Winter boating itinerary

Admit it. Our winters aren’t that bad. Sure, we have the brisk winds blowing from the snowfields and/or Southern Ocean, sometimes grey skies and drizzle. But with some weather watching, careful planning and motivation you will usually find your place in the sun. 

This contrasts with most of Europe and North America, where boaters are forced to winterise their craft and can only dream about boating as they shovel snow in the mornings. Look at our upsides...

Winter means fewer boats on the waterways -- and less wash to rock your boat -- low-season rates at marinas, and more fish to go around. Sailors welcome the aforesaid winds that fill their sails and propel them north, while motor cruisers delight in gadding about upstream.

Raft up with friends and stage a dinner party. Or book a table at a waterfront eatery. Then there are all the things you should be doing in preparation for the high season. Tinkering is fun, but completed maintenance is a weight off.

While you mightn’t feel inclined to dive in, you can snuggle up in your cabin with a book or DVD instead. Hot mugs of soup, a cup of decent char, a hot toddy before lights out.

Of course, winter boating isn’t without its dangers. But play it safe and you will find terrific rewards. Here are 20 ideas to get you out of the armchair and behind the helm before winter's a fading memory.

1. Just about every waterway has a deep bay, creek or cove in which to shelter from the prevailing wind. Pick a place in the sun and soak up the rays. Flying bridges, pilothouses, dodgers on yachts and cabins surrounded by glass or clear curtains are like a greenhouse and doubly toasty in the winter sun.

2. Stage a big lunch. Practice your culinary skills and assemble something from the onboard victuals. Dine on mugs of homemade soup, whip up a hot curry with the works, and huddle around the onboard kettle barbecue as an eye fillet nears medium rare. Enjoy the post-lunch nap just as much as the repast.

3. The only people you’re likely to meet when paddling on a winter’s morning are other kayakers. After a short while you’ll be warm enough to shrug off the chill. Plan your trips well -- the average Joe paddles at about 10 kilometres/hour -- ride the favourably following tide, and do breakfast ashore.

4. Naturists have an eye for the best boltholes and beaches where the sun lingers and warms the, er, cockles. If you’re not offended by nudity, their preferred beaches are usually bathed in winter light and perfect for doing sundowners after the landlubbers have packed up and fled.

5. Metro marinas call in winter. For a very reasonable winter visitor’s fee, you can mooring your boat in the CBD and dine ashore, have it delivered to your deck, or shop for the ingredients to sate the galleying gourmand within.

6. In my stamping ground, Sydney, we’ve got yum cha options. Darling Harbour Marina is a stroll to nearby Chinatown, the Sydney Fish Markets offer two hours casual boat berthing before Fisherman’s Wharf Seafood Restaurant serving dumplings, and Manly Wharf has Phoenix. Chinatown is within 30 minutes walk of Docklands in downtown Melbourne (or take the tram). There are plenty of restaurants at your boat’s doorstep to cater for any taste. Plan a recky and find some winter breakie digs.

7. Kids driving you to distraction? So some research and you’ll find many of our biggest entertainment hubs are located near the waterfront. In Sydney, Darling Harbour Marina is surrounded by the National Maritime Museum, where entry is free and there are always school-holiday programs, tenpin bowling, laser skirmish, Sydney Aquarium, Wild Life Sydney, and a terrific new and free kids play park with 21-metre long flying fox. Not to mention Imax. The Gold Coast has Sea World, while St Kilda boasts Luna Park, open on weekends only in winter. Check out your shore-based options.

8. Nearing the end of winter is the right time to reprovision your boat. It’s an arduous task made much easier if you an snag a visitor’s berth at a marina where there’s shopping nearby. Taking the trolley to your boat sure helps ease the burden. For this writer and his family, Birkenhead Point offers dedicated shopping berths. See www.birkenheadpoint.com.au/marina/casual-a-shopping-berths. We’ve also provisioned at the Farmer’s Markets at Marina Mirage, Gold Coast, where the trawlers are always selling prawns direct, and there are doubtless great places on most city waterways.

9. How about a winter barbie ashore? Many waterfront and bayside parks, boat-accessible national parks, and playgrounds offer barbecue facilities within striking distance of your tender. Or take a portable barbecue to shore and fire that up. Better still, subject to restrictions, a big campfire will be appreciated.

10. Many ideal winter anchorages are surrounded by unspoilt native bush bisected by walking trails. Take the tender to shore and strike with the camera to generally higher ground for great views and, come spring, wildflower displays.

11. It’s a fact that cold-water fish taste better than those landed in summer. For the average dangler there’s no easier fish to catch than the humble and delicious flathead. Pick a day when the seas are calm and drift for flathead. Ensure your bait bounces along the bottom so carry a range of sinkers to cover different drift rates.

12. Winter is the top time for catching big squid on jigs retrieved slowly with a lift-and-sink dancing motion over the seagrass meadows and kelp beds. Try the local bays, harbours and estuaries from Queensland to Tassie and beyond. Daylight hours are fine. Then yell "hot calamari" and you'll have the family frothing to pull a chair up at the dinner table and tuck in.

13. Between big winter blows you often get benign winds that create little or no swell in close. These are ideal conditions for passage making. Make some inquiries about marina rates, which are often lower in winter, and consider moving your boat -- aka floating holiday home -- to a different port of call.

14. You don’t have to go far to find whales in winter. Record numbers of humpbacks have been migrating north past Sydney and are now swimming along Queensland’s coast. Look for the charter boats idling behind and keep your distance. Rules of (non) engagement at www.maritime.nsw.gov.au/campaigns/whale.html.

15. Surely you’ve heard that boat stands for ”bring on another thousand” or “broken or about to.” The good news is you can save money by performing preventative maintenance. Spend time aboard, make a to-do list (which you should have already) and set about performing all those tasks for which you had no time in summer. You’ll derive a sense of satisfaction making your boat shipshape. Trailerboat owners: time to fit out for fishing with the addition of some new kit.

17. Winter’s winds are great for sailing. Most clubs offer casual entry to their races. Get up to speed in your own yacht, crew on some else’s or learn the ropes and race. Eventually, you might be good enough to join the throng heading to Hamilton Island for Race Week from August 17-25 via the Sydney to Gold Coast Yacht Race starting July 28.

18. After weeks of offshore winter winds, the water turns gin clear. Don your polarised sunnies and embark on a midday cruise to scope out some good fishing grounds. Find the dark patches of kelp in deep water and you’re sure to find squid. In winter, they are big and plentiful. Use the latest prawn-type jigs.

19. Find inspiration betwixt the pages of a good boating book. There are oodles of great reads from the classics to the contemporary, the crazy to foolhardy. Boat Books is the armchair boater’s happy hunting ground. See www.boatbooks-aust.com.au.

20. Plan your boating bucket list now and start taking steps to make it a reality. That might mean further education and training in navigation, radio operation or some other discipline. Once you’re suitably equipped and time rich you can kiss winter goodbye sail north to Lizard Island instead. Perhaps the best of all winter options.