pittwater charter

smeaks

smeaks

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Going to sydney in april and mrs smeaks has relented and agreed to let me charter for a couple of days - short but lifes a compromise - so i have bitten the bullet and booked a couple of days out of pittwater. I dont want to waste the opportunity so has anybody got some experience of the area? handy hints or anchorages? and even the possibility of a chart view available on the net?

2 months and counting.. thanks

smeaks
 
I live South of Pittwater but bought my yacht from Pittwater. The company will probably supply charts and info if you can not find anything on the net. I have a chart showing all the spots and I'm sure its what the charter companies use.

Should have cooled off a bit by April, its been a warm summer so far.
 
Take a look at this site and the maps in pdf format. Go to Hawksbury/Broken Bay section. You should be able to identify your pickup point and many places of interest.

The East side of Pittwater is suburban housing built amongst a bush environment. There are a number of protected beaches and most bays are full of moorings. Don't be put off by the restricted area Nth of Taylors point designated for torpedo testing - they don't do that any more!

The west side of Pittwater is National park with very little development with a few bays beckoning, but looking at the map/chart I see a lot of "no anchoring" signs. There are some public moorings in Pittwater but I have no personal experience. Your charter company will advise.

Check your charter rules, some do not allow their boats out through the heads of Broken Bay (no doing a runner to NZ). Subject to weather the entrance to broken bay can be almost calm with a small swell or ...not. Many charterers turn left at the top of Pittwater to head up the Hawksbury and then left again into Cowan Creek. This is a series of bays and inlets all within the National park and a wonderful place to potter about. Many bays have public moorings (free) but you can use an anchor too.

Once you get 1nm or so into Cowan Ck there is not much room for sailing but the scenery is wonderful and you feel you are in heaven after you drop the hook and open your first beer/wine. Waking up to the Kookaburras is pretty special too.

So, depending upon how many nights you have, Pittwater and inside the entrance to Broken Bay are the best sailing grounds but Cowan Ck offers the best for overnight. Don't rely on finding a pub to row over to for dinner. There are very few 'catering' places for boaties in the area. One can row/dinghy to shore on the east side of Pittwater to connect with the restaurants found along the peninsula but it is definitely not like strolling into a choice of 20 in an Ionnian port.

You will probably pick up your boat in Newport/Church PointBayview. Mona Vale is the closest shopping centre (big Woolworths supermarket +++) which is an easy taxi ride to any of the charter bases.

I hope you enjoy yourselves.
 
I've still got my charts for Pittwater, Broken Bay , Sydney harbour etc from when I used to live there. They are a bit old, but rocks do't change much. You are welcome to have them for the cost of postage.
I would say PM me but I dont know what that means or how you do it
 
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