I maybe be heading north from Broken Bay to Swansea in my Swanson 28 in the near future. This would be my longest sail undertaken and am looking for advice regarding this passage. I will be sailing singlehanded.
Have done this in the 80s in a Farr11.6 and it went ok till we approached the Swansea bar which is not a piece of cake. There have been numerous posts on Facebook related sites of yachts being held over in Lake Macquarie due to issues with the Swansea channel so suggest you do due diligence on the state of it. Your lowing draft would assist.
Select to expand quoter13 said..
it went ok till we approached the Swansea bar which is not a piece of cake.
With your draft it shouldn't be a problem. The channel has been dredged recently (although not deep enough IMO)
Plan your bridge opening (coming in or going out) for 2 to 4 hours after high tide. The ideal is 3 hours after for entering or leaving.
The entrance into the channel has two sets of leads, plus some port lateral marks. There are no starboard markers. When approaching from the south the leads are visible as you round Moon Island. When approaching from the north, DO NOT cut the corner of the northern break wall, as yachts will surely run aground. Vessels are advised to keep an easterly position off Moon Island before turning to align the leads.The leads are red triangles, lights blue at night, on a bearing of 255 degrees true. Moon Island light is a white /red sector light (Iso.WR.2s 12m 5M)
The worst bar condition tends to occur, when there is a wind and sea/swell from the NE, the tide is near low but still running out.
Moon Island and the bomboras to its south, give some protection to the bar from a southerly swell.
(In adverse conditions the skipper should consider going to Newcastle Harbour which is a safe deep water port in all conditions.)
It should be noted that a strong nor'easter generates a significant swell particularly when the tide is near low & still running out. This is less of a problem for keel boats aiming to cross the bar near high tide.Local knowledge advises to approach the Lake entrance on a line about 2 boat lengths to the north of the line of the entrance leads, bearing 255.60. There is deeper water on this northern line. This also gives you more "wriggle room" as the bar shallows quickly to the south of the line of the entrance leads.
I didn't find the bar as challenging as Swansea channel, the dredge was working at the time it was a shallow squeeze, there's moorings at the Swansea bridge so you can work the tide and bridge to advantage, given the minimal tidal influence of the lake itself the flow on the channel is quite supprizing. Not sure if still so but the VMR offered an escort through the channel if needed
You shouldn't have any problems at all going in across the entrance bar, ( remember to look down...the dark patches you will see is a coal seam
, ) as you'll unlikely be going north in a solid, sustained NE'er anyway, just make sure there isn't a large NE or even E swell at the time, and go across the bar about 3 hours after high tide as suggested above.
And you'll likely be leaving in the am on the return trip, a sustained NE'er shouldn't be a problem then either.
It will pay off to be cautious on your first transit through the bridge opening, paying attention to other boat traffic, the red/green traffic lights, and the tide, keep your ears open on the vhf and on the loud jailer if the bridge operator wants to talk to you.
Theres plenty of room to mill around on the seaward side of the bridge if you need to kill time if there's none of the 3 courtesy moorings available.
When going through the bridge opening all sails should be doused.
When approaching the bridge if you have not doused sails the bridge operator will tell you to do so on a very LOUD speaker.
I live in Lake Mac and the bar is one of the best on the coast. As said above if you come up from Pittwater (about 35 miles) on a nice southerly or sou'easter then Moon Island protects the bar from almost all swell.
And if you leave early before the noreaster gets up you can leave at any tide if the swell is low to moderate. (Although it can get a little swelly at low - but I have never seen it break all the way across and I kayak the bar for fun). There is a shoal on the northern side of the entrance - hug the southern breakwall - about 50 metres off. You will see the break on the northern half of the entrance in a low tide with a big swell but the southern half will be safe still)
The shallows have been dredged recently and I watched a 55ft Hanse steam through 2 days ago. So you should be fine.
And of course - go around Moon Island - don't try to cut inside it.
cheers
Phil
Thank you all so much for your advice.
I have been watching video's of bar crossings and theres obviously plenty to learn.
I will detail my experience here when I make the trip.
My first solo coastal was Pittwater to Lake Mac. I can't add anything much to the previous comments, except that it's wise to keep an eye on your course. If you simply hug the coast, you'll deviate considerably. It's better to try to run a line from Tudibaring Head (Copacabana) to Norah Head. Don't go too far off the coast, as the south current can slow you down. Hopefully you'll get a good south/east blow and you'll be there in no time.
My Top Hat did it in a 20 knot southerly in about 7 hours, some of the time under main only, as the swell was 3 metres + and gusts were up to 25 knots.
Make sure you book your bridge opening, and check the times. During peak hours it won't open, except in emergency. Marine Rescue Lake Mac can help you with that when you log on to their jurisdiction.
