Select to expand quotesirgallivant said..
Some food for thought.
Once going out - it is my perogative - l stayed out. Out, 50-80 miles from the coast line. Being a sailor happy to sail on my own out there, it never bothered me what bars l am passing or what the EAC doing as l had time in abundance. Never rushed things, never had to.
Socializing in foreign ports was not the reason of my gallivanting.
Night sailing requires a very good quality binocular. Or a night vision e-device if one is so inclined. My Steiner with it's brilliant quality lenses and a compass served me well in those times.
Coming back to the coast at night - like sailing into Newcastle - is hard on the eyes anyway and the use of a good lookoing-device and official charts are paramount.
The exlusive use of red lights at night is a must and a torch to be avoided at all cost as it's high lumen light is destroying ones night vision for 15-20 minutes, no matter what.
To read charts the chart magnifier on the photo is to be had at Dymocks for about $35 and the application of a smidge of red nail polish on the white LED's makes it night compliant. It's 3x magnification is making it a 'must have' tool at night.
To trim sails at night the tell tales ought to be made of some material visible at night without lighting the sails up with a torch.
For the same reason the wind vane must be well lit upmast.
In the case when inclement weather is closing up on one the only safe option is to get out as far away as possible from the coast especially if one's yacht is not a yare and taut vessel with a strong engine, capable of sailing or motoring off a leeward shore.
Reporting to VMR is a good insurance against the unexpected and Rob's Passage planner is available on the net free of charge.
Lucas's book is a good general guide but the data is obsolete in many instances.
Fair winds! 
Great advice sir G
The only thing I would add to that is: install an AIS transponder, sure there may be some instances where another vessel isn't transmitting or monitoring AIS but most of the ships that can sink you without even noticing you at least have AIS transmitting or if they are fishing boats with AIS turned off they will be more than likely be monitoring AIS.
A couple of times I have had fishing boats not transmitting asking me to alter course so I wouldn't sail through their gear.
Sometimes at night without AIS you spend a lot of time stressing about a large ship trying to figure out its course and CPA. With AIS you can plot their vectors and see their closest point of approach. Which means you can rest properly, make good decisions and enjoy your passage.
There's much I like about EC31's answer.
We installed dual red/ white lights in the cabin of our yacht. They are mighty useful when night sailing. You don't need to change them all. You don't want even the red lights to be too bright, so just one in each area is usually enough.
And the inference of fully crewed distance sailing (so you can do proper watches) accords with my preference too. Personally I like two on deck for each watch.
Select to expand quotenswsailor said..Insomniac said..
Hi Bundeenabouy
As someone who has often entertained the idea of sailing north from Sydney, (in my Marieholme Folkboat) I was wondering what the itinerary or schedule (in terms of overnight stays) would be for sailing up the coast? Given so many of the anchorages involve having to time bar crossings, I am someone what worried about ever acting on my entertainment. Also would you be sailing sole or with crew? Cheers
Hi Insomniac, I sail solo in a 25' Top Hat. This is the plan we [meaning Seaka and I] use.
Sydney to Pittwater 18nm
Pittwater to Swansea 37nm
Visit Lake Macquarie or stay overnight on the outer mooring buoys at the Swansea Bridge.
Swansea to Newcastle. 14nm
Newcastle to Port Stephens 27nm OR
Swansea to Port Stephens. 41nm
With bad weather go up to Fame Cove and take a mooring. But sail down to Shoal Bay the day before you leave.
Port Stephens to Tuncurry 45nm
Tuncurry to Camden Haven Inlet 39nm
Camden Haven to Port Macquarie 15nm
Port Macquarie to Trail Bay 38nm OR
Camden Haven to Trail Bay 50nm
[Its an open roadstead and easy to anchor in 3m at night]
Trail Bay to Coffs Harbour. 36nm
[we try not to go into the marina but use an outside mooring or the western public dock inside]
Coffs Harbour to Iluka. 60nm
[we anchor at Iluka not Yamba]
Iluka to Gold Coast Seaway 100nm. This is an overnight sail which by this time you will find easy.
And then the Queensland coast is yours for the taking!!!
I have found my average speed over many cruising miles is 4.6 knots and that is the figure I use to calculate sailing times between each stop.
Your sailing time and planned arrival time is dependent on your place of arrival. With all the bars you need to be arriving just before high tide. Don't worry if you are bit late as most tides over-run for at least an hour and longer. Always check the RMS Bar Cams the day before at high tide to see the conditions you may get. Sailing out through a bar is easier than going in. As I'm based at Camden Haven we don't go into Port Macquarie as the bar can be a bit wild but go straight up to Trail Bay. Preferred weather going north is southerly to easterly winds with the max sea around 1.5m but not over 2.5m [wipes out the bars] Coming south North East winds, but watch out for the very strong ones over 20 knots and be sailing at least 10nm off to take advantage of the East Coast Current which can flow up to 5 knots south.
All the passages are easy if you remember to have at least a day off after each one, it's not a race. There is more to this storey but if you look at ZuluWaterways.com on your IPhone you will find all the info you need. You will find that a 30nm sail is just right for daylight hours.
I'm off to Lizard Island in 4 weeks so if you sail north this winter I won't be here in the Camden Haven.
A belated thank you NSWSailor...one day I hope to follow your schedule and tips.
First I need to beef up the Folkboat a bit..namely there is a well for an outboard, located within the lazarette, that I dont use (I put brackets on the transom). I need to permanently fill this in as I took it outside of Sydney Heads the other week and boy did she fill up with water quickly. There is a not much freeboard on Folkie and there' even less when the cabin half full of ocean. Cheers.
Hi Bundeema,
did you get to Ballina yet?
we are sailing up past there shortly, just south of the headland now, probably going to camp at Byron tonight
cheers Richard
