book.sorell - Flipbook - Page 28
28 - MARCH 2024
Know your limits in the wind
Tasmanian boaters. They are generally not a
concern to larger boats, however, for owners
of smaller trailer boats, a good sea breeze can
cause conditions that may test the owner and
their craft.
On straight coastlines, the sea breeze begins
perpendicular to the coastline. As the breeze
strengthens, the wind will turn to the left of its
昀氀ow. For example, on an eastern coastline a
sea breeze will start as an easterly but become
northeasterly as it strengthens.
Sea breezes can reach up to 25 knots in
Tasmania and the strongest sea breezes
generally occur during November and
December when the land can get hot, but the
sea remains cold. Signi昀椀cant waves of up to
1.5 metres are often generated by stronger sea
breezes.
There can also be complex mixes of sea
breezes. For example, Norfolk Bay can
experience an easterly funnelling through
Eaglehawk Bay, a northeasterly through
Dunalley, meeting a southerly through Fredrick
Henry Bay. These three breezes can all meet in
the area north of Sloping Island and cause very
choppy conditions.
One of the biggest dangers for boaters is
that there is often a calm period prior to a sea
breeze. In the light or calm conditions there
may the temptation to “go further” and stay out
longer, and a rapid onset of a sea breeze may
leave these boaters a long distance from shelter.
MAST matters
with PETER HOPKINS
TASMANIA is an island surrounded by
water – and wind!
Every boatie needs to be aware of the
wind on any given trip, particularly when
anchoring overnight.
Tasmania is in the roaring 40s –Westerly
Fronts can come with some force.
If you are aware a change is forecast, pick
an anchorage with protection for the wind,
provided it is safe to do and you are not
hemmed in on a lee shore.
Most cruising boats will have an anchor
alarm on their GPS. Make sure this is set
with a certain radius so, if the wind changes
or strengthens, you will be aware if the boat
drags.
Also, don’t be afraid to run an anchor
watch amongst the crew overnight if you are
concerned – many people who have done a
lot of cruising will have done this over the
years.
Have a barometer on board. A simple
rule of thumb is the quicker the barometer
falls the stronger the wind when the change
comes through. Check the barometer
consistently and work your boat’s
movements in with the long-term forecast.
Don’t plan a trip in a boat that is not
designed or suitable for your intended trip.
Know your boat’s limitations and that of
your crew.
How windy is too windy? This will
depend on the size of your boat. For
example, anything over 20-25 knots is
uncomfortable and not recommended in
smaller or open tinnies. But people will, and
do, get caught out!
Handling a boat in windy weather takes
knowledge, skill and loads of practice. This
includes reading the waves, understanding
wind gusts and how your boat reacts to a
seaway. You can only learn with experience
in these conditions,
Look closely at the weather charts. The
lines on a weather chart are called ‘isobars’
and they connect locations with equal
atmospheric pressure. The closer the isobars
are on a weather chart, the windier it will
be.
Always plan your trip before leaving –
use weather apps like Deckee, which is free.
The Bureau of Meteorology has Meteye,
which will give an outlook up to seven days
out in hourly intervals, which is a great
way to plan and limit the chances of getting
Libs’ pledge on pets
RENTERS who have pets will be
given extra protection to ensure landlords allow them to keep their furry
friend in the rental – if the Liberals
are re-elected.
The Government announced it
would amend the Residential Tenancy
Act to ensure Tasmanian renters could
have their treasured family pet living
with them, as a right.
“Renters shouldn’t have to choose
between having a place to live, and
the pet they love,’’ Premier Jeremy
Rockliff said.
In addition, the Liberals have
promised to scrap stamp duty on 昀椀rst
homeowner homes.
Under the plan, there would be no
stamp duty for eligible young Tasmanians on a home valued up to
$750,000.
“This is a massive doubling of the
existing stamp duty discount of 50 per
cent, and also a signi昀椀cant increase
in the current property value cap of
$600,000 to $750,000.
“This will help around an extra
1,500 Tasmanian households into the
housing market a year, with huge savings up to $28,935.’’
caught out with the weather.
The Bureau forecasts don’t rely solely on
weather models – there is human input into the
forecasts around Tasmania.
When the wind blows, it generally “hits the
fan” and things will go everywhere. People
can panic and lose control. Try and stay calm
– this will generally come with experience and
time on the water under all sorts of different
scenarios.
Some areas are dif昀椀cult to forecast due
to the topography of the land. For instance,
Mercury passage is sometimes dif昀椀cult due to
topography of Maria Island.
Sea breezes are a regular weather feature for
So remember:
• Always get a long-range weather forecast;
• Plan your trip accordingly;
• Monitor the weather continuously;
• Make sure your vessel and crew are up to the
trip;
• Log on and log off with TasMaritime; and
• If your boat is on a mooring or on anchor
ensure all sails and loose equipment are tied
down.
Peter Hopkins
MAST General Manager Recreational
Boating Safety & Facilities
Radar call after deluge
FLASH 昀氀ooding in the North-East
late last month saw as much as 320mm
pour down in the space of 24 hours.
Areas like Goshen recorded 320mm
due to a cloudburst while places in
Pyengana only received 68mm but
experienced the runoffs from the eastern part of Goshen.
The Bureau of Meteorology said St
Helens received a total of 148mm and
Binalong Bay about 240mm.
Concerns have now been raised
about better informed weather forecast in the North -East.
Owner of Pyengana Premium
Meats, Darcy Nicklason, said they’d
been experiencing very dry conditions
prior to the rain and was hoping for
some relief.
However, the BOM forecast had
only warned the North-East would
receive about 昀椀ve to 10mm of rain.
“I thought this rain was coming
from the east and it could be a bit
more. It’s notoriously unreliable when
it’s an easterly system.
“We went to bed [Tuesday night]
hoping it would rain and then woke
up in the morning and we’d had 34mm
and it was still raining.
“This is not the 昀椀rst time this has
happened where the right rain wasn’t
forecast,” Mr Nicklason said.
“The weather radar accuracy for
this far east is just terrible.
“I feel like clouds that had 320mm
of rain in them would have shown
up and we could have taken some
action.”
He said it was imperative the NorthEast of the state gets its own weather
radar.
Are you living in Regional Tasmania?
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where your child is challenged and supported to
achieve their personal best?
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the duration of your child’s studies through until Year 12. (Boarding fees are payable.)
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Friday 29 March 2024
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Boarding Scholarship
on 6221 4236 or visit www.hutchins.tas.edu.au/scholarships
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