Hi All,
Just would like borrow your brains and experience. Has anyone sailed/travel by power boat from Melbourne to Brisbane? What's the weather like in June/July? Any tips on great anchorages along the way? thank you
All excellent advice. My Lotus (Clipper 34) made it easily, with no issues, (I'm pleased to say), from Horizon Shores, just North of the Gold Coast, to Newcastle, with the new owner and a couple of sea-savvy friends, but that's the easiest bit. Lots of places to duck into. They made Yamba in one day, which impressed me.
We never got really offshore except one trip right round the outer Moreton Bay Islands, and that took 11 hours steaming at an average of about 7kn, from the Southport Seaway, up the outside and in around Cape Moreton at tip of Moreton Island, around to Tangalooma for the night. That day was calm, and a doddle, but we saw less sea life than one does inside the bay, but in bad weather...hmmm...
Ain't that the truth - for any boat really. I really miss Lotus, but living here now on Bribie Island comes close to almost living on a boat, but with none of the worries, and selling her has done wonders for my bank balance..!I also had a Clipper 34 (CHB) Mk3 Peter, an excellent boat. Motored to southern Tasmania from Hawkesbury originally and did many coastal cruises with the previous owners. Eventually went to Mooloolaba then back to Bris/Gold Coast area, had a fortune spent on many upgrades over the years.
Ain't that the truth - for any boat really. I really miss Lotus, but living here now on Bribie Island comes close to almost living on a boat, but with none of the worries, and selling her has done wonders for my bank balance..!
To continue the Clipper 34 hijack/love in , Our last boat was a 34 Mk1 Clipper. I also spent a number of years at a marina on Coal & Candle creek. The hire fleet there was almost exclusively Clipper 34's and ran by a bloke that ran a very tight ship. Heaven help the customer that didn't follow the rules.
Our Clipper ended up going to Queensland by road. I had a PM a while ago on the forum from a new owner who bought the old girl from the bloke I sold it to. Still going strong after all these years. The only thing that can sink those boats is the owner going bankrupt.
Coming back to spok01's original post, read Southern Boater's post #7 very carefully, given you said you don't know the waters down there.
Akuna Bay marina was sold along with the other D`Albora Marinas. Lots of changes and unhappy boat owners.Ah yes, the Akuna Bay marina, she was the state of the art fantasy land for boaters in the 80's, this and Runaway Bay in Qld had the dry stack for smaller boats. As you mentioned, the epicentre for the Clipper hire fleet.
Looking a bit tired these days, but I still go for a visit when in Sydney.
On the delivery skipper thing, a good reliable one is worth a recommendation to others. I'm still hearing of examples where a skipper has basically abandoned the owners boat at a port enroute for various reasons, leaving the owner to either find another skipper or bring it home themselves.
Akuna Bay marina was sold along with the other D`Albora Marinas. Lots of changes and unhappy boat owners.
The guys I used told me if they got stuck with weather on the way to Eden they might leave the boat and bus it back home rather than sit and charge daily fees until things improved. They waited for what looked like a good window, and went. Whimsical sense of humour, they pretended to be stuck in Batemans Bay,then phoned describing the weather in Sydney Harbour, from near the Pyrmont fish markets and Super Yacht Marina. Early next day we met them at our marina berth on the Hawkesbury. The broker arranged them, I didn`t meet them until the job was done. Odd, but I came to trust the broker. His choice of mover was sound.