Trip to 29's and 33's - Fuel Usage

[beefa12001]

I am looking at doing my first trip out to the 29's and 33's. My question is on fuel usage and amount of fuel to take. I have a 5.1m cuddy cab (aluminium hull) with a Yamaha 90 2 stroke (2006 model serviced regularly). I have an 80 litre fuel tank under floor and also looking to take 2 - 20L fuel cans with me. In total 120 litres of fuel on board. Would this be sufficient amount of fuel? I am not very experienced with bar crossings so would probably go out through GC seaway instead of South Passage Bar. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Matt

[Noelm]

I guess for those that do not know the area, what sort of distances are you talking about?

[DAN-SK]

i use around 50 litres round trip. 5metre cruise craft with a 90 merc

[stinky-stabi]

dan-sk is that for a four stroke or a two stroke m8???????

[Sandman]

Are you looking at trolling out there or bottom bashing ? You should be fine but i dont know about 2 stroke

[beefa12001]

NoelM, I'm not to sure of the distances to get out, so I just want to make sure I have enought petrol to give it a go.
Sandman, I will probably be bottom bashing as I don't usually troll.
Does anyone roughly how far it is off the coast. I am going by the general GPS points detailed in this months B'n'B. I have been out to Deep Tempest before from Raby Bay and only used 80litres, but not sure if the distance is further to the 33's. Thanks, Matt

[STUIE63]

plot it on a chart

[Flex]

Use google earth and plot it.

Also you should know your boat's fuell usage to have a close idea on its litres/hour to work out how far you can go. Both at cruise speed and at say 10knots when travelling rough.

[rosco1974]

hey matt,u would be better off leavin scarbrough than the seaway,is a long way,i go throught the south passage bar in my 610 tinny and a 140 2 stroke and i use bout 80 ltrs for a trip leaving from manly just bottom bashing but when leaving scarbrough i use the same when i fish around the cape,although i do a fair bit of searching for new ground while out there,mind you i just cruise at around 25knots on the way out,if you leave from the goldy i recon fish down that way,i go out to the 24-36 and use bugger all fuel
cheers rosco
p.s deep tempest is further than the 33's

[finding_time]

hey matt,u would be better off leavin scarbrough than the seaway,is a long way,i go throught the south passage bar in my 610 tinny and a 140 2 stroke and i use bout 80 ltrs for a trip leaving from manly just bottom bashing but when leaving scarbrough i use the same when i fish around the cape,although i do a fair bit of searching for new ground while out there,mind you i just cruise at around 25knots on the way out,if you leave from the goldy i recon fish down that way,i go out to the 24-36 and use bugger all fuel
cheers rosco
p.s deep tempest is further than the 33's

this is all pretty good advice! if you dont want to risk the bar ( good idea for the inexperienced ) i would also recomend leaving from Scarbrough and fish the cape moreton area, (eg roberts, brenans shoals , maybe hutchies, or even the cal 12 mile) The run from the seaway up is a long way and at this time of the year can be a very long way home. I have always found the closer cape moreton area fishes pretty well at this time of the year. 120l will be fine if you choose to do this!

ian

[Bowser]

Running to the 33's from either the seaway or scarborough seems a waste of fuel to me. In both cases you go past a lot of very fishable reefs to get there. South passage is really the only sensible way to go to these particular reefs. Either give it up and fish something more accessable to the other to ports or learn to cross bars. South passage has a reputation but I would have more concerns about the tweed bar then south passage. This doesn't mean that the bar is nothing but it is very different creature to river bars. At times it is flat strap across a super smooth channel others it is all confused and water everywhere. Get someone to take you across or even run out to it and get an idea of what it actually is. Once you have som experience treat it with respect and pick your tides and weather direction and take it easy and you will get across quite easily. Just don't go across and head straight out. The waves have a nasty habit of standing up on the ledge out front when you least expect it.

The distance is around 12 -15 ks from the bar. If you don't know your fuel consumption, don't go, you don't know enough about your boat to do so. You should be able to work out the distance to those points on your GPS or chart without too much difficulty.

[Noelm]

mind you, you will cover a lot of distance with a 90HP Yamaha and 120L of fuel, remembering you need to have a safety margin left, and need to get there "and" back

[TimiBoy]

29's and 33's are a long way if you are going around the top, or coming from GC.

Get in touch with Bill Corten (he wrote that article) and do his bar crossing course. In 4 or 5 trips you will save enough in fuel to pay for the course, and you'll learn heaps more about handling a boat than you could imagine. Seriously, IMO if you want to learn and you are concerned about safety, this course is a MUST! His ad is in B&B somewhere.

I use about 140 litres running to Tempest from Raby Bay and muckin' about (via South Passage). Bigger donk and much more weight, of course. 33's would be 20-30 litres closer in my tub. But if you want to reef fish and you're going around the top, drop the tub in at Scarby - there's lots of ground around the Cape that would do the job, and is much closer. It's a quick run to safe water if things turn to crap, too - worth keeping in mind in smaller craft...

Cheers,

Tim

[beefa12001]

Hey thanks all for your comments. I have been out over South Passage before but i was following someone who had heaps of experience. I wouldnt try it yet on my own. I might try a few areas off the Cape and Goldie first. I will look into Bill's course...Thanks, Matt

[beefa12001]

hey matt,u would be better off leavin scarbrough than the seaway,is a long way,i go throught the south passage bar in my 610 tinny and a 140 2 stroke and i use bout 80 ltrs for a trip leaving from manly just bottom bashing but when leaving scarbrough i use the same when i fish around the cape,although i do a fair bit of searching for new ground while out there,mind you i just cruise at around 25knots on the way out,if you leave from the goldy i recon fish down that way,i go out to the 24-36 and use bugger all fuel
cheers rosco
p.s deep tempest is further than the 33's

Hi Rosco, just wondering if you would have any general marks for the 24-36 to get me started. I can't seem to find anything on the web. PM if you like. Thanks, Matt