After enjoying a few weeks Cruising Around Broken Bay, we travelled the 21NM to Sydney Harbour on Friday 7 July and enjoyed a fantastic six weeks cruising around. Despite living in Sydney for over 30 years, the backdrops of the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge, Opera House and cityscape never get old.
I will say that moving from west to east under the harbour bridge near Circular Quay was interesting! Ferries have right of way so it was a case of watching carefully for ferries coming and going and adjusting our speed (fast, slow, reverse!) to ensure we didn’t get in their way. It’s not so bad when heading from east to west because you pass close to Milson’s Point on the other side of the harbour.
Cruising Sydney Harbour
When planning our time in Sydney Harbour, I thought it would be much easier to stay in places where we could get off the boat and explore. And while there were opportunities, it was harder than what I’d imagined. This was due to rules around areas where you could anchor or how long you could stay on a public mooring (24-hours), and places where we could securely leave the tender.
I’ve split this into three logical sections and for each section I’ve included a map and comments about where we stayed. We didn’t stay in the locations below in sequence, but tended to move back and forth depending on what we needed to do, weather conditions and places we enjoyed. Click a link if you want to jump to a specific section:
East of Sydney Harbour Bridge
1. Farm Cove (Anchorage)
We anchored here for one night and the views were spectacular. We thought we could use the tender to get off the boat at the Man O’War steps, but these thoughts didn’t eventuate. Firstly you’re not permitted to leave a tender there, and secondly it turned out to be a very rolly anchorage, largely from passing ferries and the way the swell comes into the bay. But it was well worth visiting for one night. Understandably a lot of boats anchor here on New Year’s Eve! We never will.
2. Rose Bay (4 public moorings)
We picked up a public mooring and spent the night at Rose Bay. Once again, the views were amazing looking across to the harbour bridge, watching small sailing boats pass by, and seeing sea planes coming and going. And there was a brilliant sunset to top it off. I believe there are areas where you can take your tender to the beach and a near(ish) public dock. But the weather conditions changed overnight so we moved on.
3. Taylors Bay (1 public mooring)
We moved from Rose Bay to Taylors Bay when the forecast had changed and we thought Taylors Bay would be more protected. It was protected from the wind, but quite rolly (perhaps from passing ferries), so after brunch we went on to Middle Harbour.
4. Watsons Bay and 5. Camp Cove (1 public mooring in each location)
We were planning our last night in Sydney at Watson’s Bay. We arrived for brunch but it was very rolly and we thought this was probably due to the ferries regularly going to the nearby wharf. We decided to move to Camp Cove (no photos) but after about an hour, we decided conditions were similar. So we headed over to Chinamans Beach moorings again. This was much calmer!
Middle and North Harbour
1. Bantry Bay (8 public moorings)
Bantry Bay was without doubt one of our favourite locations. We spent many nights here and the conditions were always calm. During the week the place was quite deserted, except during school holidays when there were kids fishing from the dock. I imagine as the weather gets warmer you would be lucky to pick up a mooring on weekends. Here’s an interesting wikipedia article about Bantry Bay.
We took the tender over to the dock to do a few walks, one via Timbergetters Track to Seaforth Oval and the other to a great lookout of the entire bay. It was also here that Radar jumped up onto the kayak (stored on the foredeck) and slipped into the water. He swam, very well, around the boat and Robert managed to hook him out. I was preparing to go in and rescue him, and also thinking about those bull sharks and the water temperature, a chilly 14.5°C!
2. Sugarloaf Bay (4 public moorings)
Another great place to stay, quiet and protected. We spent a couple of nights here during the week when there was no one around. I also kayaked around exploring a bay where we thought we would anchor if no moorings were available. But during the week, this was never an issue for us.
3. Chinamans Beach (5 public moorings)
We returned here a few times to pick up a public mooring near Chinamans Beach. We favoured last mooring a little further away from the others and in front of a very grand home, which was 15 years in the making (surely a candidate for Grand Designs Sydney). It has an interesting story as it was built on the site of a derelict swimming pool! You can read the story of an old pool on unusable land transformed into Australia’s most spectacular home.
On one occasion here, and on a different mooring, we felt very close to another boat and decided to move, dropping anchor near the beach, which provided excellent holding but was quite rolly.
It was here that we caught up with a friend of ours and he kindly took some photos of Poseidon using his drone.
4. Balmoral (4 public moorings)
This is where we stayed on our first night in Sydney. We picked up a public mooring just off Balmoral Beach and enjoyed reasonably calm conditions (except when boats sped by) while watching people windsurfing. I also took the opportunity to kayak around the bay and it was lovely. I have previously swum at this beach (and nearby Chinamans beach).
5. Manly (4 public moorings)
Some resources indicated there were 5 public moorings available here, just near a netted swimming area, but we only saw 4. It’s where the ferries come in and can be a bit rolly from them, so we put out a flopper stopper.
I also expect that in the wrong weather conditions, this location would be very unpleasant, but when we visited it was good. We rowed our tender to the family-friendly beach (it was so close) and secured it around one of the footings of the pier to enjoy lunch and a beer at the Bavarian, and pick up a few provisions. I also met a friend for coffee.
6. Manly Quarantine Station (3 public moorings)
We pulled in here but felt that we would be a bit too close to the rocks if we picked up a mooring. Perhaps this would not have been the case, but with so many areas still unexplored by us, we decided to move on. I didn’t take photos here.
West of Sydney Harbour Bridge
1. Cabarita (2 public moorings)
We picked up a public mooring near the marina at Cabarita. The swell from the ferries causes a bit of rocking, but nothing too bad. It’s much worse for the boats on the first berth at the marina. We enjoyed lunch at the marina and catching up with friends who have their boat berthed there.
On another occasion we returned and left our tender at our friends’ boat, taking the ferry to the city as we wanted to go to the boat show. It wasn’t as big as previous years, where there were two levels of exhibitors But apparently this year was twice the size of the previous year – I guess we’ll put it down to covid.
2. Lane Cove River (anchorage)
We anchored here a few times. On weekdays from about 7-9am and 4-7.30pm the ferries pass by and cause a bit of rolling but nothing too severe. While you can’t leave a tender tied up at Longueville Wharf, it was quite easy for one of us to drop the other off there. I believe you can also swim at the Woolwich baths, but being winter it was too cold for me to even consider it! It was also great to catch up with my kayaking partner of many years.
On one occasion we had an interesting experience raising the anchor, as we’d caught a propeller! It must have been in the mud for some time due to the growth on it.
3. Balls Head Bay (anchorage)
This was a great little bay, and we stayed here a couple of times. It’s near HMAS Waterhen, and the Berry Island reserve. There’s an exclusion area marked, by yellow buoys, that you’re not permitted to pass through and one yacht seems to be on a permanent mooring.
We had good holding the first time we were there, but the second occasion, our anchor wouldn’t set. When we lifted it up, we’d caught some old cable and once we took that off the anchor, we were right. And no, we didn’t take out the power or network of surrounding suburbs!!
4. Sisters Bay (anchorage)
This bay was recommended by friends of ours and it certainly was a find, just west of the Iron Cove Bridge and next to the Drummoyne Rowing Club. Shortly after anchoring a NSW Maritime boat came by and the asked us if we knew it was a no anchoring area. It was an obvious response that we didn’t know and hadn’t seen anything on the charts or nearby to indicate no anchoring. He admitted it wasn’t very clear either! We offered to move but he said not to worry since we were tucked in and wouldn’t be in the way of the rowers. He also said he’d make a note that we spoke and we would move the following day. I went back to my charts to confirm there was no indication that you couldn’t anchor there. I also note that on the image above, the only no anchor symbol is around the middle of the bridge, and I took this to assume it was because of submarine cables!
5. Birkenhead Point (marina)
This marina offers the use of their dock for three hours for $30, so we stopped here a couple of times do some shopping and have lunch.
We enquired about filling up with water and they said if we got fuel it was free, but otherwise it was $20 (and we could stay a bit longer).
The shops are next to the marina, with Aldi, Coles, and many specialty stores. There are also a number of cafes here. We really enjoyed the dumplings at Pandaat so we went back there.
6. Mort Bay and 7. Blackwattle Bay (anchorage at both locations)
We visited these two bays with the idea of anchoring. Mort Bay was recommended by a couple of friends, but it was quite deep and we were concerned about the swing room on anchor.
We also checked out Blackwattle Bay (no photos) but there were already four yachts anchored there and not enough room for us.
8. Jones Bay Wharf (marina)
We stayed here for our last week in Sydney and had the convenience of stepping off and on the boat and exploring Pyrmont. Surprisingly, it was a bit rolly as the ferries pass nearby with no speed limiting them.
We enjoyed the convenience of restaurants nearby, caught up with friends, hired a car so we could buy some boat stuff, and collected our mail. I took the opportunity to see the Steve McCurry (American Photographer) exhibition – great photos, here are 3 I particularly liked – and Robert went to the casino. I must admit, we weren’t used to so much traffic around Pyrmont and the city, and there was no free parking!
Facilities on Sydney Harbour
There’s an online resource that helps you find destination marinas, which welcome boaters to use facilities and amenities on Sydney Harbour, and are subsidised by NSW transport. I started looking into these, because we knew we’d need water at some stage (because it hardly ever rained while we were there). Here’s a summary of what I found:
- Quite a few don’t cater for boats of our size (15.2m)
- Many don’t actually let you get water!
- Some didn’t seem to know how it worked, despite being listed and receiving the subsidisation
- One said we could stop in a berth for 15 minutes to get water, which would never be enough time
- Gladesville marina was very helpful and said we could go in for an hour and get water
- The marina at Cabarita said they could find a berth for us, since their visitor berth was taken, to get water
In the end, we got water from Birkenhead Point marina while we were there provisioning. And it rained when we didn’t need water while we were staying at Jones Bay Wharf marina!
Where to next?
We’ll head south in late August, into the big unknown! This is because we’ve never been further south than Sydney Harbour, so the next phase of our journey is all new to us.
9 Responses
Terrific photos. The shot of Luna Park took me back to when I was a little girl living in Sydney in the 1960s. It was interesting seeing the places where you anchored/moored on the maps.
Great story and beautiful photos. Looking forward tot he next leg, exploring the unknown!
Wonderful read as per usual. Keep the posts coming
Ban the ferries I say. How can any boaty enjoy the harbour with so much rolling.
Loved the commentary.
All the best for your next venture into the real unknown.
What a shock the Harbour and Sydney must be to you after all the quiet places you’ve been.
Loving all of your adventures, and your great writeups…. Travelling vicariously through you two at the moment.
Any plans to come to sunny Tassie? Stunning scenery here, and everything is so close. xx
Looking at Tassie for 2024!
Outstanding post Pam, the complete boaties’ guide to visiting Magnificat Sydney Harbour. We have just had Sagitta out of the water for anodes and antifoul and are now doing final preps to continue our circumnavigation. Will depart Mandurah WA on or about 31st for a slow meander around to Esperance. Crossing the GAB last week of October or early November. Westernport Bay for Christmas and new year and crossing to Tasmania in January. Hope to catch up with you both somewhere along the way.⚓️Regards Lindsay and Jacqueline.
Thank you. Let’s chat about where you’re going when you head to Tassie and I’ll tell you our rough plans. Enjoy your trip across the GAB, and stay safe.