in heavy weather (winds from different directions) what bays are best for mooring?

maxum said...

in heavy weather (winds from different directions) what bays are best for mooring?

short answer NONE


you can get away with anchoring in salmon bay but that will only protect you from NW, N, NE,E winds .

Other than that like JBShack stated unless you're a licencee or authorised user you cannot use any mooring at rottnest .

like jbs we pay about $650ish a year for a 32footer

Are you talking fixed moorings or dropping anchor?

It really depends on which direction the wind is blowing there are heaps of different options.
Also the Rottnest Island Authority has moorings (the green ones) in most bays that you can hire on a daily basis.

Beware that for some reason anchors seem to drag easily in Parakeet Bay, I skippered the sea rescue boat over there for a few years and dragged a number of boat off the beach both there and between the Army and Natural jetties in Thompson Bay.

The thing to watch out for is the wind swinging overnight i.e. in summer it is usually blowing SW at sunset but swings to strong SE/E/NE sometime overnight that is when the anchor can drag.

Some people set two anchors to cater for this but this can cause problems if you are anchored near others that only have the one anchor set.