Sydney

From CruisersWiki

Revision as of 01:06, 30 August 2018

Sydney/wiki/Sydney

Sydney Port of Entry 33°49.505'S, 151°16.606'E-33.82508;151.27676 destination

lat=-33.82508 | lon=151.27676 | zoom=12 | y

Sydney is Australia's largest city, and largest / principal sea port. It is the capital city of New South Wales, and located on the East Coast of Australia roughly half way between Brisbane to the north and Melbourne to the south.

Charts

Charts of Sydney Harbour are readily available, but the harbour pilots contained in the cruising guide mentioned above, along with a depth sounder, are your best guides. Sydney Harbour is wide and deep throughout, and except at the far reaches of Middle Harbour or the Lane Cove River there is very little to hit.

NSW Road and Maritime Transport publish boating maps for NSW which are also available online for free. The relevant maps for Sydney Harbour are:

• 9D Port Jackson east of the Harbour Bridge [1]
• 9D Middle Harbour [2]
• 9G Port Jackson west of the Harbour Bridge including Lane Cove and Lower Parramatta Rivers [3]
• 9G Upper Parramatta River [4]

Note: details on these charts may be out of date.

See also New South Wales.

Weather

See New South Wales.

Sources for Weather forecasts:

• Sydney Weather Forecast
• Sydney Coastal Waters (Marine) Forecast
• Sydney Closed Waters (Sydney Harbour, Broken Bay, Botany Bay and Port Hacking)
• Seabreeze Wind and Wave Forecast

Passages

• Trans Pacific ("Puddle-Jump")
• Trans-Pacific Passage - West to East

Islands

Main Harbour, Health Warning

Due to the manufacture of Agent Orange and other "nice" stuff by Union Carbide in Homebush Bay over 40 years ago, the NSW Government has issued a warning about eating fish from anywhere in the main harbour. Fish caught west of the harbour bridge should be thrown back, while it is permissible to eat 150gm of fish per month if caught on the east side of the bridge. The levels of dioxins are well over recommended dosages in most cases, especially close to the source of this contamination.

Further details can be found by following this link

Anchorages

Details of all safe anchorages in the area:

Note: Sydney Harbour has pretty good holding all around, but is quite deep. Typically 25 meters or so in the main channels, and can be up to 15 meters deep even quite close to shore. So you have to get well in and look around for anchoring spots. Sydney Harbour is littered with bays and small coves, so many that it's almost impossible to list them all here.

Watsons Bay

Watsons Bay/wiki/Sydney#Watsons_Bay

anchorage Watsons Bay [[Sydney#Watsons Bay|Watsons Bay]] 33°50.651'S, 151°16.774'EWatsons Bay-33.844186;151.279571

I really like Watsons Bay. Deceptively sheltered for just inside the heads, and you can usually find an anchoring spot just outside the moorings or tie up to an unused mooring for a very short period of time (long enough to grab some fish and chips from Doyle's on the Wharf -- tell them I sent you, although don't tell them I told you to grab someone else's mooring). --Delatbabel

Farm Cove

Farm Cove/wiki/Sydney#Farm_Cove

anchorage Farm Cove [[Sydney#Farm Cove|Farm Cove]] 33°51.637'S, 151°13.083'EFarm Cove-33.860616;151.218052

Farm Cove is OK for anchoring, good holding in sand/mud, nice and close to the city with plenty of places to pull up the dinghy alongside, and a 24 hour time limit. Don't overstay your welcome, you're between the water police and the naval base. Also don't be tempted to anchor too far out into the bay overnight as commercial harbour cruise boats do tend to circle the bay and some of them aren't very manouverable.

Sydney Cove and Circular Quay

Sydney Cove and Circular Quay/wiki/Sydney#Sydney_Cove_and_Circular_Quay

anchorage Sydney Cove and Circular Quay [[Sydney#Sydney Cove and Circular Quay|Sydney Cove and Circular Quay]] 33°51.449'S, 151°12.708'ESydney Cove and Circular Quay-33.85748;151.211808

Warning: If you miss Farm Cove, don't even think about anchoring in the next bay along -- Sydney Cove and Circular Quay, unless you happen to like the water police impounding your boat.

Bantry Bay

Bantry Bay/wiki/Sydney#Bantry_Bay

anchorage Bantry Bay [[Sydney#Bantry Bay|Bantry Bay]] 33°46.757'S, 151°13.868'EBantry Bay-33.77929;151.23113

One of the more picturesque anchorages in Sydney is Bantry Bay at the north end of Middle Harbour. You need to pass the Spit Bridge to get there, so check the opening times. There are 8 free public moorings as well as ample anchoring space. During most of the year a mooring should be available if you arrive early in the day, they tend to fill up by evening and are often full all weekend in the summer. In the absence of a free mooring, anchoring space is plentiful on the west side of the bay, away from the moorings.

Other popular anchoring spots for long distance cruisers are:

Blackwattle Bay Anchorage

Blackwattle Bay

Blackwattle Bay/wiki/Sydney#Blackwattle_Bay

anchorage Blackwattle Bay [[Sydney#Blackwattle Bay|Blackwattle Bay]] 33°52.346'S, 151°11.223'EBlackwattle Bay-33.872429;151.187046

Blackwattle Bay -- and the nearby Rozelle Bay are very popular anchorages with visiting cruisers. There is a very tight marked anchoring area, easy dinghy landing on a pontoon (although not safe for long stowage periods and you might want to consider locking your dinghy) and right near the fish markets for a good feed. The nearby Glebe offers a wonderful collection of restaurants and coffee shops. Sadly the anchorage is usually filled with long term liveaboards, some of who have been there for years, leaving limited room for visitors.

Balls Head Bay

Balls Head Bay/wiki/Sydney#Balls_Head_Bay

anchorage Balls Head Bay [[Sydney#Balls Head Bay|Balls Head Bay]] 33°50.448'S, 151°11.504'EBalls Head Bay-33.8408;151.191734

Balls Head Bay as mentioned above. Beware of the detritus littering the bottom of the bay, it has been known to foul anchors. In fact an old Sydneysider's story is that to anchor in Balls Head Bay you merely lower your chain, snorkel down and shackle it to whatever you find on the bottom. Other than that holding is pretty good. Note that you should avoid the next (sub-) bay to the west, Gore Cove, because of regular traffic from oil tankers.

These offer no-time-restricted anchoring for boats that are not registered in NSW. If your boat is registered in NSW you must use a marina or mooring for long term storage.

Amenities

Provisioning

Australia has a duopoly of major grocery stores, those being Coles and Woolworths. Ask any local where the nearest Coles or "Woolies" is and you'll get directions, usually to a major shopping mall many of which are scattered throughout Sydney.

It's worth checking out some of the other smaller stores such as:

• IGA -- usually can be found in large and small centres, and often carry a range of more exotic lines spurned by the major supermarkets.
• 7 Eleven

Eating out

Sydney has many eateries of every possible persuasion, and then some. Web sites that are worth checking out include:

• Good Food Guide
• Eat Streets
• Urban Spoon Cheap Eats Guide Sydney

Transportation

Sydney has an excellent train network, a passable ferry and bus network, and many other forms of public transport. Taxis are easy to find but somewhat expensive.

• NSW Transport Info is a one-stop trip planner.
• Sydney Trains

Sydney is served by Kingsford Smith Airport which has separate international and domestic terminals (connected by the Sydney train network) with flights to most domestic locations and connections to many international locations. This includes daily flights to the USA West Coast, SE Asia, Europe and South Africa.

Tourism

History

Give a short history of the port.

Places to Visit

There are many things to do ashore in Australia's largest city, many people live their entire lives there and never leave. To attempt to list them all here would be futile -- check some of the "what's on" type links in the links section, check out the happenings in the local newspaper (Sydney Morning Herald) and also check one of the tourism web sites such as sydney.com or Destination NSW (both run by the State Government).

Visit:

• Bondi Beach
• Kings Cross
• Sydney Opera House
• The Rocks

Friends

Contact details of "Cruiser's Friends" that can be contacted for local information or assistance.

Forums

List links to discussion threads on partnering forums. (see link for requirements)

Links

Sydney is a popular tourist, business, and cultural destination being the largest city in Australia and the largest in the region. There are a great many sites offering everything from a "quickie" to 5 star escorted tours of the city and hinterlands. Here is a small selection of the most appropriate sites:

• Sydney
• Sydney Australia
• Whats on
• Sydney at the Wikipedia
• Sydney at the Wikivoyage
• Port Jackson at the Wikipedia

References

• Cruising the New South Wales Coast by Alan Lucas is available in most chandleries in New South Wales, marine book stores, or by mail order. It is the premier guide for cruising the coastal ports and regions of New South Wales.

See also Australia.

Comments

We welcome users' contributions to the Wiki. Please click on Comments to view other users' comments, add your own personal experiences or recommend any changes to this page following your visit.

• Chiara Stella -- Port Hacking

Verified by

Date of member's last visit to Sydney and this page's details validated:

• Delatbabel 00:45, 11 February 2013 (GMT)
• Updated from research (pilot books, internet, etc.) May, 2017 --Istioploos Travels with S/Y Thetis

Contributors to this page
Names: Lighthouse, Delatbabel, Haiqu, Peter McHugh