Safe anchorage at Moreton

[Vic1]

Hi all

Have a few friends coming up to QLD in March and I have promised them a camping / fishing holiday on Moreton (weather permitting). I have a f/glass 5m centre console and plan on chasing mackeral / cobia / LT's to give these southerners a thrill (they're local catch generally consists of flathead and whiting......)

Where is a safe place to anchor up at Moreton and what is the correct technique to ensure when you wake in the morning the boat is where is should be and not half way to NZ......

The only time I've ever pulled up there was for a few beers at Tangalooma in which case I drove into waist deep water, dropped the anchor and then released enough rope until the boat was in knee deep water so the passengers could depart in some comfort. Is this the correct method??? Should I pull the boat right up onto the beach??? Do I need 2 anchors??? Am I likely to get stuff stolen from the boat at night??

Look forward to your replies

Cheers

Vic1

[Far_Canal]

depends where you are camping.

there are safe anchorages at tangalooma there and down south a bit more at the sandhills, you will find plenty of yatchs and cruisers anchored up there.

the biggest thing to watch id the wind and tides, make sure you securely anchor your boat and i would recommend using a 2nd anchor from out back aswell, even a rope attached to somewhere on shore.

[Blackened]

G'day
Your two main options would be the wrecks at tangalooma or down at kooringal.

Keep a good eye on tides, swell and wind strength direction, your anchoring technique seems right.

What I see most is the bow anchor out in a good depth of water, and a stern anchor bought up towards the beach.

Just dont let your boat high and dry at low tide, as the beaches turn into highways and theft may become more of a concern.

I'm sure you'll get plenty more info...

Dave

[seatime]

G'day Vic1

Yep, 2 anchors are the go for overnight, position your boat bow out, away from the beach, and run the 2nd anchor from a stern cleat up the beach and secure it.
Depending on where you decide to overnight, tying the stern off to a tree or big log on the beach is handy, and safe, provided no one trips over it at night.
Leave the boat set out far enough from the beach so it won't dry overnight (below low water mark), thieves will be unlikely to swim out to raid the boat.
Leave enough slack in the anchor lines to allow for the tidal range, pulling up tight the anchor lines at low water can lead to a swamped boat when the tide floods, the boat will be held down by the lines, and the tide will come up over the sides and swamp it.
Depending on weather, wind etc, you may need to have a fair amount of line out the bow ( wind may increase overnight).
Having plenty of anchor line out bow and stern allows the boat to be moved in and out of the beach for loading while keeping both anchors out, slack off bow, pull in stern, and vice versa.

How this helps

regards
Steve.

edit; double up on info, still typing when blackened posted.

[AaronF]

Have to disagree with the 2 anchor method. The tide runs hard as you get further North on Moreton Island and having the stern tied in against the Island is no good if you have a croos chop working against the tide. You may well find your boat on the bottom in a storm if you choose this method. There are some good anchorages just South of Tangas (you will see boats anchored there unless the wind is Westerly) and then further South again past Shark Spit. The area just Sth of Tangas has an outside sandbam that you can motor over except on dead low tide and then anchor in reasonably close to the beach but where the boat still floats at low tide. Use at least twice your boat length of chain + 7-10 time the boat length of rope and let the bow of the boat stay into the tide or the wind to avoid sinking it in a storm. Most people check their boat a few times through the night to ensure everything is OK especially newbies. Your boat should be OK with the gear on baord as anyone who wants something off it has to swim to it anyway. Just my 2 cents worth but keep that second anchor in the boat or in a worst case attach a second one of the bow at 30 degree from the first if you are really worried.

[seatime]

horses for courses, AaronF.

If other boats at the anchorage or campground have bow & stern anchors out, it may not be a good idea to go in and leave only 1 anchor out. There's a good chance your's might swing around into another boat.
Sand anchors have also been known to break the ground when the tide turns, they may catch again, but they've dragged before it holds, not saying it happens everytime, but only once and it could be disaster.
If you're the only boat around and the weather forecast is favourable, 1 anchor may be all that's needed. though you'll be doing a lot of swimming.
If enough scope is used, the bow won't be pulled under by choppy seas.
If it gets bad enough that waves do break onto the bow, then yes, transfer the stern anchor to the bow for a second bow, space it at 45-60 degrees to prevent them from fouling each other. The boat will be wind rode, tide won't have much effect above 20kts of wind.
If it looks like it's going to get that bad, I'd suggest you shouldn't be there with your family.
Plan your overnight trips carefully with weather forecasts and predictions, 4 day, 7 day prognosis charts. Predictions can change, though not so dramatically enough, and quickly enough, were an educated decision to stay or go, can't be made. The mistakes are made when the mentality of "she'll be right, it should be OK" controls the decision making. If in-doubt get out.

There are varied opinions, and options on anchoring methods, another rule of courtesy is to observe how other boats are laying, give them plenty of room, allowing for the slack lines when there's low water.
North-North Westerlies at this time of year probably present the most danger when anchoring on the western shore of Moreton, so be careful and plan ahead.

regards
Steve.

[Vic1]

Thanks for the info guys

[MikeC90]

Hi all, stumbled on this old thread while doing some research for an upcoming Moreton trip. Pretty much the same queries as the OP but hoping there might be a few more examples of what people have done over there.

I've had the boat anchored in the same location for long periods during the day in 15+ knots without issue but obviously a bit more stressful leaving it unattended overnight. During the day I always use two anchors, with the bow facing out to sea to allow easier ingress/egress. I've found this pretty reliable, though the stern anchor has tended to drag a bit if the swell is loosening the sand around it and the boat is jerking a bit. Due to this I was intending to leave the boat a bit further out and just use the bow anchor (or both from the bow). Are the comments above about offsetting the anchor direction to help mitigate the other issue raised, where the anchor comes loose as the boat swings around with the tide? On that point, is it really likely to go far before it grabs again? The bottom there appears to be consistent flat sand and I've never not had it grab first time, so I find it hard to imagine the boat getting far in that situation (perhaps me being naïve?).

Any thoughts or personal experience appreciated.