Sydney
From CruisersWiki
Sydney Port of Entry
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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Note: details on these charts may be out of date.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
Islands
Hawkesbury River Region | Sydney Harbour (Port Jackson) |
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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
Farm Cove
Sydney Cove and Circular Quay
Bantry Bay
Other popular anchoring spots for long distance cruisers are:
Blackwattle Bay
Balls Head Bay
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
Facilities | |
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Water | Nearly all marinas offer water at the dock, and places such as Baileys Marine Fuels and Clontarf Marina have water available at the fuel dock. |
Electricity | Nearly all marinas have power to all berths |
Toilets | In the marinas |
Showers | In most of the marinas |
Laundry | Most areas of Sydney have one or more coin-operated laundromats, or more frequently bag wash services where you can drop a bag of dirties and pick it up clean the next day. Check with the marina or other locals as to where you might find the nearest. |
Garbage | Garbage disposal in Sydney is always a problem -- check with the marina or nearby locals as to where council bins might be located. Councils usually only clear away rubbish left in specific bins by residents, and the residents are often on the look out for any unwanted dumper |
Supplies | |
Fuel | Fuel docks are available at many places around Sydney Harbour, some of the ones I have frequented include the following:
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Bottled gas | ? |
Chandlers |
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Services | |
Repairs | There are many repair yards around Sydney, mostly are of generally OK quality but the prices are somewhat higher than others in the region. Some that I have frequented include:
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Internet | It's quite tricky to find free or even cheap WiFi in Sydney although many cafes now provide free WiFi with purchase. MacDonalds are one restaurant chain that always has free WiFi, and Burger King/Hungry Jacks have it in most stores as well. |
Mobile connectivity | ? |
Vehicle rentals | Nearly all major car rental companies are represented in Sydney, from the executive fleet to rent-a-ruffy. Some picks include:
In addition, Sydney has an innovative car share scheme called goGet. For a membership fee of approx. $25 per month you get to rent cars by the hour, paying only an hourly fee. Fuel is paid for, and the cars are serviced regularly. Inner city and harbour areas of Sydney have many goGet cars located on the streets, check out the web site for your nearest car. |
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:
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.
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
This is a usable page of the cruising guide. However, please contribute if you can to help it grow further. Click on Comments to add your personal notes on this page or to discuss its contents. Alternatively, if you feel confident to edit the page, click on the edit tab at the top and enter your changes directly. |
Contributors to this page
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Names: Lighthouse, Delatbabel, Haiqu, Peter McHugh |