Crossing the Wide Bay Bar
15 August 2015 We had anchored in the shelter of Double Island Point for the night to set ourselves up for crossing the notorious Wide Bay Bar at the southern tip of Fraser Island. The optimum time for the crossing is considered to be two hours before high tide. This provides enough water over the shallow sandbars and the incoming current travels in the same direction as the prevailing south easterly swell. An outgoing tide causes those swells to stand up sharply and often break making things much more dangerous. Any bar crossing with a section nicknamed “the mad mile” deserves respect. As a result we weighed anchor in the dark at 5.00am and set course across the bay headed for the bar. Up and away in the dark. We always love sunrises at sea. Not having crossed before we had done our research online and found that the Government Department, Marine Safety Queensland had issued GPS waypoints to guide mariners on the safest course through. We also spoke to other cruisers and ...
