Port Phillip is not a harbour but an inland sea: 30 miles from the Melbourne waterfront to the Heads, 20 miles across, shallow at its edges and deep in its channels, and used by ships bound for Melbourne and Geelong, by ferries between Sorrento and Queenscliff, and by the largest concentration of racing keelboats in Australia. Its weather is quick and its chop is short and steep. Its only exit is Port Phillip Heads, The Rip, where the whole bay drains through a three-kilometre gap over a rocky bottom at up to 8 knots against the Southern Ocean swell. Victorian Yachtmasters learn tidal planning here because the alternative is not going to sea. Clubs and marinas line the eastern shore from Williamstown to Sorrento; Geelong sits in Corio Bay to the west; Queenscliff guards the Heads.
The waters
The northern bay: Williamstown, St Kilda and Sandringham
Melbourne’s sailing clubs and marinas, the shipping channel to the port, and open water for racing and training. Shallow along the beaches; a steep chop in a southerly.
Geelong and Corio Bay
A sheltered western arm with a shipping channel, marinas and a long sailing tradition. The Geelong to Melbourne passage crosses the shipping lanes.
The Mornington Peninsula shore
Mornington, Mount Martha, Safety Beach, Blairgowrie and Sorrento: marinas and moorings along the eastern shore, with the tidal southern channels leading to the Heads.
Queenscliff and the southern channels
The pilot station, the ferry, the marked channels across the sandbanks (the West Channel and the South Channel) and the approach to The Rip. Strong tides and shipping.
Port Phillip Heads (The Rip)
Between Point Lonsdale and Point Nepean. Streams to 8 knots; transit at slack water using the published predictions; ships, pilot boats and the recognised yacht route. The ebb against a south-westerly swell breaks across the entrance.
Training here
The bay supports every level of the scheme without leaving sheltered water: marina handling at the northern clubs, passages to Geelong or the peninsula, tidal pilotage in the southern channels, and The Rip for those ready for it. Bass Strait passages to Western Port, Wilsons Promontory and Tasmania depart from Queenscliff.
What an exam here looks like
Passages for the logbook
| Passage | Miles | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Melbourne to Queenscliff | 35 | The length of the bay via the shipping channel or the western shore. |
| Queenscliff to Western Port (Hastings) | 65 | Through The Rip, round Cape Schanck and in on the flood; qualifying passage. |
| Queenscliff to Refuge Cove | 110 | Overnight to Wilsons Promontory. |
| Melbourne to Hobart | 450 | Via King Island and the west coast or Flinders Island and the east coast. |
Conditions
| Tides | Range about 1 m inside the bay but the entire volume passes through the Heads: streams of 6 to 8 knots at The Rip, 2 to 3 knots in the southern channels. Slack-water times are published specifically for the Heads and differ from high and low water. |
|---|---|
| Weather | Summer sea breezes from the south and south-west building to 20 to 25 knots; hot northerlies ahead of fronts and violent south-westerly changes behind them. Winter westerlies and fog. The bay builds a short, steep chop within minutes. |
| Facilities and rescue | Marinas and yacht clubs at Williamstown, Docklands, St Kilda, Brighton, Sandringham, Mornington, Blairgowrie, Sorrento, Queenscliff and Geelong; the Port of Melbourne’s vessel traffic service; Volunteer Marine Rescue and Coast Guard flotillas around the bay. |
Boat licence
Questions about Melbourne and Port Phillip
When can a yacht transit The Rip?
At or near slack water, in daylight for the first time, with the swell modest and the shipping known. The published slack-water predictions for Port Phillip Heads are the reference, and the pilot service and vessel traffic service broadcast ship movements.
Is a Victorian marine licence needed for a training yacht?
Training centres cover their own vessels. To skipper a friend’s or a club’s yacht under engine you need a Victorian Marine Licence, which applies to any powered vessel including a sailing boat with a motor.