Basic Boating Questions - Swing Moorings, Tides, Anchoring etc.

[mercthunder]

Hi all,

I have owned a boat now for 6 months which is a 5.92m long Bowrider. Its an sterndrive and i have some basic questions for those experienced boat owners here.

1) I have seen some people around the harbour and local rivers who beach their boat. Is this is advised, and how does someone do this safely? I am worried about a change in tide so i would like to ask whether there is a safe way to do this without the prop hitting the ground and without getting stuck if the tide changes? Does anyone here use any apps, or websites to check tides easily?

2) On Sydney Harbour there appears to be a number of swing moorings around the place especially near beach type areas. Given my boat is small, am i still able to use one of these moorings or should i leave them for the bigger boats and try and anchor there instead?

3) Is it safer to anchor a short distance out from shore if i would like to spend a day on a eaBchy area near Sydney harbour as opposed to trying to beach the boat? This appears to be an option but would be difficult to carry portable bbq and supplies off the boat to shore if the water is too deep.

4) What's the minimum depth of water that my boat can float in? Being new i am a bit paranoid about hitting the ground, so if i feel like i am in a shallow area i trim the leg up to half as precautionary.

Thanks all!

[Chris Tucker]

There are a number of public moorings on Sydney Harbour. As long as you pay you annual rego fees you have as much right to them as anyone.

Beaching you boat is fine just make sure you know the state of the tide. If you beach at high tide you might be there a while. Best bet is to run two anchors. One out in the bay and the other up the beach.

What sort of stern drive do you have? They don’t all lift clear of the bottom of the boat. Check this in the trailer and if yours doesn’t lift higher than the bottom of the boat. Don’t beach it.

With regards to how much water you float in. Next time your on the boat go to the back and measure down from an obvious point down to the water. Once back in trailer measure from the same point to the ground and ground back up to the bottom of the boat. Maths after that is pretty easy. Your boat is going to sink in the back a little when you do this so it will give you a conservative estimate.

[myusernam]

Swing moorings - Is that where we switch female crew?

[mercthunder]

There are a number of public moorings on Sydney Harbour. As long as you pay you annual rego fees you have as much right to them as anyone.

Beaching you boat is fine just make sure you know the state of the tide. If you beach at high tide you might be there a while. Best bet is to run two anchors. One out in the bay and the other up the beach.

What sort of stern drive do you have? They don’t all lift clear of the bottom of the boat. Check this in the trailer and if yours doesn’t lift higher than the bottom of the boat. Don’t beach it.

With regards to how much water you float in. Next time your on the boat go to the back and measure down from an obvious point down to the water. Once back in trailer measure from the same point to the ground and ground back up to the bottom of the boat. Maths after that is pretty easy. Your boat is going to sink in the back a little when you do this so it will give you a conservative estimate.

Thanks for the response. When you state if i beach at high tide i might be there a while, are you referring to the tide dropping and the boat being stranded on the sand? I imagine the rule of thumb is to anchor close out to shore at low tide, and then try and leave the area during a time where the tide is high or equal to what i anchored at? Would this be a fair assumption? What's considered a high and low tide by height standards?

When you mean what type of stern drive what do you mean? It's a Mercruiser 190HP Alpha One if that helps?

When checking the weather before i leave for the day, is it the wind i need to pay most attention to? If so, what strength of wind is considered too dangerous for boating?

[TheRealPoMo]

I have an 18.5 ft American Bowrider with sameish Volvo poweplant. On the rare occasion I beach it I always make sure the tide is on the way in and generally move to to wading depth after unloading. If on the run out tide, people have to get wet.
For me as a comfort boater, anything over 10 knot wind forecast and I stay home. Especially a northerly but Sydney Harbour is probably more forgiving than north Moreton Bay.

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