Would you do it?

[charlie09]

Hi Guys

I have Brooker 410 Fisherman with a 40 hp Mercury. The boat is 9 months old and the motor has about 30 hrs on it. Im planning a trip from Bribie island to Flinders reef area. :o

My question is this. Can this tinny do it? Would you do it?

Any useful comments greatly appreciated.

Cheers :D

P.S It seems I'm having trouble uploading a pic of my boat tonight. However there is a pic of it in my photo album so you can get an idea of size and shape.

[Midnight]

Yeah for sure, why not. Just pick your day in a nice stable weather pattern. Take plenty of fuel, have a good VHF and the required safety gear, log on with a VMR and enjoy!

If you are not familiar with the banks in the Northern Moreton bay and off the top of Moreton Island, have a good study of the charts and ask someone who has plenty of time in the area for some tips.

Have fun,
Cheers,
Myles

[charlie09]

Thanks Midnight for taking the time to reply and your advise.

Cheers

[charlie09]

bump bump;D

[Horse]

The boat is on the small side for covering that distance. If you want to have a play offshore I would head up to Maloolaba.
If you want to give Fliners a go follow the advice Miles gave and if in doubt, pull out

[the gecko]

Im with Horse, its borderline. It all depends on how good you are at reading weather, and how good a skipper you are (read:know your limits).

[marto78]

If u can get another boat to tag along would.be best, but if.not make sure ur upto date with ur sAfetygear, check the we!other and log on and.off with someone preferably vmr or coast guard. It shouldn't be a prob otherwise we used to.cruise all over the bay in our 4.2m dory.n

Pls excuse spelling as this is.from my ph

[steelydan]

i have fished hutchies/flinders etc out of a 4.35 sea jay leaving from scarborough, would recommend a good forecast 5-10 variables, its a long way across the bay even on a good day, if you do get caught out cross the bay on the top or bottom of the tide as the wind vs current thing can make the bay a horrible stretch of water, be careful crossing the comby bay on an outgoing tide with any wind from the north as it can stand up something horrible, have been through there in a 6m trailcraft with a 20-25 knot northerly and a 2.4 m high dumping out, was a hair raising experience, i agree with horse the close reefs of m'ba have as much if not more to offer with a lot less distance to cover so are worth considering

[Richo1]

Yeah I would do it! But as said above, its a long way home if the weather turns nasty. Did the Barwon Banks in a Sea Jay 4.36 once, uncomfortable trip out but the weather dropped right off on the way home which was a bonus as we used alot more fuel than expected.

[charlie09]

Steelydan and Richo thanks for the advise. I think i might take Horses advise and go out from Mooloolaba. I'd say that would b the easiest thing to do for me.

Thanks again to all of you who have replied :D

As someone else says on here, "May your drags scream for mercy..!"

Cheers

VInce

[charleville]

Vince;

As you will have seen, the replies above reinforce the sorts of things that I said to you in our PM conversation about crossing the bay in a tinnie. Do it by all means but when the forecast is for 5 - 10 knots and be aware that rough conditions will chew up your fuel.

The advice by Midnight about the safety gear is a good one. eg I would not even contemplate doing such a trip without a marine radio.

This quick sketch might emphasize why conditions can get messy when there is wind of any strength ...

https://img.skitch.com/20110611-r46upi7qw6wjd7u2d2ews8gdji.preview.jpg (https://skitch.com/charleville2/frfwi/would-you-do-it)Click for large view (https://skitch.com/charleville2/frfwi/would-you-do-it) - Uploaded with Skitch (http://skitch.com)



Steelydan said, "wind vs current thing can make the bay a horrible stretch of water" and he is very right. As I have said previously to you, it can get very lonely in the middle of the bay when it gets rough.

In 5 - 10 knot conditions, though, it is lovely.



.

[charlie09]

Hi Charlie

Yea just picked up a vhf from another Ausfisher the other day. I might give out of Mooloolaba a go. I see there are a few close in reefs/structures around there.

Cheers
Vince