Hi guys.
I am looking to sail west of Gunnamatta Bay in Port Hacking, but there are some power lines strung across the river.
There seems to be some conflicting information as to the clearance for yachts and their masts.
NSW maritime don't seem too keen to state categorically the max height of mast.
Even the Alan Lucas bible for cruising the NSW coast is a bit ambiguous and says to seek local advice, hence my post.
Can anyone advise on the maximum height mast that can fit through?
Cheers!
Oh yeah, I was also lead to believe that pink buoys were public (or courtesy) moorings in NSW.
A person I met today (who should know) told me there are no public moorings in Gunnamatta Bay, but coming in today I must have seen about 20 of them - most not being used.
WTF?
pretty big.. it's loops from up high on the nth side to lowish at main bar, that would be why they are a bit vague about the hight
how much do you need?
Your anchor and windlass works fine mate don't think moorings are any better than the tackle you have. Personaly I try to Aviod them unless it's deep or proven. There's a new one out the front of Batemans bay I may think about a overnight sleep.
Port Hacking Courtesy moorings .....
www.rms.nsw.gov.au/documents/maritime/moorings/mooring-map-port-hacking.pdf
My CM93 chart says 12 metre safe clearance for those wires across the river, safe clearance means that the gap is quite a bit more than 12 metres ... but how much more.
Other NSW maps here ..... may or not be of help (unless you already have them, in which case ignore)....
www.rms.nsw.gov.au/maritime/using-waterways/maps/boating-maps.html
Can't help you with the height clearance but the bouys are supposed to be colour coded yellow for privately owned and red for commercially owned (usually available to rent)
"There is an overhead power cable running from Burraneer on the north side of the port to Maianbar on the south side. My charts show this as 12m above MHWS and the signs on approach say that the maximum vessel height is 9m, but I had no problems passing under at high tide with a 15.5m mast. My estimate is that at the northern end the cable is more than 25m above MHWS."
from www.cruiserswiki.org/wiki/Sydney
FYI: I was told by a Sea Wind owner that his cat had been run into overhead power cables in that area resulting in massive power surge / fireworks. I was told crew jumped overboard and there was $250K or so of damage. Third hand info but I did speak briefly to the owner who was pretty bummed about it but glad his son was alive.
Plenty of height at the northern end, which is where the channel is, the problem is depth under the keel a little further on 
As far as the buoys go, yellow is private, red is commercial or club and pink is public. There are no public moorings in Gunnamatta.
If you get further up into south west arm you will find four club moorings at the end, grab one, everyone else does.
Have a good one. Bob.
I live and have a boat (26' Sonata) moored at Yowie Bay, Port Hacking. There are large masts everywhere here and only if you are sailing Wild Oats X1 would you have to be concerned about mast clearance height. (You would be concerned about depth though!).
I cannot recall the overhead height clearance nominated on the large sign (I think it is 12m) but that is largely academic to the channel as the wires transit from on top of the cliff-like Burraneer Point all the way across to Maianbar and because it is such a long distance the minimum clearance is obviously at the middle point which is a long way from the Burraneer channel which any yacht would use. I would guess that the clearance in the channel is about double that of the minimum. You will see it clearly as you enter Port Hacking (via the channel off Gunamatta Point where you go almost to Burraneer Point before turning starboard to go up the bay to Gunamatta/Cronulla, etc). It also has a number of large spheres along it to make it stand out like those adjacent to small airports.
I have lived around here for most of my life and seen some very big boats in Port Hacking and have never heard of a mast hitting the overhead wires.
I do not recall courtesy moorings in Gunamatta Bay but there are always pens available at the marina (for a fee) or you could use the nearby Cronulla Sailing Club pontoons for a short stay as this is a volunteer club which is deserted mid week, and like the marina, is a stones throw from shops, restaurants, railway station, beach, etc. The ferry wharf is OK for drop offs, etc but there is a half hourly service to Bundeena at peak times.
There are courtesy moorings further up the port (one west of Lilli Pilli, a couple more in and near Carruthers Bay next to the National Park and well protected from southerlies, and one at Graham's Point) and as suggested in a previous post there are a few at the very protected and lovely South West Arm. These are most free during the week but are highly sought after in peak periods and a couple of them are "owned" by the RMYC and attract rafts of plastic stink boats. There is good anchoring there as well - but it is isolated and phone reception is dodgy.
The Maritime (or RMS or Waterways or whatever they are called this week) operate out of the Burraneer Bay marina and contrary to expectations the chief boating officer, Fiona Thomson is really helpful and could be worth a call for height confirmation and mooring advice.
Thanks for all the input everyone.
We sailed from Gunnamatta under the wires to have a look at the rest of Port Hacking this morning on the high tide (due to some depth issues).
There must have been about 30m+ clearance on the RHS of the channel under the power lines to the water - no problem.
We were really impressed with the scenery around Port Hacking, especially the SW arm - bush right down to the water line and water falls.
I would recommend visiting if any of you have not yet had a look.
Looking forward to sailing into Sydney Harbour next week - though not so much the traffic!
Cheers!
Ill be sleeping over a few nights. Possibly at quarantine beach. Really nice quiet spot. Lots of fish in the water. Good snorkeling. Ill look out for you.
Select to expand quoteSectorsteve said..
Ill be sleeping over a few nights. Possibly at quarantine beach. Really nice quiet spot. Lots of fish in the water. Good snorkeling. Ill look out for you.
Cool!
I see the submarine cables - can you anchor in the bay if you are well away from them - or public mooring?
There are 5 public moorings in quarantine beach anchoring is better in stores cove
Regarding the new public mooring at Batemans Bay. Great spot behind the island before the bar, but be aware that there is no rope attached (or if there was it was gone yesterday), so be prepared with a length. It is sturdy enough to stand on tho.
Beautiful spot. You can anchor from 50 metres off the beach. Theres a restaurant there too. Al acarte. Pretty flash food. Manly is close and have supermarkets,aldi coles.woolies. plus restaurants. There's about 5 moorings there. I anchored a night. Left dinghy on beach for 2.hours. seems to be the norm there and safe. Servo is about 2km up the road.
Theres 3 public moorings that i.can see.. During the week its generally quiet but last wednesday all 3 were being used. I anchored
Just like magic Gunnamatta Bay now has a courtesy mooring
Its just next to the Nth cardinal marker
