morton bay

[kleyny]

i know morton bay can be dangerous with sharp waves with certain weather conditions
ive been told that as long as your keeping an eye on the weather and heading for home around midday i shouldn't have a drama.
ive also been told that as long as the predictions say no more than 10-15 knot winds
ive got a 4.6m quinny with a 60 pushing it coming from bribie looking at top of morton areas.
have i been told porkies
any help would be much appreciated

kleyny

[ozscott]

Somtimes even 10-15 knots, if they actually reach the predicted windspeed can be rough.

[DazSamFishing]

I used to go over to the four beacons and tip or moreton in my makocraft tournament 440 with 60hp...

When it did get up to 10-15knots it certainly wasn't very comfortable...

Daz

[sempre]

I wouldn't like 15kn in a 4.6 boat , nasty !!!

[youngfisho]

mate ive never really fished the northern part of the bay in my 4.5m glass boat.. Once i travelled from manly to the four beacons in ideal conditions - totallly glassed out then once the tide had turned at around 130 the ne see breeze kicked in and on our journey home we were met with 1.5 to 2m NE chop. Whilst it was a following sea it was still pretty rough especially the closer i got to mud island. Whilst travelling moreton to about 3/4 of the way to mud i was able to keep it on the plane and bounce across the top of the waves but as i got closer it became further apart and stood up more then had to back right off, off the plane and take things easy. Yeah its do able in a 4.6m tinnny but my suggestion would be not to travel straight across the bay and maybe cut along the inside of moreton out of the weather and travel down along the rainbow channel.

But then it all really depends on the prevailing winds whether theyre from the NE or SE. Then your options change. I was told that not much fish are caught in a NE breeze. But personally i think thats a load of crap. After all i went out in april (some years back) when i first got the boat and in a NE bagged out on quality 70cm spotty mackrel. And caught and released plenty more. Hope this little bit of information helps. Good luck and remember to check BOM regularly for updated info and also take note of conditions on the gold and sunshine coast.


andrew

[PADDLES]

kleyny, we live up that way and get out a bit. on a nice day you'll be fine in your boat, even if it gets a little bit yuk you'll still be ok. trouble is though it gets pretty ordinary very quickly up here and if you get caught out it could prove very costly. the other weekend it was like oil on the bay and then at 10am someone turned on the blowdryer and it didn't just ease in slowly it just hit at a good 15 plus straight away we were out between bribie and moreton and headed straight home, these are the days that'll catch ya out in your tinny. we've got a 5.5m glass boat and our run to moreton is 35k's so we choose our days carefully. generally you'll be fine up to 15 in your boat, but only if it's dropped out the night before. if it's blown 10 to 15 and hasn't stopped overnight it's uncomfortable in our boat so it'd be downright ordinary in a tinny. we have to come back home through d bay and because it's only 5-7m deep there's some good waves in 15 to 20. :o

[StevenM]

kleyny

mate,

beware the calm before the storm.

if shes been blowin and all of a sudden glasses out....head your ass home NOW.

cheers

Steven

[Sportfish_5]

Lots of shallow water up the top end of the bay. it is not the 10-15 knots of wind that will break your quinny, it will the combination of tide, ocean swell and bay chop especially the last few miles out from Bribie.

It can actually be like crossing a bar for 5 or 6 kms on a crappy day.


You should be fine in the mornings but I wouldnt hang around too long for the ride back when it's summer ::) ::) ::) ::) ::)


Cheers

Greg

[Brissyguy]

Used to own a 4.6m SeaJay tiller steer and we often ran over to Morton from Bribie.

Have had some glass outs but a lot of bump between those days as well.

When it does get up to 15 knots, those short sharp waves are a real bugga with a tiller steer tinny as you sit at the stern and don't have the weight of a glass boat either.

If you are able to pick your speed for the sea thats running, you will always get home safely albeit a li'l wet.

We fished inside the Cape oneday, totally oblivious to the building South Easter as we were out of the wind.
When we rounded Comby point and saw the slop, we put as much weight forward as possible, then trimmed the bow up high and maintained 12 - 14 knots all the way accross the bay.
Sure it was uncomfortable and wet, but with some experience it isn't impossible and we made it home safely.

Our SeaJay has been to Wide C and Shallow Tempest on good days and we regularly did overnighters to Cowan, but in saying that the SeaJay is the only ally hull of that size I would do it in.

Unfortunately like the rest of us, make sure you have a radio and the other relevant safety gear onboard and you need to pick your days.

As Greg said above, morning runs are often the best, if it's blowing first thing I would stay in the passage.

Cheers,
Rich.

[kleyny]

thanks guys.
any particular way i should get over to morton (deeper channels etc)should i always go through the rainbow channel?
my trips to morton would be few and far between but i would still like to absorb as much knowledge from the guys who have done it before to get me home safe and sound so be it wet
my boat is a side steer with tilt so this should help a little anyway.
can anyone tell me what winds are the major players that make the waves steep and nasty?
so you suggest to get a radio i was only going to use my phone.

thanks for the tips look forward to getting amongst different types of fish and lazing on the morton beaches ;D

kleyny

[Angla]

Definitely get a radio.

From Bribie to Combuyoro point is pretty well a straight run over the shallow sections in good conditions but returning in sloppy conditions is a little more precarious. Look at your charts for the deeper channels. When the wind is from the north, keep to the northern side of the channels for protection but when the wind is from the south, the southern side of the channels are more protected.

There are swell waves, wind waves and current waves that must be taken in to account and they always interract differently.

It never seems to be the same and DEMANDS YOUR RESPECT!

Chris

[ozscott]

definately get a radio my friend. And go off an do the course at the VMR on marine radios.

Cheers