Sounds like a fun trip. Because you are a new keel boat sailor I'll remind you of basics in case you forgot anything. In case I forget anything others will remind me. Check your boat is OK for the ocean. Seaworthy, fittings under waterline secure, life jackets, EPIRB, VHF. Estimate your boat speed and mark it on a chart so you know how far you will get in a give time period. Check the wind and weather and leave when it suits you. The wind and weather will determine boats progress. Take plenty of fuel, food and drink (and perhaps recreational drinks - we take beer and port) if you anchor overnight or get marooned. If you will be overnighting make sure your lighting works. And check in with Marine Rescue as you progress. They are very good at keeping tabs on boats. If I had time I would love to do it but stuck at work!

Very good posts from Trek and R13. Read several times.

We did Sydney (Watson's Bay) to Greenwell Point on the delivery in March 2021 and it was a formative experience. We left late (0930) and that was the first mistake. Good progress but we arrived off Greenwell Point after dark (second mistake). The skipper had not been into Greenwell Point before but we still decided to go in (10 kts wind, 1.5m seas). Third mistake. The skipper was using Navionics on a tablet and kept telling me to go to port despite that being off the lead lights (fourth mistake). I didn't understand my responsibilities as owner and didn't know enough to point out the wrong course to the skipper (fifth mistake). As we came down off a wave, the keel struck a rock, part of the breakwater on the southern side of the entrance. The next wave lifted the boat up and the rudder struck rock on the way down. Panic. I added revs, steered to starboard and we got away. The boat was on the slip at Greenwell Point for a week while we repaired the bottom bearing of the rudder. We were very lucky, it could have been much worse but I learnt a great deal about responsibility and what not to do.

Don't allow 1 person to be responsible for everything, everyone (especially the owner) should know how to get into the harbour you're entering. Don't enter a harbour you don't know well in darkness unless you really have to. Plan your trip so you get there in daylight. Always believe the lead lights not Navionics. Basic seamanship, I guess.

I would recommend doing it in 2 legs, the days are short right now. Shell Harbour has a marina, supposed to be good. Wait for a weather window and leave early. As Trek says, tell Marine Rescue what you're doing and let them know when you get there.

If you prepare well and follow the excellent advice on this forum, you are very likely to have a fantastic time.

Cheers,
Kinora

garymalmgren said..
RE: kept telling me to go to port despite that being off the lead lights (fourth mistake).
If in doubt SPEAK UP.
There is nothing worse than hearing, "I thought that would happen," after the event.

gary

Hope you weren't affected by the recent earthquake, Gary.

K.

My thoughts as follows, but you have to be comfortable with your own decisions.

You don't want the wind on the nose. Check the weather frequently until you see when there will be favourable winds. Looks like southerly at the moment but turning Nor'Easterly on the weekend. Sunday may be your best day for making good distance. But you really need 3 days of favourable winds, I suggest.

Have you used the anchor? Anchoring single handed may require a bit of getting up to the bow then back to the helm. If you haven't done it before, then it may be good to have a practice before you need to do it solo when it's critical. Might be a good idea to get out through the Spit Bridge the day before you actually head out the heads, so you can anchor or moor and get an early start on your first full day of passage making.

If it's a short first day due to waiting for Spit Bridge, Port Hacking can be fine. It's about 20 nautical miles from Sydney Heads, so perhaps 4 hours if you can average 5 knots. There's a visitors' mooring in shallowish water (2-5m) in Bundeena Bay. May be too exposed in a northerly, though. If you draw less than 2m (say 1.5 or less), it may be OK for you depth wise. Otherwise perhaps not. Also only if its not already occupied - fair chance it wont be in mid-winter. Lowest tides are between 0.26 and 0.29m on 1 , 2 and 3 of Aug between 0400 and 0500 in the morning. I'm told, but haven't done it myself that anchoring in Gunnamatta Bay is good, noting it's a narrowish marked channel up the west side to get into that bay (and there's a ferry using the channel also as I recall, though shouldn't be an issue) . If you've no other workable option, you may be allowed to tie up at the end of the marina at the Royal Motor Yacht Club at sundown provided you're off again by 0700. You can call them to ask if you need to.

As has been said, days are short at the moment. Plan to still have at least an hour of light at the end of the day to point into the wind and drop the main, pilot into anchorage or marina or onto courtesy mooring and faff around stowing what needs to be stowed, etc. You want to be all secure before the sun sets. and preferably with a hot mug of tea made.

Plan to leave any anchorage or marina pretty much at sun up - have brekky and do your prep to go during first light. This gives you the maximum amount of time for making progress in daylight hours. So as much as nine hours if you're under way by 0700 and heading in to be on anchor, mooring or dock by 1600.

If your boat happily averages 6 knots in the winds you're expecting, do your passage planning assuming 5 knots average. Always better to arrive earlier on each day than your plan suggests, than to be still out as the sun goes down eg because the winds weren't what was expected.

Keep a reasonable distance off the shore before you head in to wherever you're going to anchor or tie up. Swells get steeper as they approach the shore and can also reflect back off bluffs and cliffs in deeper water creating confused seas close in.

Do tell Marine Rescue what your plans are (and update them if your plans change), but I suggest tell them you will be arriving at your next overnight destination 30 mins to an hour after you actually expect to be there. In my experience they'll be on the phone hassling you 5 minutes after you've not yet arrived, so leave yourself a bit of a margin, in what you tell them. In my experience they're more used to power boats and fishing tinnies, and don't get that progress when sailing is a little less predictable. If you then end up reporting arriving for the day earlier than you told them, no harm done.

Have the phone numbers already in your phone contacts for each Marine Rescue and any marina/harbour master you may need, so you don't have to search them up when you do need them.

I assume your engine works and you have enough fuel to motor if the wind dies and to manouever when anchoring, getting into a marina, putting the head into the wind and so on.

The new marina at Shellharbour is big and good, and 2 years ago was half empty when I stopped there when heading north in early July. It's about 40 nautical miles from Port Hacking, so 8 hours at 5 knots average and just under 7 hours at 6 knots average. So I'd call that a good days sailing and wouldn't try for more than that in a day.

From Shellharbour Marina to Greenwell is about 25 nautical miles, including getting out of the marina and east of Bass Point before heading south. So that's a short day's sailing of 5 hours or so if you have enough of the right wind. I am not sure how challenging the bar crossing into the river there is. Assuming you want to be entering late on the incoming tide - ie on the incoming close to high tide, if depth is an issue. High tide at Crookhaven is at 1144 on Monday 3 Aug and 1229 on Tuesday 4 August. So you'd want to be out of Shellharbour marina first thing to be sure to make it to the entrance for the crossing before the tide turns to go out. You've more time, tidewise, later in the week, but by Tuesday afternoon the wind is likely to be westerly and later in the week becoming southerly, so not favourable for heading south.

All the best.

Never sailed a Hunter 33, but suggest a likely passage planning speed of around 4.5kts an hour, 5kts if you have a feathering or folding prop. You will likely gain an extra knot heading south with the East Australian Current if you stay out 5-10Nm from the coast.

For a few years I always sailed past Shellharbour Marina, now I always stop as I think its one of the best marinas in Australia for facilities (amenities, supermarket, good pub). If you come in late and may be tired you can request an easy entry berth at the start of the marina, you will likely have to pay for a 12 or 14m berth, but I find if I'm single handed and maybe a bit frazzled its worth the extra $20 in berthing peace of mind.

One other suggestion, consider planning as an alternative port, Jervis Bay ( about 25Nm extra ). If Greenwell Point is marginal for entry then a good alternative is Jervis Bay. Just be aware or the dangerous seas that may occur in the Sir John Young Banks off Beecroft Head in a moderate South Easterly breeze. Jervis Bay is a great place to learn how to use your Hunter if you have a few days up your sleeve.

A second person as crew would be good, generally on the first shakedown sail down the coast you will find something amiss with the boat, a second person gives you the time to rectify the situation.

ACTAndy said..
The mooring at Greenwell is being checked today, and assuming it passes I'll be looking to move my boat from Powder Hulk Bay shortly.

I'll be single handed.

I'm planning the trip now, but as I'm a new keelboat sailor I want to be safe. Given that the Spit bridge doesn't open until 10:30am! am I best stopping at Port hacking on day one, then setting off early the following day with the hope of being there before sundown (with an option of Shell Harbour if I'm late and starting again the following day).

I'm open to your thoughts/opinions/wisdom and if anyone needs a ferry from Sydney to Greenwell Point I'd be happy to have the crew or maybe even a 'convoy'?

Thanx
ACTAndy

First question is which mooring is getting checked today at Greenwell Point? Are you the bloke who has been messaging me on Facebook Greenwell Point Yachts group? My phone number is on the top of that page. Is this the same Hunter that used to reside at Greenwell Point? I will be up in Sydney for a couple of days, Sunday the 9th of August and will be home in the afternoon on Tuesday. I will be able to assist entry on the other days.
The weather will most likely be Westerlies or South Westerlies at the times you mentioned. If light the seas will be slight as well. I would stop at Port Hacking on the first day. Then it would depend on the breeze but stick inshore heading South and see how far you can go in daylight. Early departure from Port Hacking and a close reach with a moderate Westerly you could get to the Shoahaven Bight by late afternoon. What ever you do don't rush or have a strict time table. Plenty of places to stop at in including Kiama and the other places mentioned. Don't bother entering Greenwell Point in the dark. Anchor off the beach in about 15 to 20 metres and enter after breakfast.
It's a bugger of a trip in a Southerly so don't bother.

ACTAndy said..
Thanx all for the inputs,

The boat is a Hunter 33.5. She has a top speed of 6.9 kts and a draft of 1.4m.

I was hoping to do the trip in 2 hops, Middle harbour to Port Hacking, then on to Greenwell Point, with Shell Harbour as the backup. Obviously that is all weather dependent.

The boat has all the correct gear on board for the passage, it's the captain that worries me the most (me).

My preferred window for the trip is anywhere between 8 August to 16 August, but again I'm not going to rush to keep to a date, no-one is complaining that I'm still on the old mooring.

My expectation is that I will plan the trip to the nth degree, taking fixes and positions every hour, charting my progress, only to find it is super uneventful, cross fingers!

And the offer still stands for a first mate or companion vessel for the trip ;)

Cheers
ACTAndy

Port Hacking to Greenwell is about 60 nautical miles, or 10 hours at 6 knots. 12 hours at 5 knots. Between 9 and 16 August sun rise is about 0640 to 0633 and sunset is 1721 to 1726. So a bit less than 11 hours of daylight. You can set out in twilight before sunrise, but I wouldn't count on making it to the Crookhaven bar in daylight, leaving Port Hacking at sunrise. You might, but chances are you'd be entering the river and mooring in the dark (its a couple of miles from Crookhaven Heads to Greenwell Point). Plus there's the question of the tide state when you're crossing the bar. At Crookhaven on 10 August low tide is at 1137 and high tide is at 1823, so arriving late in the daylight hours would mean you have an incoming tide to go over the bar. By 16 August, low tide is 1705, so you'd have an outgoing tide late in the afternoon when you'd be wanting to cross the bar.

To single-hand, you should be fit and nimble. If your balance is uncertain, you are not sure footed, or you get short of breath from mild exertion, then best to sail with crew.

Ditto if you have any conditions that could render you unable to sail (epilepsy, migraine, dodgy heart ...)

Dont go out if the winds are going to be more than 15-20 knots.

Better if winches are self tailing, so you don't have to use both hands (one on the winch handle, t'other tailing the rope) when winching.

Best if your mast lines (main halyard, vang, reefing lines, down and outhauls) all come back to jammers that can be operated from the cockpit

Preferable to have your foresail on a furler so you can reduce that sail from the cockpit.

Have your mainsail reefs already rigged, preferably running back to the cockpit. If you have to go forward to the mast to attach a luff down haul to the next reefing point, see below about jackstays and autopilot.

Be certain you can reef while singlehanded offshore.

Reef early. Better still, if there's any doubt , start with a reef in (or two depending on the expected weather).

Don't use the spinnaker, if you have one.

If you are running before the wind - anything from a broad reach or squarer - rig a gybe preventer. That is a strong rope running forward from the boom - preferably the end of the boom or the aft-most mainsheet attachment to the boom - to a very secure point on the toe rail or a similar secure point, as far forward as you can, while still being able to release it without having to go forward (ie bring the end of the line back to the cockpit).

Avoid running dead square, or close to dead square, to reduce the likelihood of backwinding/gybing the main. Better to zig zag in two or more broad reaches, that keep the wind on the right side of the boat, with controlled gybes from one side to the other, or in stronger winds, even going the long way round (ie hardening up and tacking through the wind before easing back off onto the broad reach on the other side).

You must have a reliable autopilot (not just the wheel clamp or a rope tethering the wheel) that can hold the boat on a heading, while its sailing, or motoring head to wind. If you cant leave the helm to deal with something in or out of the cockpit, then you can't single hand, in my view, (even though Slocum and Chichester apparently managed it).

Also suggest you have jack stays the length of the boat inboard on both sides and stay connected using a 3 point harness (so you are always clipped on even when passing an obstruction), including in the cockpit (ie at all times under way except when you go below).

Have a personal locator beacon attached securely to your life jacket harness (which you wear at all times, except when at anchor/moored) in case you do end up overboard when offshore.

Suggest also having a container (small plastic bucket) near the helm you can use to pee into (and then throw the contents over the downwind side) so you don't have to go below to take a pee.

Keep your eyes open and look in every direction frequently crossing shipping lanes (Port Jackson, Botany Bay and Kiama) or making you way through/past big ship anchoring grounds (eg north and east of Kiama).

Others may have additional thoughts and/or want to critique mine...

I now have a 'first mate' booked in, so crossing fingers for the weather.

Yes Ramona, the boats you mentioned are the same I was told were previously on the mooring, I just hope my boat doesn't look too shabby next to yours!!!

Cheers

ACTAndy