greens.


Dammit! I gotta get my boat ready for the next window of opportunity to go there! ;D


.

.

[Axl]

Study the Beacon to Beacon hard. There's more sand than water in lots of places in the bay. If possible try to get one the laminate bay maps as that gives you the bigger picture when planning.

I've got the 525 stacer ( also based at VP ), the weather is the post 2 is the important stuff. Great boat when calm, a real long hard slamming trip if not. I'd try a few trips out to peel first as its fair easy ( out along the bottom of coochie, when you pass the tip of macleay, head at goat island, when rough in line with east end of peel beach, head straight at it )

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=victoria+point,+qld&sll=-24.527135,135.703125&sspn=51.030622,69.257812&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Victoria+Point+Queensland&ll=-27.541153,153.381672&spn=0.099849,0.200672&t=h&z=13

Join the VMR ! ( oh be prepared for family arguments at the ramp, and 3 or 4 total screw ups ( no petrol, battery issue, bungs out , straps still on... )

After the first couple of trips, get the Wife practicing as she'll be the one rescue you if you fall out.

Furnari
Congrats on the new rig mate you are getting some good advice here and know doubt there will be more to come.

As datamile has said being that you are based at Viccy Point try around Coochie,Macleay and Peel till you get the feel of things. There are plenty of spots around these islands to catch a feed so take your time dont rush and it will all come back to you.

Every day on the water is another school day.

[Argle]

Something to consider for a trip over to Tangalooma is maybe head out from somewhere closer like Scarborough? Makes for a shorter trip on the water if it does get bumpy.
Means a drive over the bridge I know but a drive in the car might be kinder to the wife rather than an hour and a half of bashing back to Viccy Point.
Winter time is often calmer weather wise too so dont be in a rush to get over there if the forecast is not spot on, lots of nice areas closer to home, as others have said get a beacon to beacon read it and dont leave home without it!

Enjoy the boat and the bay!

Cheers
Scott

[TheRealAndy]

Make sure you know how to read a compass... And make sure you have a decent one on the boat.

Best seas are moring SE shifting to the NE in the afternoon. You want the days were it is less that 15knots, preferably less than 10knots.

[White Pointer]

Something to consider for a trip over to Tangalooma is maybe head out from somewhere closer like Scarborough? Makes for a shorter trip on the water if it does get bumpy.
Means a drive over the bridge I know but a drive in the car might be kinder to the wife rather than an hour and a half of bashing back to Viccy Point.
Winter time is often calmer weather wise too so dont be in a rush to get over there if the forecast is not spot on, lots of nice areas closer to home, as others have said get a beacon to beacon read it and dont leave home without it!

Enjoy the boat and the bay!

Cheers
Scott

G'day,

While we northsiders would be pleased to see you up our way, a word of caution.

At this time of year the prevailing NE winds leave you pretty exposed coming out of Scarborough and up through the channel.

After battering straight into it you have to head due E for a while to clear Scarborough reef. Then you have to head SSE until you stand off the Redcliffe jetty and break wall and then steer towards the ship transfer station.

When you are quite close to the ship transfer station it is safe to set a direct course to Tangalooma (spelling?).

Doing this will avoid the Western Banks which are shallow, shifting and a recipe for disaster a long way from salvation. It is also a course that may delight you with a pod of dolphins and a flock of birds trying to show you where the fish are.

I suggest that you get a laminated Moreton Bay chart MB1 from Boat Books in the city. It's published by the Queensland Government Maritime Safety Authority. It shows all the hazards and with a 15" parallel ruler you can plot your course easily to go beacon to beacon. You can also set the plotted course in the GPS as backup (yes - I mean backup) and just follow the lines.

Enjoy!

Regards,

White Pointer

[TOPAZ]

Furnari,

Find out if your local Volunteer Rescue Group (Coast Guard, etc.) run Safe Boating Courses - it will be the best $$$ you ever spend, and may one day save your life.


Richard.

[mattyd]

Hey Matt,

We've only had our 5.3m Freedom Escape for 2 years now, and in that time I've learnt that my fiancee's dad wasn't joking when he said you can count on one hand the weekends you can safely get out in the northern bay.

I had exactly the same dream of going fishing & camping around Tangalooma and Moreton Isl, but in reality I find I'm usually pottering around the more protected southern bay (usually launching from viccie point) to get some decent hours of experience up.

First 12 months we always launched from Scarborough but the bay out to Moreton gets rough (even in 10-15 knot forecasts) and it's just not comfortable being out there.

Now we usually pay the gateway toll and head to Viccie Pt as we have a lot nicer day pottering around the islands, fishing & swimming etc

If by some miracle you find a weekend in summer where the bay is 5-10 knots for most of the day, then pack your beacon 2 beacon and get out there amongst it! Warning: you may find the carpark full by 6:30am on those days so get out EARLY.

Enjoy the new tub anyway mate - it's about the best pastime in the south east you can get :)