hey all, just found this site so thought I would give this question a go to see what response I get. just brought a 23ft boat and want to get into some longer distance fishing, eg West Beach (Adelaide shores) to Edithburgh. If anyone has done it what are the best wind conditions? also any spots you recommend to leave from there and reach. I want to build up to finally drive to wedge island!

Send DR_JOSH a pm as i know his oldman has taken there boat from Adelaide to Edithburgh (saves towing the monster) Think they have been to Wedge also.

I've done St.kilda to Ardrossan with a mate and it was a bit of breeze when we left st.kilda and i said its going to pick and get rough but a guy that fishe's once a year said it will be cool,got out pass the black pole and started to hit some waves and still he wanted to go,in my eyes we were still safe we got to ardrossan and it was blowing hard from the south south west and i said we can head back and the weather would be on starboard quarter,he was sick as a dog and said drop me of at the ardrossan ramp and he would rather walk home so i rang up and had car and trailer brought to ardrossan and haven't heard from him since,pays to know the area leaving and going to,have fished edithburgh many times but has a nick name "windyburgh".

Watch the weather all week and pick the days where it's not going to blow up more than 5-10 knots with minimal swell all day. No point heading over there in dead flat conditions on to come back at a snails pace in 20 knot winds chewing up a heap of fuel.

That's another thing...make sure you take plenty !!!

I would suggest teeing it up to go over with another boat for the first time to help build some confidence.

Do some long range trips and get used to the boat first

cheers guys - dropping in at Ardrosson last week and hit 30km out in approx 2-3m swell. handled it beautifully although not sure I would want to cross over in those conditions. did learn one tip on the voyage! put the plugs in the fish wells! never had live bait wells before. good suggestion on the two boats but I dont know anyone with another vessel thats keen.

Long range weather forcasts is what you'll be watching and generally up to 15 knts is great and crossing the gulf shouldn't be problem for you, once it gets up to 25 knts it becomes a slower trip, even in a 23 footer.

One of the legal requirements is to have Admiralty charts for these sorts of adventures, study them for reefs, sand bars and any low water areas and plot your journey.

Then you need to know were you can anchor in protected water if the wind picks up too much for safe passage, Edithburgh, Marion Bay, behind Haysack Is, Althorpe Is, Pondalowie Bay and Wedge itself. The waters from Marion Bay past Althorpe Is can really stand up with the currents and winds.

Then were you can get supplies from if needed, like Edithburgh and Marion Bay.

Reliability of your cruiser and servicing is to be considered
Fuel range of your boat.

Log on to the coastguard with your VHF radio.

These are just some basics I can think of and all things concidered, you should have a good trip and doing the short runs would be fun.

What sort of 23 footer do you have.

These two blokes had to be winched to safety by a chopper last Thursday at Wedge

www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/breaking-new...frea73-1226254117695

Fishies Post proves size doesnt always mean safety

yeh saw that yacht it wedge on the news...thats why Im going to build up with a few gulf crossings.

no one has mentioned anything about ultimate wind direction, eg, N/E

boat type, Boston Whaler with hopefully reliable mercury on the rear.

Moggy - appreciate the time you took to reply fella. cheers

Hi mate, I've done west beach to tapleys shoal and north haven to ardrossan on a 5.5 m boat. To ardrossan was a breeze running over generally shallow water. Tapleys was another story , nice and calm over here and a shit fight once we hit the middle of the gulf and beyond. It's dangerous water so getvas much of a forecast as possible for that side of the gulf, itsvalways different to this side

Hi 'I have crossed the Gulf many times in a 16'7" open run about from Sullies like 3 times a week ,now I run a 5.85 mtr 1/2 cab a bit more comfortable plus can sleep overnight. however always check the wheather pattern if there is a high coming over you look for isobars spaced out so there is less wind if there is any wind and the tide goes against it as well then the waves will stand up pretty well.
I personally don't fish anything over 1.5 mtr tidal run as it extremely hard to keep a bait on the bottem in between tides there can be very good fishing to be had try to coinside a tide change as the sun goes down ,same in the morning with sun up .You can add 10-15 knots of wind on top of what we get in Adelaide.
if you are caught out you can shelter behind Throughbridge Island where you can also pick up some nice Whiting

We were sitting in the middle of the gulf Saturday evening when we were hit by the storm / squall that some experienced over north of Adelaide. It was seriously amazing, and scary how quickly it went from a balmy evening blowing 10-15knots with 0.5m seas, to heavy pouring rain, darkness, thunder & lightning, 30-40knot howling winds and seas easily 2.5m. No exageration it changed within 10 minutes and we had just enough time to put away the bait, rods, sort the boat out and pull the anchor up before we were having waves crash over the top of us.

My boat is a reasonably modern 6.5m fiberglass with a reliable motor and have plenty of fuel on board. I've got a few years of boating under my belt and feel reasonably competent and confident in my skippering abilities. It was an easy drive out to our spot 36km in the gulf sitting on 50km/hr, and had we wanted to we could have quite easily crossed to the other side without getting a drop of water on our heads. But it was the unpredicatbility of the weather and the speed of the change that caught us out. All on board kept a level head about themselves, didn't panic (too much) and we slowly made our way back in the darkness and through the pounding seas. The first 30 minutes of the storm was the worst and the fear in the back of my mind in that 30 minutes was whether we were through the worst of it, or was the sea actually going to get bigger. I doubt a smaller boat without scuppers (wet deck) would have made it to shore without the crew doing some serious bailing. Without clears on the boat we had at times some serious amounts of water coming in.

Long story, but as others have alluded in the right conditions very small boats can make it across and back no problems. It's when the weather picks up and you're out in the middle that you may second guess your choice of crossing the gulf in a smallish boat.

Yep, you did oarsomely as a skipper mate,you deserve a big pat on the back!! and Im very greatfull I was in the HMAS gibbs on sat night and not in Rowbak!! We had some crazy moments thats for sure!!

I have done the crossing a couple of times and only once had it blow up which made the return trip a bit long. If I had been closer to Edithburgh I would havd headed there and stayed until it blew over but I was 1/3rd across already.

I think that any wind as long as its under 15knots would be ok for you in a 23fter. Although how much boating experience would also play a huge part as well. Its not a trip for something to go wrong. In the middle of the shipping lanes, big waves and not a lot of assistance.

Do a couple of runs down the coast from Nth Haven to Wirrina and Cape Jervis. See how the boat goes in handling as well as fuel use and then make a call on it. A few members from here go over so when your ready just ask if anyone is going on that date and if they would tag with you for safety.

Cheers

thanks again all,

yes no doubt there are some hectic seas when the wind blows up, eg saturday night hence my email to you experts. interesting you were out saturday as it was forecast on Willy Weather and Seazbreeze to really blow up early-mid evening.

Rollas - great advice. I have done Glenelg to Aldinga a few times but were only talking the other day about heading to wirrina and park there for the evening.

I will post a trip in the coming weeks to see if anyone is keen to head acroos