Anyone been in or out lately? Heading up on Saturday, there's a big swell running today and Friday apparently easing down to 2-2.5m from the south on Saturday. High tide is around 19.30 so planning a 16.30 bar crossing and a 17.00 bridge. Has anyone crossed that bar in that size sea?

http://www.coastalwatch.com/surf-cams-surf-reports/nsw/swansea

Ok its night time now but when the sun comes up check the link, live cam of the bar / channel on the southern side

Thanks Craig, great site, don't suppose you've been down the channel lately?

How much do you draw?
Came thru there last Fri 18th on a 1.94 H (at Newcastle), maybe 1 hour of run-in tide still in channel, and the depthsounder went too 0.0 a few times, boat draws 2 mtrs. A dive at the club later showed about 1' to spare. There are a couple of sections to watch out for:
Section A: There are some sand spurs that are shallow in this area, dont go too fast through there.
Section B: Another really dodgy section, we stayed about 5 mtrs off Starboard bouy then went straight over to starboard side of channel.
Section C: Shaded area has sand spurs coming into marked channel, we favoured the starboard markers, but dont get too far over as there is rock in with the sand in that area. The course then became a series of "zig-zags" to get to the drop-over.
This weekend with only a 1.4mtr H, we would NOT BE ABLE TO ENTER without a bit of assistance from a powerboat.
We had Joel Antill steering us up the channel, he has a marine service on the lake, if you need to find out about the channel call him on; 0400707590.

Caveat; this is a guide only, all decisions will rest entirely with you.

Thanks so much Morningsun, that's really helpful, I'll give Joel a ring tomorrow, we're in Pittwater at the moment, so probably now go for a 18.00 bridge. We draw 1.75m so maybe ok, albeit .5m less tide. Thanks again.

Thanks morningsun, we're now sitting at Marmong Point awaiting haul out tomorrow morning, got through this morning, a couple of shallow water alarms but no touches so all good,thanks again.

Glad to hear it all went well.
How long are you going to be out for?
Getting some bigger tides in Dec, just need to remember that the high tide in the channel can lag the heads time by 2-3 hrs. Still if you are going to be stuck somewhere, then Lake Mac, is gods own country..