Brisbane

From CruisersWiki

An online cruising guide for yachts sailing to Brisbane.

Contents 1 Cruising the region 2 Local Weather 3 Charts 4 Radio Nets 5 Approach and Navigation 6 Check-in facilities (for Customs and Immigration) 7 Berthing Options 7.1 Marinas and Yacht Clubs 7.1.1 Manly 7.1.2 Brisbane River 7.1.3 Scarborough Boat Harbour 7.2 Anchorages 8 Offshore Islands 9 Yacht Services and Repairs 9.1 Marine stores 9.2 Repairs/Yards 9.3 Fuel, Water, & Electricity 10 Things to do Ashore 10.1 Tourism 10.2 Grocery & Supply Stores 10.3 Eateries 10.4 Internet/WiFi 10.5 Laundry 10.6 Motorbike & Car Rentals 10.7 Garbage Disposal 10.8 Transportation 11 Routes/Passages To/From 12 Cruiser's Friends 13 Forum Discussions 14 External Links 15 References & Publications 16 Personal Notes 16.1 Last Visited & Details Checked (and updated here)

Brisbane is the capital of Queensland, the state of prepetual sunshine. Residents of this fair city have an outdoor, beachgoing lifestyle with boating and fishing being very popular. The multitude of islands and channels off the coast make for waters protected from the ravages of the open sea and afford good recreational boating even for those with little experience.

Cruising the region

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland, and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of 2.24 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred on Brisbane, encompasses a population of more than 3 million. The Brisbane central business district is situated inside a bend of the Brisbane River, approximately 15 kilometres (9 NM) from its mouth at Moreton Bay.

Moreton Bay itself has wide sandbanks, many muddy/tidal islands, and difficult shallows. Navigate with care, paying attention to any buoys and chart details. It's a common saying that there are two types of boat in Brisbane -- those that have hit bottom in Moreton Bay and those that have not yet hit bottom in Moreton Bay.

As a yachting destination, despite being the capital, Brisbane is frequently overshadowed by the nearby Southport region on the Gold Coast.

Local Weather

Sub-tropical with sunshine most of the year but a tendency for sudden heavy downpours during the summer months, often depositing inches of rain in a few hours. In winter the sun drops out early and fast, as if someone had turned out the lights. Queensland is the only Australian state that didn't go with Daylight Savings, the Premier of the time—Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen—giving the reason that getting up earlier would confuse the cows and fade the curtains. It could only happen in Queensland!

• Bureau of Meteorology - Official Weather for Brisbane

Charts

Australian Hydrographic Service

Aus235 - Australia East Coast - Queensland - Approaches to Moreton Bay

Aus236 - Australia East Coast - Queensland - Moreton Bay

Aus237 - Australia East Coast - Queensland - Brisbane River The Bar to Lytton Reach

Aus814 - Australia East Coast - Queensland - Point Danger to Cape Moreton

Radio Nets

• See Queensland
• Also see Cruiser's Nets

Approach and Navigation

Getting into and out of Brisbane is not always trivial. Study the charts in detail.

Your two main routes are:

• From the north, via the North East or North West passages, around the north end of Moreton Island.
• From the south, via the Gold Coast Seaway near Southport, and then via the inland waterways. Attempt this only with detailed local knowledge, a full set of tide charts, and extreme patience.

The northern route is most strongly recommended. There are two sub-routes here, one via the North East passage which takes you wide around the top of Moreton Island. The other is via one of the Freeman Passages (I prefer the Inner Freeman Passage) nearer to Moreton Island itself. Study your charts in detail -- many parts of Moreton Bay are quite shallow, and it is very easy to end up on a shoal here.

There are two other routes, which are:

• South Passage, between Moreton Island, and North Stradbroke Island.
• Jumpinpin, between North and South Stradbroke Islands.

The simplest advice is: do not attempt either of these passages in a keelboat. They are shallow, and the sandbars shift constantly. You will end up aground. Locals who do these passages all of the time may be keen to try them with you for a bit of a laugh, but even so they are exceedingly dangerous.

Check-in facilities (for Customs and Immigration)

Rivergate Marina is the mandated entry facility for cruising yachts. It is located about 10nm up the Brisbane River on the port side, just before the Gateway Bridge.

Berthing Options

Marinas and Yacht Clubs

Manly

There is a big multi-marina complex at Manly.

Take care entering Manly Harbour to stick strictly to the entry channel. Surrounding water can be under 1 metre, the channel and harbour is dredged to 2m SAT, so vessels with over 3m draft should only enter at high tide, and those over 4m should seek another location. Tides in this area are 1.5 to 2.5m.

Trains run from Manly to Brisbane City on a regular basis. Brisbane Airport is approximately 30 minutes trip by taxi, costing about $A50. Please note the Google photo is out of date, the pile moorings shown in the middle of the harbour have been removed, extensions to the MBTBC and RQYS marinas now fill most of that space with a central channel.

• Moreton Bay Trailer Boat Club. ph: 3893 0810
  ** 34 Fairlead Crescent, Manly.
  Google maps link: Map
  Note that the club itself and the marina are about 5-10 minutes walk apart, in different buildings. The club is open 7 days/week but the marina keeps normal hours 9am-5pm Mon-Fri.
  Contact Email for marina pricing details.
  Fuel and 35 tonne travelift / hard stand facilities are available. There is a laundry, and other facilities (showers, toilets, etc) are excellent.
• East Coast Marina
  This is a commercial marina which accepts small cruisers and permits live-aboards.
• Wynnum-Manly Yacht Club
  Private club.
• Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron
  Private club, members and members of affiliated clubs only.

Brisbane River

• Rivergate Marina is the Brisbane port of entry facility for cruising yachts. The marina is located about 10nm up the Brisbane River just before the Gateway Bridge. It has first class berthing and hardstand facilities, however development of the retail complex is currently stalled. There is no public transport in walking distance of this facility at present (Jan 2009), although Brisbane's excellent Rivercat service may soon service the complex.

Scarborough Boat Harbour

• Scarborough Marina is in the Scarborough Boat Harbour, on the Redcliffe peninsula about 40 minutes drive north of Brisbane. There is a chandler present as well as some repair facilities.

Anchorages

• Anchoring is permitted in the Brisbane River, and the area around Colmslie Reserve in Morningside (just after the Gateway Bridge) is popular with cruisers and liveaboards. Stay within 100 metres of the southern shore as large vessels use the channels here on a daily basis, including several cruise ships.

Colmslie Reserve has toilets, electric barbeques (free), drinking water and cold showers available and the local swimming pool is a short walk for hot showers at $2.00 per person. Council has taken to replacing water taps with a special tamper-proof fitting but a brass key for these is available in hardware stores for about $5.00 and will be needed in other places within Australia anyhow.

Dinghies should be chained securely, there have been thefts in the area. It can be a busy place on weekends when trailer-sailers and jetskis are using the launch ramp. Dragon boats also train here in the evening several nights a week. There is a CitiCat ferry terminal opposite, and food shopping is within dinghy distance if you have an engine.

• Pylon moorings fore-and-aft are available in Brisbane city at the Botanical Gardens on a daily or weekly basis.

Offshore Islands

• Bribie Island (has data)
• Coochiemudlo Island
• Lamb Island
• Karragarra Island
• Macleay Island (has data)
• Moreton Island
• North Stradbroke Island
• Peel Island
• Russell Island (has data)
• South Stradbroke Island

Yacht Services and Repairs

Also see each Port.

Marine stores

• Whitworths is the best known marine chandlery in Australia, and the Wollongabba and Breakfast Creek stores are conveniently located in Brisbane.
• BIAS Boating Warehouse is also a good supplier of all marine equipment. Their showrooms are more widely distributed than those of Whitworths. Brisbane shops are at Tingalpa, Slacks Creek, and Virginia.
• Bargain Boat Bits sell boat bits, sometimes at a bargain price. Caveat: shop around, as the name of the store may not reflect any relation to having consistently the lowest prices.
• At Manly, Muir Marine offer a full chandlery service near the marinas.

Repairs/Yards

• There are two budget slipways for doing antifouling in Sandgate - Deagon Slipways and Cabbage Tree Creek Slipways - but for the full service treatment there is none better in Australia than The Boat Works, which lies 50 miles south in Coomera. They often have special deals during off-season periods and have a large number of trades onsite as well as a chandlery.
• Queensland Cruising Yacht Club are also located in Cabbage Tree Creek.
• Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron at Manly Harbour has a haul out yard and various repair facilities.

Fuel, Water, & Electricity

Fuel

Give details on fuel

Water

Water can be obtained at all marina berths.

Electricity

Electricity can be obtained at all marina berths.

Things to do Ashore

Tourism

List places of interest, tours, etc.

Grocery & Supply Stores

Eateries

Internet/WiFi

Available?

Laundry

Motorbike & Car Rentals

Garbage Disposal

?

Transportation

Transportation (local and/or international)

Routes/Passages To/From

Popular passages/routes, timing, etc.

Cruiser's Friends

Contact details of "Cruiser's Friends" that can be contacted for local information or assistance.

Forum Discussions

List links to discussion threads on partnering forums. (see link for requirements)

External Links

• Brisbane at the Wikipedia
• Brisbane on wikivoyage

References & Publications

• The Queensland Government publication Beacon to Beacon can be obtained in any chandlery and contains a comprehensive set of charts for all Queensland waterways and satellite photographs of most harbours, entrances, and anchorages. This is a "must have" publication for cruising in Queensland. Although the charts are not legal navigation charts they're likely to be more up to date than those from the Hydrostatic office or those in your chart plotter. (Comment: Since the Australian Hydrographic Service is the official source of correct maps, this is a ludicrous suggestion. Use the official maps! --Haiqu 04:23, 6 June 2011 (BST))
• Alan Lucas's Cruising the Coral Coast if you're heading north, and Cruising the NSW Coast if you're heading south.

Personal Notes

Personal experiences:

• Winds in Brisbane can be fierce in early Spring, with the month of October generally being the worst. Winds of 50 knots are not uncommon on Brisbane River and can cause an anchor to drag easily despite generally good holding in a muddy bottom. Let out lots of scope and keep an eye on the weather report. --Haiqu

Last Visited & Details Checked (and updated here)

Date of member's visit to this Port/Stop & this page's details validated:

• 26 Oct 2015 --Haiqu

This is a usable page of the cruising guide. However, please contribute if you can to help it grow further. Click on Comments to add your personal notes on this page or to discuss its contents. Alternatively, if you feel confident to edit the page, click on the edit tab at the top and enter your changes directly.

Contributors to this page
Names: Lighthouse, Delatbabel, Yttrill, Haiqu

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