Cruising Victoria's Western Port

Antony Baxter enjoys one of Australia's most popular ports - Western Port in Victoria.

Do not be fooled by the name, it actually lies on the southeast coast of Australia, east of Melbourne and not really west of anywhere.

There are some sailors who say bad things about Western Port: it’s tidal (yep), it’s shallow (yes, in places), there is a lot of mud (true, but a lot of water too!). In fact, it is all of these things and that in part is what makes it both challenging and interesting to the cruising sailor.

The bay is dominated by two large islands, French Island in the north and, to the south, Phillip Island which lies right across the middle of what would be the mouth, thus making a bay with two entrances. The western entrance is the preferred one, and although it hosts the main shipping channel it is easy for small boats to negotiate. The eastern entrance requires a passage through “the Narrows,” a volatile little alley where the tidal streams reach five and six knots under the bridge that connects Phillip Island to the eastern shore at San Remo. If you can clear the 12m air draft under the bridge you can certainly use this entrance — there is plenty of depth and enough room between the bridge pylons — but best to do it at slack water.

Cruising destinations

In terms of destinations there are a number of places to tie up for a night or two, in particular San Remo on the eastern side of the bay and two smaller facilities at Cowes and Rhyll, on Phillip Island. There are two all-weather harbours suitable for keelboats looking for longer stays, being Western Port (Hastings) and Yaringa, both of them on the western side of the bay. Hastings is a commercial marina catering to motor and sail and the facilities are a little tired. Useful in terms of proximity to the town of Hastings and to Melbourne itself via public transport, but unprepossessing. By contrast Yaringa Boat Harbour, 10 nautical miles to the north of Hastings, is a delight.

“Laid-back” and “efficient” don’t usually co-exist, but at Yaringa they seem to have found a formula that works. Lots of facilities on your doorstep too: this really is a place where cruisers hang out and there are a dozen or more businesses in the marina precinct or the nearby industrial park that cater for all manner of boaters’ needs, including a chandlers onsite that has a fair range of spares and equipment (open all days except Tuesdays).

Yaringa only exists due to the vision, drive and determination of owner Stefan Borzecki, who took a site that had some possibilities and turned it into this facility. Stefan is an engineer turned marina developer who seems to have been an early adopter of the green way of doing things, and the boat harbour has drawn serious cruising sailors to it.

Dream boats

A casual stroll around the boats on the hard tells a story; rippled steel hulls, hard chines, long keels and skeg-hung rudders are very much the norm hereabouts. Boats in various stages of construction and/or refit sit alongside other boats with wonderful names, like the 10m ketch True Blue Voyager and (my favourite) Vasco Pyjama. A delightful stroll amid a colloquy of cruisers’ dreams.

On a recent visit I noticed several boats in various stages of refit and major repair. One large cruising yacht was home on the hard to an American family of five (parents and three delightful young sons) who had sailed across the Pacific and were in need of a little shore-time to get them and their boat ready for the next leg of their great journey.

Short-term visiting yacht berths in the floating marina are immediately beneath the kiosk and restaurant. The former serves breakfast, lunch and snacks all day, the restaurant is a full service affair serving lunch and dinner. The Yaringa Marina Restaurant and Lounge Bar has a long name, a great view over the assembled boats in harbour, and excellent food. Equal to most city restaurants in terms of quality and service, it is well worth a visit.

The marina fees are very reasonable and the office is manned seven days a week by a bunch of friendly and helpful ladies (thank you, Miranda). All the usual facilities are to be found including toilets/showers, laundry and a delightful barbecue spot in a shady treed space opposite the office. It’s not five star, but it is very comfortable and a delightfully pleasant place to spend some time.

There is not an excessive amount of water here and our keel (1.94m) was certainly touching bottom for some time around low tide when we were tied up for an overnight stay. In fact we had to wait for a couple of hours for the tide to rise sufficiently to let us out, but not a bad place to have to hang about. Stefan says he keeps it dredged to two metres on a regular basis but there can be a build up of soft silt.

The islands

The islands are perhaps the most interesting feature of Western Port. Phillip Island is highly developed with several coastal towns (Cowes, Rhyll and Newhaven), golf courses, seaside resorts, a winery, a chocolate factory, a koala park (are you getting a picture?) and a world-class motorsport racetrack, currently the host to each of a world Superbike and a Moto GP event annually. As noted earlier it is connected by a bridge to the mainland, and the island has an extensive network of roads. The exposed southern coast of the island is known for its great surf. It is also the home of the daily penguin parade, the premier tourist attraction in Victoria.

Cowes is the biggest centre on Phillip Island and there is a lot to see and do there. Plenty of restaurants, pubs and all the services just a short walk from the jetty. The jetty is a Parks Victoria facility (ph 131963) and can be used for overnight stays, but it is quite exposed and likely to be rolly. Probably okay in a southeasterly, tied up on the inner (southern) landing. There are also four public mooring buoys a little further to the west of the jetty, off the Cowes Yacht Club which can be used by visitors. But the attraction of Cowes is the town, so you would want a tender handy to get off the boat.

Rhyll inlet

Rhyll Inlet, on the north-east of Phillip Island, has a small new floating jetty (also run by Parks Victoria) and is available to visiting yachts for overnight stays. Good protection from the north and west but exposed from the south or east. We spent a night there with the wind steady at 15 knots or more from the southeast and it was comfortable enough: plenty of slap, but not enough fetch to create any significant swell. In a southwesterly it would be fine. The channel is marked but only has one (red) lit marker. Since the channel itself is quite short we experienced no great difficulty with a predawn exit using torches to feel our way out.

Fench Island

In stark contrast with its southern neighbour French Island is about 50 percent nature reserve, mainly located on the northern half, and it also hosts a large marine park on its northern shore. There are no jetties available to yachts on French Island but there are a couple of decent anchorages. There is good shelter, in everything bar a northerly, at anchor in Chicory Lane Channel on the northwest of French Island. You will likely find plenty of life in Chicory, including the graceful, and generally friendly, seven-gill shark. Barrelier Island at the entrance to this channel is a haven for birds.

Good holding can also be found in a channel on the southwest tip of French Island, inside the aptly named Tortoise Head. Both this and Chicory Lane are probably best negotiated at low water when you can see the drying grounds. A good sounder is also a useful gadget hereabouts.

The waters between Phillip and French islands are the prime space for a leisurely sail. The water is quite deep in the western reaches but
narrower and therefore more affected by tidal streams. Heading east it opens out to a wider but somewhat shallower space, with plenty of sea room in pleasant surroundings. This area is mostly about 3-5m in depth apart from a couple of shoals (Loelia and Maggie), both of which are marked with cardinals.

Stopping over

Cruising yachts frequently use Western Port as a stopover, in particular the sheltered waters inside Cape Woolamai on the southeastern point of Phillip Island, the area called Cleeland Bight. This does not require sailing under the bridge nor going anywhere near the Narrows at San Remo to access it, and it is an excellent anchorage in most weather.

There are three public moorings here but we prefer to anchor, with just not quite enough water inside the moorings’ swings for our liking. Although the bight is exposed to the southeast we have found that it is still quite comfortable if the sou’ester is light, the holding being very good. Tuck into the southern end of the horseshoe, close to the spot where there is a steep sand dune . . . not only a good protected spot but lots of entertainment in summer with local kids “surfing” down the dunes and crashing into the water on all manner of boogie boards, old surfboards or just bits of plastic.

The entrance itself must be entered on a lead, a transit of two marks on the shore not always easy to find in the daytime, but very bright at night. For cruisers en route to Melbourne or Geelong from the east, but not wanting to spend time in Western Port proper, Cleeland Bight represents an ideal stopover for timing an entry through the rip. It is still 45nm away, but realistically it is the only place to the east that is an easy day-sail away from the Port Phillip heads. And if you are desperately short of something, including a top-up of fuel, it can be had via a short dinghy trip across to San Remo.

Summing up

To sum it all up there are some challenges for sailors in this bay, with tides and shallows to keep you honest. For some that just makes it more interesting. The only really strong tidal streams are in the main channel off McHaffies Point (on a recent trip here we had three knots of tide with us and 20 knots of wind on the nose, which made for a bumpy half hour) and at the Narrows near San Remo.

While there can be some challenges in Western Port there are rewards too, with plenty of things to do and places to explore: and is not that what it is about? Phillip Island is well worth some time. Yes, it is a tourist place, but the thing is generally well done by people who have made it their living, for several generations in some cases. Churchill Island, a small islet off the north east of Phillip Island and accessible by bridge, has a wonderful heritage farm with great old farm buildings and gardens and interesting activity displays.

And, while most sailors familiar with southern waters will have seen plenty of penguins, the parade may still be worthwhile, even if only as a study of our own species: Grandpa Penguin talking to Baby Penguin, “We don’t know why they do it, Pip, but if you will come with me I will show you. Every day around dusk hundreds and hundreds of humans gather on these benches in this one spot. It’s the strangest thing!”

The thing which really distinguishes Western Port from its neighbour Port Phillip (that other bay, as the Western Port locals call it) is that it feels like a place rather than just a body of water. People who live and sail there are very proud and a little protective of their bay. They love it, and with good reason.

What’s in a name?

And the name? Western Port? Well, it seems that on the first occasion that George Bass ventured down from Sydney and turned west along what is now the Victorian coast he got only as far as this. It was west of everything explored on the NSW coast at the time and everything between this point and Ceduna (which the Dutch had reached) was “the unknown coast.” Matthew Flinders tied it all together a few years later, which places Western Port very much towards the eastern end of the continent’s long southern coastline, but nobody bothered to change the name.

CONTACTS & RESOURCES

* Chart Aus 150
* R Hawkins, Creeks and Harbours of Western Port, In-Depth Publications, 2001
* Yaringa Marina Boat Harbour, ph (03) 5977 3156, email info@yaringa.com.au
* Western Port Marina, Hastings, ph (03) 5979 7400
* Newhaven Yacht Squadron, ph (03) 5956 7515
* Parks Victoria, ph 131 963, website www.parkweb.vic.gov.au
* Phillip Island Visitor Information Centre, ph 1300 366 422, website www.visitphillipisland.com