sailing from portland to Westernport bay melbourne.

Hi everyone,

So we are looking at buying a boat in Portland, Vic and looking to get it back to Western port bay in Melbourne.

boat is a 43' full keel steel boat in decent repair. now with next to zero sailing experience i have not the first idea the best time of year to do this trip back to Melbourne. With so little experience we would be looking to get people that actually know what they are doing!

but way before that i need to know the basics of getting the boat back to western port, so :

1. when is the best time to go?
2. how long would the trip be?
3. Cost to hire a skipper? (yes i know, how long is bit of string, but give me an idea)
4. anything i should know that i am not asking?


thanks for your time!

Portland to Port Fairy is roughly 30nm, or 6 hours maximum. Port Fairy to Apollo Bay is roughly 75nm or 15 hours max. Apollo Bay to Cowes in Westernport is roughly 70nm or 14 hours max. Or you could follow the coast up to Lorne and then cross over. This means you can do each section in daylight with a little bit in the dark at dawn or dusk, but the ports will be well lit. Autumn and winter has high pressure systems with calm weather, so you will find a weather window to do the trip fairly easily. You can do courses such as introduction to sailing, coastal navigation, diesel engine maintenance, etc here: http://yachtmaster.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/dates-2018-newb.pdf and similar schools or clubs, and all of it you can read in books, too. Ideally you will have one crew to manage your fears, and to double check doubts, and to help manage sleep rosters. An autopilot will be essential. You will need at least 2 anchors each with 100m of chain and anchor, fuel for 30 hours or 200 miles, food and water for a week, a VHF radio with antenna on the mast, you will need charts of the coast and detailed charts of PF, Apollo Bay, W'port and showing some details of harbours you might pop into as a contingency, pencils and parallel rules and dividers. You will need a handheld GPS or 2, or ideally a chartplotter (on smartphone?). You will need binoculars and a spotlight or 2 to see harbour walls and buoys from at least 100 metres away. A cheap depth sounder or fishfinder is worthwhile to confirm depths, as a confirmation in navigation. Tide tables for Westernport will help you time when you should arrive to run in with the tide. You will need to know and have spare parts to bleed the diesel motor and change fuel filters. You will change the engine oil before the trip and have spare oil. You will need spare ropes and spare blocks, shackles for sailing. Tool kits for sailing and engine, first aid kit, sewing kit is handy too. You will need practice with setting the sails, reefing and how well the boat and motor performs in waves, and speeds, fuel consumption, etc. There is no substitute for practice and experience. A couple of weekends sailing around Portland and Cape Bridgewater and you will have a good idea. ANZAC Day is on a Wednesday, so you might plan 2 days off work to practice sailing or to do the trip. You could always leave the boat at Apollo Bay if the weather is unsuitable to continue. Finding crew or a paid crew shouldn't be too hard. Ask on this forum.
Wet weather gear (even cheap yellow plastic work overalls) and winter clothing, because the dawn and evening will be cold. A am/fm radio for comfort and reassurance. Links to BOM weather forecasts, tides, and winds on your smartphone.