Thread: Boating rules

Originally Posted by Gordie

The Southern Ocean has a massive fetch, and equally massive prevailing winds, pushing those swells around the globe. The Bass Strait and Cook Strait in NZ are two of the most treacherous straits around, probably because they are not that far away from the Southern Ocean.

The Noggies want to have an Off Shore Platform out there in the Bight somewhere but I suppose they have encountered bigger sea states in their exploration history of the North Sea than most.

I don't agree with them building a platform there but if the **** hits the fan & there are oil spill accidents then it will wash up all around the GAB with who knows what being able to stop them & the environmental damage it would cause.

Originally Posted by Gordie

The Southern Ocean has a massive fetch, and equally massive prevailing winds, pushing those swells around the globe. The Bass Strait and Cook Strait in NZ are two of the most treacherous straits around, probably because they are not that far away from the Southern Ocean.

The Southern Ocean does indeed have a massive fetch, all the way around the World in fact! The thing with both the Bass Strait, Cook Strait and a lot of others is the "funnelling effect" of all that water attempting to squeeze through a narrowing opening.

Not sure just which of the places being discussed, including the Great Australian Bight, are the worst. I have been in all 3 of them during my time working offshore. But just as a point of interest, I worked on the installation of the Maui Gas Field jacket offshore New Plymouth back in the mid 1970's, and the operation was shut down for 8 months "waiting on weather"!

Originally Posted by Old Farang

I worked on the installation of the Maui Gas Field jacket offshore New Plymouth back in the mid 1970's, and the operation was shut down for 8 months "waiting on weather"!

Ha yeah, I commercial fished for a while, where we had to go out over a river bar into the Tasman sea, top of the Cook Strait, north of Wellington, south of NP where you were...on average we could only get out 10 days per month.

Originally Posted by Old Farang

The Southern Ocean does indeed have a massive fetch, all the way around the World in fact! The thing with both the Bass Strait, Cook Strait and a lot of others is the "funnelling effect" of all that water attempting to squeeze through a narrowing opening.

Not sure just which of the places being discussed, including the Great Australian Bight, are the worst. I have been in all 3 of them during my time working offshore. But just as a point of interest, I worked on the installation of the Maui Gas Field jacket offshore New Plymouth back in the mid 1970's, and the operation was shut down for 8 months "waiting on weather"!

Like anything, it depends on the circumstances. Bass strait can be extremely dangerous because of the depth of water and that funneling effect. However I would have to say the West Coast of Tasmania during the Roaring 40's, combined with any kind of major storm, is not a lee shore any one wants to be traversing. The problem with the bight is, all that water coming up from the south , when it fetches up into the shallower water near the coast , can create huge , very powerful swells. Combine that with a deep low, and and it's a place you don't want to be. We were in company with Melbourne [ the carrier] , she was off to our port bow, and at times she completely disappeared from sight in the swell. The frightening part for me was when our destroyer rolled , and went off the scale of our inclinometer, if hit by another swell, she stayed on her side for what seemed like a very long time. It pays not to have a vivid imagination at such times. Back in 1945 the destroyer Nizam lost 10 men during a storm in the bight.

Having said that, in 1977 we exercised with the RN and RAF in Operation Highwood, transited up the west coast of Ireland to latitude 64 degrees, level with Iceland and 150 miles from the Arctic Circle, returning south via the Orkney islands and concluding in the North Sea off England. The weather was fine. Melbourne lost a Wessex that flew into the sea on approach to land ,at night, we rescued the crew, but that's another story.

Originally Posted by vnx205

If the waves get bigger in the Bight than the Bass Strait one that broke windows on the second top deck of the Spirit of Tasmania, then I don't think I want to go there.


20m waves force Spirit of Tasmania back to port

That swell lasted for three days, with really hard S to SW winds. It was right up there with some of the biggest I've seen over the last 40 years.

I was doing cray research off Anglesea 3 months later and the ocean was still a strange milky colour from all the turbulence.

DL

I suppose that whenever the subject of the roughness of the southern seas comes up, those of us who have visited Cape Leeuwin recall the memory and the crew losses from HMAS Nizam.

As a person with relatives in the Margaret R region I always wondered what it would be like to travel the waters of the GAB, but I do not suppose a sea voyage in on the cards for me now.

Originally Posted by vnx205

If the waves get bigger in the Bight than the Bass Strait one that broke windows on the second top deck of the Spirit of Tasmania, then I don't think I want to go there.


20m waves force Spirit of Tasmania back to port

A little bigger
A monster wave reaching a height of 23.8 metres (78.1 feet) just set a new height record for the southern hemisphere. The huge wave was recorded by a buoy in the Southern Ocean near Campbell Island, around 700 kilometres (435 miles) south of New Zealand.May 12, 2018

Originally Posted by NavyDiver

A little bigger
A monster wave reaching a height of 23.8 metres (78.1 feet) just set a new height record for the southern hemisphere. The huge wave was recorded by a buoy in the Southern Ocean near Campbell Island, around 700 kilometres (435 miles) south of New Zealand.May 12, 2018

Just as well the Mooring Chain on the Buoy was long enough or they could be looking at a new Grid Ref. some where near South America.

Talk about calling out for BIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiLL or Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuth!