Sailing in September

September is the month this directory would pick if it had to pick one. The tropical dry season is still running, the trades have eased from their winter peak, spring has arrived in the south-east, and the school holidays are short. It is the broadest choice of good sailing in the Australian year.

The national picture

The tropical dry season runs roughly May to October, so September is late season in the north with the trades typically easing. In the south-east, New South Wales opens its broad September to May window, and south-east Queensland enters its spring comfort period.

In their window

The Whitsundays is at its most pleasant. The strong mid winter trades have usually moderated, the water is beginning to warm, and the August regatta crush has cleared. This is the month experienced bareboat crews choose. Airlie Beach and Hamilton Island are both running normally again.

Cairns and Port Douglas still have dry season reliability, with easing trades making the reef legs kinder.

Brisbane and Moreton Bay enters its spring window, which with autumn is the most comfortable time in south-east Queensland.

New South Wales opens up. Sydney Harbour, Pittwater and Broken Bay, the Hawkesbury and Cowan Creek and Port Stephens and Broughton Island all come into season. The water is still cold from winter but the air and the wind are good.

Darwin Harbour is in late dry season, warming up, with humidity beginning to creep back.

Not their window

Tasmania is not ready. Hobart and the Derwent is in its shoulder for day sailing only, and Port Davey is firmly out until December.

Victoria and the Gippsland Lakes are on the edge. Spring in Bass Strait brings strong and frequent frontal changes, and September is often windier than midsummer. Melbourne and Port Phillip is sailable but gusty and cold.

Fremantle, Rottnest and Carnac is just short of its November to April window. See weather and seasons.

Price and availability

September is shoulder pricing in the tropics with peak season weather, which is the best value proposition in this directory. Availability in the Whitsundays is good four to six months out.

The catch is the September and October school holiday period, which covers part of the month in most states and creates a demand peak. Book around it if you can.

South-east availability is excellent because the season has only just started and locals have not yet returned to the water in numbers. See costs and the bareboat guide.

Better in September than any other month

Choice. September is the only month where you can genuinely pick between a Whitsundays bareboat week, a reef day out of Port Douglas, a Moreton Bay long weekend and a Pittwater cruise, and all four will be in season at the same time with shoulder pricing. Every other month forces a compromise on either weather or cost. If your dates are fixed and your destination is not, September gives you the widest menu of the year.

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