Planning a Boat Trip around Weather & Tide in the Whitsundays

Once you’re aboard your sailing vessel in the Whitsundays, each leg of your trip will require planning as you go. This will be largely governed by two factors: weather and tide. Or, to put it more precisely, wind and current. These two elements govern whether you have a smooth, fast and enjoyable journey, or an uncomfortable or even unsafe one.

Knowing your limits

Every craft and crew will have it’s limits. Getting to know those is a process of trial and error. It is always best to err on the side of the former, gradually increasing your exposure to the elements, rather than jumping in at the deep end. Because when boating, if providence should see it so, the deep end can be very very deep.

For our 2011 research trip, our runabout boat was about 5 metres long, had some protection from the elements in the form of a half-cabin, was capable of good speeds and was pretty solid. But we had our limits – ours was about 15 knots of wind, and knowing if it gusted to 17-19, we’d be OK.

The weather forecast

Knowing what to expect from the wind, in terms of direction and strength throughout the day of our trip is critical because it is this that drives many other factors such as wave height and intensity, or when is best to travel given the tidal state. Whether the weather is fine or whether the weather is wet, is a secondary, unimportant factor.

There are numerous ways to get wind forecast information: through VHF radio broadcasts; going online; looking at noticeboards of seafaring service providers; even the television. However our preferred method is to go online, because it’s the most up to date and depending where you look, you can get very detailed, hour by hour forecast data.

However, while these sources may be detailed, they are not particularly accurate in my experience of late. Nor are any other forms of getting the forecast for the Whitsunday Islands. They are only predictions, and those can be flawed. All use some component of Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) data to make a call. It is probably best to looking at all the forecasts and then work out which elements you choose to believe based on experience and prudence.

Screen shot of Elders WeatherFor example, Elders Weather is great for an indication of strength, because it’s always a few knots stronger than the others. One a recent trip we experienced a stubborn southeasterly trade wind that refused to make way for summer and these winds seemed to always blow stronger than predicted. Elders Weather has an iPhone app, and is also specific to Hamilton Island, which is a pretty good indicator of what things will be like out there among the islands.

Screenshot of Windfinder.comTo get wind direction, try Windfinder which has some great detailed data on wind strength and direction, wave height and direction and broken down into three hour blocks. It is also specific to Hamilton Island. This site makes a pretty good call on the wind direction, but the strengths are usually too conservative.

Screenshot of Seabreeze.com.auThen, there’s Seabreeze which does the best job of visualising the data. Down the coast around Jervis Bay where we live and in Sydney it is awesome for wind direction and wave height, but it isn’t accurate at direction or strength up here in the Whitsundays. It seems to take a pretty wide area from Hamilton Island to Gladstone and try to provide a forecast for what is a rather large swathe of coast. However, it does give a good general hour by hour trend pattern that you can see readily, so you can refer to it to get a sense of what the week might look like at a macro scale.

Assessing the tidal situation for current predictions

Screenshot of World Tides iPhone appSo, once I have a picture of the likely wind strength at various times of day, I then look at the tides and what they’ll be doing. Right now that is a matter of looking at a tide chart for Shute Harbour and using maths to calculate what it will be like where we’re going, which is a pain. So, I have an iPhone and an app calledWorld Tides which is really good and tells me what it will be like at a slightly more specific location, but it’s not cheap as they go, particularly because I have to re-buy it every year for up-to-date data.

Tide is important because it equates to current. Tides in this part of the world are big, and correspondingly, current is strong, particularly around these islands where there are narrows and channels, etc. When the moon is full or new (these are when we get “spring tides”, not just in the season of spring, as the name suggests), the tides a much bigger and currents are correspondingly fiercer. We’re in a powerboat, so up to 5 knots of current slowing us down isn’t a big bother, but if we were in a sailboat, then it could mean a quick or very long trip to our destination.

Aligning current and wind together

But one thing that applies to powerboats and sailboats equally, is sea state and chop and this is made from the combination of wind and current directions. A choppy, confused sea is uncomfortable and can be dangerous, so we like to avoid those as much as possible, especially if we’ll be heading into it (travelling in the opposite direction to the wind and chop, as opposed to travelling with it in the same direction). That means, if the wind is blowing from 8-15 knots from the southeast, then we want the current to be heading that way too. Because, if it’s heading in the opposite direction (northwest) then any stretch of open water between the islands (e.g. The Molle Channel, Whitsunday Passage, etc) is going to be all steep and confused.

In the Whitsundays the current generally moves southward when the tide is flooding (rising) and northward when it’s ebbing (falling). Because the Molle Channel and Whitsunday Passage run vaguely northwest to southeast, a forecast southeasterly wind is going to blow up (northward) those bodies of open water. So, when I look at my wind and current data together, I know I want to be heading out of Shute Harbour on the mainland on an ebbing tide, aligning wind and tide together. This will minimise the amount of bashing the boat does. If we were in a sailboat, we might make a different decision, because the current pushing us along might be worth the discomfort or may in fact make our passage impossible if sailing against it.

Of course, leaving on an ebbing tide has its disadvantages for the camper. Many of our destinations need to be arrived at on a mid to high tide for there to be access over the reef. We can find this information in 100 Magic Miles. So… that means sometimes we have to leave at the very beginning of the ebb tide, so it’s not too far down when we get there. And, when we disembark, we have to be careful that the boat doesn’t get stuck on the beach as the water disappears beneath it. But, this is easier to deal with than a horrible feeling of being half way across Whitsunday Passage with wind against tide, the sea choppy as hell and feeling you might’ve bitten off more than you could chew.

Lightening the Load – Creating an Island Camping Kit

Different types of camping require different camping ‘kits’ or sets of gear. This will depend on the method of transport, the length of the stay and the level of comfort you seek. For example ‘one night stand’ camping ie. travelling by car and driving to a new campsite each day, will require a different kit than longer term camping on the mainland or that of 2-4 island camping trips, only accessible by boat.

We recently travelled from the NSW South Coast to the Whitsunday mainland by car before heading out by boat to camp on various Islands. During this journey we experienced several different styles of camping and have documented our journey in ultimately finding the right Island Camping Kit for us. We hope our experience helps you with planning your own camping ventures.

‘One night stand’ car camping

As we were travelling by car and camping along the journey up the coast we decided against setting up a tent each night, and went for rolling out a swag instead. We have found swags to be the pinnacle of camping ease and comfort, with their thick foam mattresses and set up time of about 2 minutes. They are especially good when you’re unlikely to need daytime shelter from rain, and when you’re moving on each morning. On the flipside, swags are pretty large bits of kit. Ours is a double, measuring about 140cm wide and 45cm deep when rolled up.

Glass of wine and a shimmering lake

Long stay mainland car camping

For longer term car camping on the Whitsunday mainland, we have a more traditional set up – better for a longer stay, for the rain that can persist here at times, and for needing daytime shade. We’ve got a two man tent with the mattress from the swag rolled out inside. The tent also has a little vestibule area – we put a tarp down and have most of our food and camping gear stored there. Outside we constructed a sun/rain shelter with a heavy duty tarp, sturdy but lightweight poles and strong guys. Under this we have our two chairs, table, stove and stove stand. This also functions as our ‘office’ whilst we’re here.

Mainland car camping set up

Island camping by boat

Our initial plan was to basically pack up our mainland camp and take it with us on the boat to the islands, minus a few things. We did a trial on Jervis Bay with the camping gear in the boat and it seemed ok, but this was with only some of the 60 litres of water and 40 litres of fuel one needs to take to a deserted island. The rule of thumb is that you should take 5 litres of water per person per day, plus extra for another 3 days – just in case the weather turns and you need to stay put longer than intended.

As we made our final preparations for our trip, the amount of camping gear was weighing on our mind – which isn’t how it should be. On such trips, you want to be focused on the sights you will be seeing, the wildlife, the experience… But we knew that having too much stuff would detract from all that, so started shaving things off the list.

The table and chairs were the first to go. Whilst they are quite light, they are bulky – and many of the island campsites have shady picnic tables provided by Parks. Then it was the stove stand. A very useful bit of kit when you’re in one place or even just car camping overnight – but annoying to carry, with hooks that seem to catch on everything.

We scaled down our toolkit (ultimately to our detriment on our first day – but it was so big and heavy). We each packed a small lightweight bag with just a few clothes, trainers, diving booties and snorkels. I even removed my novel from my bag – it’s was doorstop that I hadn’t even started yet, and if we were going to read, we wanted to continue soaking up The Whitsundays Book and Ray Blackwood’s exhaustive tome, The Whitsunday Islands – An Historical Dictionary.

Island camping v1.0

So after a long and difficult first day on the water – which we won’t go into here but let’s just say that schlepping the camping gear around wasn’t the worst part of it – the lengthy set up of the weighty and voluminous camping kit definitely sapped our time, physical energy and peace of mind.

Most obvious to remove from the kit straight away was the 35 litre fridge/freezer. We had intended to leave this on the boat in freezer mode, with a few ice packs and some frozen meat and milk inside. As the boat would be anchored within easy reach (via Anthony’s Continuous Loop Anchoring Technique – or CLAT as he has coined it), we would pull her in each day to put a fresh frozen ice pack in the esky and re-freeze the thawed one.

Camp gear unloaded at Sandy Bay, South Molle

‘Ultralight camping’ inspiration

To get some ideas for how to further downsize our kit, we first turned to Google. Typing in ‘lightweight camping kit’, we expected to find light camping products in online stores, and maybe some lists of kit from expert bush campers out there.

What we found was a whole movement of people across the world into what is called ‘ultralight camping’ or ‘ultralight backpacking’. Many of them seemed to be in the US, but there were plenty more in the UK, Europe and a few in Australia. The majority were keen bushwalkers going out on multi-day hikes. Having to carry everything on their backs had led to serious depth of thought and discussion about what kit is really necessary, cutting edge lightweight gear, and old tricks like cutting your toothbrush in half. All took under 10 kilos of stuff in their packs – some were able to cut this down to as low as 4 kilos.

An example of what we found are these very insightful and detailed pages, put together by Roger Caffin of the Confederation of Bushwalking Clubs NSW. Who knew there was so much to consider in the design and purchase (or build) of the perfect lightweight tent? One page led to another, from a dissertation on stove types to another about fuel efficiency. We also came across this great story of a ‘heavyweight backpacker’ in the US who volunteered to be kitted out by some ultralight folk and sent off to trek the ‘Lost Coast’ of California for five days. When you have ten minutes to spare it’s a fun read.

Somewhat defeated by the hitherto-unrealised complexities of a seemingly simple thing like choosing a lightweight stove, we were nonetheless inspired. We started to go through our kitchen gear, looking at every item critically to see if we could do without it. The second saucepan was an easy thing to discard (we already have another, and a small frypan). The third plate, the extra cups, the veg peeler. The bulky folding pouch that holds all the utensils and cutlery. Bowls were put aside as we only really use them for muesli, and the plates were bowl-like enough to suffice. And so on.

We decided we also didn’t really need the 80W folding solar panels we had brought with us. Whilst the idea behind them is sensible – to have a backup way of recharging the boat battery if it should go flat – we already had an insurance policy for that in the form of a second battery. Batteries are incredibly heavy anyway, so also having these panels weighing in at about 20 kilos, and being bulky to carry and store felt like something significant we could shed. However, when we are stranded on a remote island with both batteries flat, we felt a small tinge of regret having left this bit of kit on the mainland.

We also decided to leave our mainland campsite set up whilst we went to and from the islands. Most of the stuff is rather bulky, and the time and effort involved in packing it up and repacking it every few days is not worth the small saving in site fees.

After making these adjustments to our kit we decided to seek counsel from those locally who really know how to pack light for camping on these islands – Hayley and Neill Kennedy of Salty Dog Sea Kayaking.

Advice from the wise

Hayley agreed that campers often overestimate or underestimate what they need to take for island camping. Underestimating the amount of water is a common mistake, and packing things that aren’t really appropriate for a tranquil National Park wilderness experience is another – like the big ghettoblaster one group of teenagers wanted to take.

She wisely cautioned against feeling the need to spend a fortune on lightweight gear, but added that some things are relatively cheap and make your life a lot easier. For example, lightweight and flexible water bladders are much more space-efficient and easier to pack into kayaks, as are zip-lock bags for food storage as opposed to tins or jars. A small head-torch for finding your way around a pitch black campsite is also cheap, light and handy.

Salty Dog Kayaking

Image via Salty Dog Sea Kayaking

Food was also another area for sage advice, with Hayley explaining that people unfamiliar with living in a tropical climate often overestimate how long fresh food lasts for. Things like cheese or chocolate melt within a few hours, and vegetables and bread also have a limited life span (a third to half as long as in cooler climes) and are bulky due to their water content. Muesli, flatbreads and dried/packet provisions are the go – and of course making sure it’s all stored securely in a sturdy box so prying paws, teeth and beaks can’t get into them. Even a muesli bar wrapper stashed inside a lifejacket will invite unwelcome animal attention, with mice able to nibble through and leave holes in their wake.

Lightweight food supplies

Enthused, we went to check out the dried food supplies in the local supermarket. It was strange looking so closely through all the shelves we normally walk straight past on our way to the veg, dairy or meat. As you can imagine, there’s a lot of what looks like ‘junk’ – two minute noodles and so on – but I guess they’re quick to make and satisfying enough when you’re hungry.

Dehydrated food in the local supermarket

We also found things that appealed more to the cooks in us – things like falafel mix, polenta, or powdered eggs.

Dried cooking ingredients at the local supermarket

We bought a few things to try – tuna in a packet rather than a tin, and some ready-made Indian lentil packets.

Choosing the right gear

In preparing for our island camping expedition we needed to replace some items in our mainland camping kit: a small tent, a much thinner sleeping mat and a one-burner stove. To get advice on what lightweight options there are, without breaking the budget, we went to see Michele Wright at the Whitsunday Caravan, Camping & Trailer Centre.

We talked about the super lightweight hiking tents, the kind I’d been reading about online. As well as being much more expensive than your average tent, Michele’s advice was that they can be fiddly to put up and they are very low to the ground – really designed for those who just need a small space to lie down in, and not much else. For typical island campers, she advised a more standard dome tent – but emphasised the importance of ensuring you check that the model you choose is fully waterproof and has sandfly-proof ‘No-see-um’ mesh. Some of the entry level tents don’t meet these criteria – which in the Whitsundays could leave you an unhappy camper. Again, your age and tastes might dictate you want a slightly taller model in which you can stand up straight and these days that doesn’t necessarily mean you must also have a larger overall footprint.

We ended up choosing a tent just up from entry level – a small 2-man compared to our current tent, and with large mesh ‘windows’ on all four sides allowing cross-ventilation – something I hadn’t seen before, and perfect for this climate.

Small 2 man tent with vestibules front and back, and cross-ventilation windows

Sleeping mats were next. Downsizing from our bulky swag mattress, we were looking for something compact but comfort was still important. With mats you really have to test them out – don’t just look at them because your age and/or creakiness in particular, will govern how well you like the various options . Any reputable camping store will encourage you to try things out, so don’t feel silly…

Trying out sleeping mats at the Whitsunday Caravan, Camping & Trailer Centre

The double mat we found folds in half, then rolls up to around 25% of the size of the swag mattress, and maintains about 75% of the comfort which seemed a good compromise.

On the stove front, we got a very simple one burner we can sit directly on top of a small 1kg gas bottle. There are options for lighter disposable gas canisters, but the refillable bottle appealed more to my eco-sensibilities and last much longer per refill to boot.

Most importantly with any camping equipment, Michele reminds us that different gear will suit different types of people. What is right for you depends on what activities it’s intended for, your budget and comfort requirements. This means what you choose if you’re a young backpacker will most likely be different to an older couple or an ‘ultralight’ bushwalker.

Island camping v2.0

Equipped with more experience, knowledge and a few bits of new gear, we packed up for our second trip out to South Molle. It took a fraction of the time to pack up, and I’m hoping that our reduced kit will free up our energies for more important and exciting aspects of the experience.

We still couldn’t handle the idea of leaving our coffee machine La Sorrentina behind though… maybe we were hanging on to a luxury that we shouldn’t, or maybe we’re addicts, but we were both of the opinion that great coffee is an experience-enhancer (nay, an essential), and including La Sorrentina in our kit was worth leaving other things behind for.

We hope this article has helped you in your quest for the right camping kit for you.