Moreton Bay weather.

[Fast Freddie]

Fellow Ausfishers,
Can I tap into your local knowledge of Moreton Bay conditions?

Are there certain wind directions when you know it is going to be a crap day on the water? Or am I just unlucky?

I launch from Raby Bay and it seems that most of the time when I am coming home from say Peel or points further south, is more often than not, lumpy as hell and very uncomfortable for the family.

What should I look for in the weather forecast?

Cheers



Fred

[charleville]

Well the first thing, Fast Eddie, is to not be so fast! Ah forgive me , I just had to say that.

Mate, I am not qualified in the slighest to comment on the Raby Bay area as I usually go from Manly out into the open Bay or inside the islands up to Mud Island and for that matter, I am just a five year beginner boatie although I do hit the water 2 - 6 times each week. (14 months long service leave, you see)

However, I usually hestitate for a long while before I will go out in conditions that are forecast to be greater than 15 Knots. None of the forecasting services are reliable but I am finding that Seabreeze.com.au is not bad when the weather is relatively stable over a a few days. When it is not so stable, I forget Seabreeze and take note of the BoM. I reiterate that none of these are totally reliable, as I have been caught out at night on my lonesome in the bay when the conditions changed from 6 knots to 30 knots within a half hour and none of the weather services predicted that change.

Also, in summer, the best boating time is invariably the mornings. So I usually plan my return trip at around 11.15am and then look at the Seabreeze.com.au "Inner Beacon" wind graphs to see if I was right in coming in at that time. I am rarely wrong on that score.

Thirdly, a following sea is going to be a lot easier to come home in than a head on sea that you have to punch into. Thus if you are heading north towards Raby Bay from the southern side of Peel or other points south into the northerlies that we have been getting, you will cop lumpy conditions, especially if you have tide against wind.

Not sure if these comments help - there are a lot more experienced boaties around than me - but these comments might illicit more qualified perspectives.

[Fast Freddie]

Hey Charleville,
Thanks for theat mate - much appreciated.
I usually am coming home late in the afternoon and geez it gets hairy sometimes!
I just didn't expect it to get that rough, that regulary.
The Wife and I bought this boat (Allison 195) not so long ago and our first run was over to Mud. Going over - No probs. Coming back - scared the living bejeebers out of us!
Thanks again mate.
If ever you want company fishing let me know.
Fred

[Black_Jack]

Fred

I find the area you are talking about often a total washing mashine on the home trip. ??????

I often thought is was to do with tidal flows and weather ....


the swell comes from all directions.

geoff

[charleville]

The Wife and I bought this boat (Allison 195) not so long ago and our first run was over to Mud. Going over - No probs. Coming back - scared the living bejeebers out of us!

Hmmm. It can get a bit choppy between St Helena and Green because some lumpy pressure waves can build up there because of the sloping sea bottom.

Other than that, i suppose that the wider the space that you are crossing means that the wind has more opportunity to whip up the waves. Sneaking in the lee of the islands helps a lot.

Because I am mostly a solo boatie, I also get a bit choosy about where I launch from as there is nothing worse than trying to get a boat on to a trailer at 2am on your own in a cross wind. That is why I tend to avoid exposed ramps like Victoria Point and Raby Bay when the wind is coming from the north.

For what it is worth, having the "BeJesus' scared out of you every now and then is not such a bad thing. My confidence has improved immensely since I have learnt a few times what not to do, the hard way. There ain't nothing like a good broaching in a following sea or water coming over the front of the boat in a bad storm or having lightning strike all around you in pouring rain so heavy that when you turn on the bilge pump, water shots out the side of the boat like mains water pressure, to teach you your limitations or to remind you where all of your safety gear is stored on board.

That sounds like a nice boat, BTW.

[northernblue]

Yeah mate, I'm new to Brisbane and have had trouble picking Moreton too.
The best I can come up with is leave early and return early, and yes if the wind is tipped to be up then don't bother.
Has the last 4 months been typical weather?

[ozscott]

FF - I have the same problems. I have the same sized boat; 20/21 foot seafarer vagabond. I have been out with the family and got caught by 15-20knots pre-trim tabs and after I had taken my foil off!!!. Couldnt get it flat enough at low speed for the conditions and she was rough. Also between Cleveland Pt and Peel (south) its like a cauldron (as has been posted above) and you cant really go into the sea or away from it, but rather it comes from all angles!! The best advice I have, and Im not very experienced is to only take the family out when its 10-15 knots (not 15 knots constant) and even pick a few 5-10 knot days to warm them up (thats rare though). And my other bit of advice (apart from getting back before the sea breazes pick up on hot days - ie back by noon) is to get the hammer down. You have a big enough boat with a deep enough V to get going, but have enough throttle in reserve for that odd bigger wave.

All the best.

Cheers

[skippa]

FF,

There's a few spots around the southern bay that can become down right dangerous quicky in the wrong conditions, from my experience.

Cleveland point area is one of them. Redland Bay ramp may be a better launch point if you intend heading to Peel or parts south of there, especially in summer, where the winds normally prevail from the north in the afternoon. The worst conditions here are usually with a Northerly wind and a runout tide. (wind against tide). The waves become short and steep and unfortunately usually close together too. Add the wakes of the weekend warriors of the Raby Bay cruisers, and you can find waves going in all directions, especially where the water starts to shallow out from the deeper channel.

Other places to keep an eye on I've found are:

The shallow grounds between Coochie and McLeay Islands, in wide against tide you'll find steep short waves close together, with the odd greenie standing up too, worn a few of them over the bow of my boat.

The outter channel between St Helena and green Islands. Can be almost like a bar crossing here. Sometimes better to go North of St helena and around western side if your returning to Manly, or south of Green island.

When you've spent a great day out on the water with your family there's nothing worse than being hammered or bashed around on your way home; makes it hard to get them on the water again after going thru one of those experiences.

Moreton Bay is a great place, but she can be downright unforegiving too, can go from mill pond to washing machine in a matter of minutes, but ya gotta love the place.


Cheers,
Tony
PS if I can work out how to post pic on new boards I'll mark them on the map if you like.

[honda900]

Fred,

I have used the raby bay ramps for 6 years or so, have only just updated my boat to about the same size as yours.. what have I learned, firstly weather forecasts in the cleveland area are very seldom right.

So to counter this I watch the weather for the 3 preceeding days very closesly, and take note of the time each day that the wind starts to blow up. also Keep an eye on the tides, A falling tide runs the water to the south, a rising tends to be easier to leave about an hour or 2 into the tide change and the reverse for coming home..

On a nice morning while the wind is down I look for choppy conditions, if it is choppy and the chop stays up it is only going to get worse so call it a day on you observations and head home around lunch time.

However if the chop settles the wind and wind dies off it is in general likely to stay a bit better, remember you observations a couple of days in advance make all the difference.


That trip from Peel to Raby Bay can be very nasty, I remember in my runabout that trip took the best part of 2 hours one afternoon as the tide and wind were all against me and some other guy in a small runabout right behind me.. wasnt much fun with a 1.5 metre swell crashing on my windscreen.. I can tell you..

some helpful weather sites for our area..

http://www.clevelandweather.net/CWSv6/index.html



Regards
Honda

[PADDLES]

We're up the top of the bay freddie and it's just as fickle up here. Only good thing for me where I live is that in the predominant NE sea breeze it's a following sea home for me every time. Main thing to be aware of is wind against tide for the worst waves I reckon. All very good points in here about the bay though, we don't like wind any greater than 15 if it hasn't completely dropped out the night before, and mainly rely on bom for forecasts and seabreeze for current/past wind conditions.

An example of how wierd it gets up here is the other weekend, we go from beachmere to mission point to meet up with a few other boats, beautiful run up (35k's) at about 7am, we leave up there to come home at about 12:30 to nice .25m conditions at the bottom of bribie and little or no wind this holds across the bay until about 5 k's from the river mouth where the wind is 15 plus and waves are over a metre and only 5 to 10m apart and have a bit of a slog getting in. We looked at seabreeze.com when we got home and bribie (spitfire channel) had calm conditions for hours that morning but redcliffe was 15 E all morning from 8am onwards. these areas are only 15 to 20k's apart. Strange .............

This year has not been good boating weather I reckon.

[Mrs Ronnie H]

Hi All
I live at Beachmere and have been to Moreton with my brother in a 16ft tinny. No problems going over and the weather forecast was for 5 to 10 in the arvo. Yeh right. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
First time i ever thought i was going to be shark bait. Headed straight to Bribie and crossing that channel was hell. Zig zagged our way from Bribie to Caboolture river which took forever and never so glad to set foot on land.

My advice is never believe the weather forecast and if in doubt stay home. Better to be safe than sorry. I have a 21 footer and if it don't look good i don't go.

Ronnie h

[Marlin_Mike]

If anyone ever works out the bay, its currents weather etc, let me know...........

Treat it with a healthy respect, and just a tad little bit of fear.............. or Mother Nature will bight you big time.....

[Fast Freddie]

Great info Guys - thanks a lot,
1. Keep an eye on the weather for the area a few days prior;
2. If its 15knots+ give it a miss or launch further south;
3. Be back before noon;
4. Northerly wind means chop most of the time.

Got it!

Can't thank you enough folks - Cheers.

Fred

[charleville]

3. Be back before noon;

This is more an issue for summer not winter.

I regularly fish from late afternoon up to 9.30pm and sometimes to midnight at Mud Island in Winter and the trip home to Manly on those nights is absolute paradise, about which I have written many times on Ausfish. It is just unbelievably beautiful being out on the Bay on a winter's night. Often it is really hard to force myself to come home.

Typically the trip home will be on plate glass seas with all sorts of aromas finding their way out on to the Bay. It is really only when you get close to land that it gets cold - the sea keeps the air temp pretty warm when you get a couple of kilometres out. Seeing things like shooting stars adds to the appeal of the nights.

Not every night is perfect - have been in fierce storms out there in winter - but that is infrequent.

My boat is just a 4.75m aluminium runabout with 60HP 4 stroke on the back and it is fine on those winter nights out on the Bay. Your boat would be even better.

[gotya]

If The Trees Are Blowin
It's Not Worth Go'in