Hey Bobin,
Welcome to the rotto lifestyle.
A few essentials:
1. Keep your boat maintained. A Bertrum 35 will have a few hours on the clock so dont skimp on looking afer all the gear. My main boating goal is not to feature as a news item.
2. Join sea rescue and log on/off. About $40 per year and they are available to assist.
3. Join the mooring scheme. Much more relaxing on a mooring than at anchor overnight.
4. Go to different bays. Rotto is so much more than Thompsons, Longreach and Geordie.
Now that we've cleared that, the wind thing:
Over 18 knots from the south or south west is pretty unpleasant. In the early days you want your family to enjoy the crossing, so keep to 12 knots or below.
Swell direction matters, but usually with a south/ south west swell, the wave height will increase after the windmills, so if you're not happy before then it's time to turn back.
I'm comfortable in a 2 metre swell and up to 18 knots, have done the trip in worse conditions, but avoid if possible.
Tag along with other boaties with similar sized vessels, go on other boats to get experience to see what others do well. Join a yacht club and ask around. There are no dumb questions on a baot.
Keep off the p**s before traveling.
All forecast sites have their limitations, as weather is a dynamic variable, which is where the saying "keep a weather eye out" comes from.

Best time to get your sealegs is March, as the wind is less and the sea breeze not as ferocious.

bobin76 said..
looking for some advice
new to boating, got a 35ft Bertram
done some rotto trips already in very calm conditions ????
Trying to work out days / conditions to avoid, ive been told over 2m swell (as I'm a newby)
i look at all the different websites regarding wind and swell (Seabreeze/Willy w, BoM Rottnest etc)
But getting confused with combined wave height?
when I see swell height on Seabreeze at say 1.5m is this combined/total height? Or do I need to add swell to sea height???
hope this makes sense....
thanks in advance ????

JulianRoss said..
Hey Bobin,
Welcome to the rotto lifestyle.
A few essentials:
1. Keep your boat maintained. A Bertrum 35 will have a few hours on the clock so dont skimp on looking afer all the gear. My main boating goal is not to feature as a news item.
2. Join sea rescue and log on/off. About $40 per year and they are available to assist.
3. Join the mooring scheme. Much more relaxing on a mooring than at anchor overnight.
4. Go to different bays. Rotto is so much more than Thompsons, Longreach and Geordie.
Now that we've cleared that, the wind thing:
Over 18 knots from the south or south west is pretty unpleasant. In the early days you want your family to enjoy the crossing, so keep to 12 knots or below.
Swell direction matters, but usually with a south/ south west swell, the wave height will increase after the windmills, so if you're not happy before then it's time to turn back.
I'm comfortable in a 2 metre swell and up to 18 knots, have done the trip in worse conditions, but avoid if possible.
Tag along with other boaties with similar sized vessels, go on other boats to get experience to see what others do well. Join a yacht club and ask around. There are no dumb questions on a baot.
Keep off the p**s before traveling.
All forecast sites have their limitations, as weather is a dynamic variable, which is where the saying "keep a weather eye out" comes from.

Best time to get your sealegs is March, as the wind is less and the sea breeze not as ferocious.

Julian
brilliant!
items 1-3 all in hand????
Item 4, working on it..

still bit confused with wave heights though
when SB or WW say 1.5m wave height
is this total height, inclusive of sea/wind waves, or do you need to add this as an extra??
ps...what's a windmill ??

A few other pointers is to look at the wind and swell directions. Also you didn't say weather your destination to Rotto from. IE Hillary's or freo?

Nice rig, the other point i like to emphasise is never scrimp on time to pack items away and tie down toys, ie tenders and kayaks that kinda stuff. It much harder in a pitching sea to secure them than in a quiet bay.

Also as Julian said, use the island, move bays to avoid winds and waves and you'll have a ball..

what donks do you have in your bertie?

still bit confused with wave heights though
when SB or WW say 1.5m wave height
is this total height, inclusive of sea/wind waves, or do you need to add this as an extra??

Use the bureau of Meteorology forecasts. They have sea and swell predictions. A small swell with a big sea is yuck. It's not as simple as adding them together.

www.bom.gov.au/wa/forecasts/perth-coast.shtml

And as JB says, picking when the forecasts kick in with changing wind strength and direction matters as well.

the Department of transport buoys are useful for real time data that demonstrates how it works.

www.transport.wa.gov.au/imarine/rottnest-island-tide-and-wave.asp

You ou need to get in the water and figure out what all the numbers mean in physical terms. Anything over 15knts is getting pretty ugly, but as someone else said, boats are generally more seaworthy than I am comfortable. I find I am hating life way before the boat is in any real difficulty. A lot of it is common sense. If in doubt turn back.