A long weekend on Moreton Bay

Moreton Bay is big, shallow, warm and much less sailed than it deserves. It is the home water for Brisbane, it has genuine island anchorages, and in spring and autumn the conditions are about as pleasant as Australian sailing gets. It also has sand banks that will stop you dead, which is the price of admission.

Who this suits and who it does not

It suits Brisbane and Gold Coast sailors with a three day window, families who want warm water and beaches without flying north, and crews stepping up from day sailing to overnighting. South-east Queensland is especially comfortable in spring and autumn, so this is a shoulder season trip by design.

It does not suit deep draft boats, or crews who will not read a tide table. Large parts of the bay are shallow and the banks move. It does not suit anyone expecting reef and clear water, because Moreton Bay is a sandy estuarine system and the water is often green rather than blue.

It is also a poor fit for a crew that wants to sail hard. The bay is protected and the breeze is generally moderate, with the sea breeze doing most of the work.

The shape of the days

Legs of eight to twenty two nautical miles, all rounded planning estimates and all longer in practice than the straight line, because you will be going around banks rather than across them.

Day one is short. Manly to Peel Island is a couple of hours and lets you anchor in Horseshoe Bay with plenty of light. It is a good first night: sheltered in most directions, close to home if something is not right with the boat.

Day two is the crossing to the western side of Moreton Island. This is the longest leg and the one that needs the tide.

Day three is conservative. You leave early because the north-easter builds through the day and because the run back to Manly across the bay is slow and wet in a fresh breeze against the tide.

Decision points

Tide is the first and the biggest. Crossing the bay at low water on a spring tide narrows your options to a few marked channels. Plan the crossing on a rising tide with water under you and an escape route that does not require you to retrace a shallow line.

Wind direction is the second. Peel Island and the Moreton anchorages are good in south-east trades and poor in anything with north in it. If the forecast swings north, the western Moreton anchorages become uncomfortable and rolly overnight, and the answer is to come back to the mainland side.

The third is summer weather. Late spring and summer bring afternoon thunderstorms to south-east Queensland, and they arrive fast with a strong squall in front. If you can see one building over the ranges, get the anchor down and the sails away early. Read weather and seasons.

What to book ahead

Book the boat well ahead for Easter, which is also when Brisbane to Gladstone runs and takes boats and crews out of circulation. School holidays are the other peak.

Book a berth at Manly for the night before if you are travelling in. Early handovers are rare and a bay crossing on your arrival day is a lot.

Provision in Brisbane. The islands have very little, and Peel Island has nothing at all. See provisioning, plus costs and the bareboat guide for the mechanics of the charter itself.

One honest warning

The banks are the warning, and specifically the Moreton Banks on the eastern side of the bay. They are extensive, they are shallow, and a falling tide turns a soft grounding into a long, expensive, possibly boat damaging wait. Sand looks forgiving. Sitting on a sand bank with two metres of tide still to fall, heeling over, is not.

Stay in the marked channels, cross on a rise, and treat the chart as a guide rather than a guarantee in the shoaling areas.

Local operators are in the operator directory and the ground is described on the Brisbane and Moreton Bay page. If you are unsure which boat suits shallow water, see choosing a vessel.