Where to launch for Hawkesbury cruise?

HI guys,
I am a fairly recent convert to the lost art of trailer sailing and am planning a Hawkesbury area holiday with my family in late September on our 26 foot trailer sailer. Do any of you guys from the Sydney area know of a suitable area to launch from where I can leave car and trailer for a week with out having to worry too much? Not that fussed about ramp, more just car parking. Being from vic I dont know the area at all but was thinking somewhere on Pittwater , or is better to start higher up stream at say, Brooklyn ? Also in regard to literature, is the "cruising guide to Hawkesbury river"worth getting or do I download the multimedia guide to cruising broken bay for $30 or is it the same thing? Anyone know what phone reception is like in the area (Optus) eg, up Cowan creek?
cheers
Mossie

Theres a ramp in mona vale and parking streets nearby. This is bottom of pittwater which is awesome .
Not much parking up the hawkesburry. Brooklyns a good bet and even ettalong/Gosford

Mooney because it's so close to the highway can be a broken window. Apple tree bay is safer but paid, Berowra is far but pretty safe, Brooklyn seems popular, coverage will be dependent on position, tucked up in a little bay surrounded by high cliffs, 75 percent of Pittwater, there'll be no line of sight, out in a main channel there will be.

Is there actually a ramp in mona vale? Behind the school there??
If it were me i wouldn't wanna be paying for parking. You could launch at bayview, after loading the boat up etc then drive down to free parking about 1.5kms away near mona st.mona vale.
Also up the hawkesburry near akuna bay there is a big reserve with bbqs etc and i think that's free parking. Actually theres free parking otherside of street at akuna bay boat marina. Thats up hawkesburry. Probably closer to where you want to be.
A side note of brooklyn too is that there seems to be alot of vreak ins to boats and cars in Brooklyn /mooney mooney. Ill send a screen shot of Akuna bay parking/ramp .

The bottom picture is more parking about 1km west from akuna bay ramp

Plus i just realised isnt it national park too?:meaning $10 bucks a day to be in there? For cheap option id launch at bayview and park around mona st mona vale. Oodles of spots free to park your car and trailer. A fews kms back to bayview but if you suss it you could drive boat down to near mona st and swim or get a dinghy ride to boat

The main ramp for Pittwater is at Bayview. It's council run and has plenty of parking, as well as a wash bay and a jetty to load supplies on. Paying for parking is what allows councils to provide services such as this for users. Some might see it as expensive, but far cheaper than a hotel. The parking Sectorsteve spoke about is just on the street and really not that brilliant IMO.

Here is a link for all the local ramps to Pittwater. www.northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au/

If you launch at Bayview, you're in the very South of the Broken Bay system. It will take under an hour to sail to West Head/Barrenjoey in easy conditions, or under motor at 5 knots. Between Bayview and West Head there are great bays to stay, including Towlers, Clareville and Coasters Retreat/The Basin. Once you head past West Head, if you turn East, you're in the ocean. Straight North past the East side of Lion Island and you make your way into Brisbane Water. There are some small towns including Woy Woy and some quiet bays to stay over in.

Turn West, after West Head and you make your way down towards Refuge Bay, Akuna Bay and Cottage Point. All in the Southern section of Broken Bay and all great places to stay and explore. In my Top Hat on a slow day I take about two hours from the Basin to Refuge Bay. If you turn North West between Juno Point and Eleanor Bluffs, you're in the Hawkebury River with Dangar Island dead ahead and Brooklyn on the Western shore. Turn West again between Dangar and Brooklyn and you go under the Rail Bridge.... 11 metres. Watch out for the current eddies. Then West through to the road bridge and the entry into the other side of Brooklyn township on the Southern shore.

For me, it's about another hour to an hour and a half to the freeway bridge from Refuge Bay. The Northern shore has the Deerubbin Park Boat ramp and car park on the Western side of the F1 freeway. I think it's free and at the moment, open, but there are no services and not sure if there is a jetty. Once past the freeway, there are some great stretches of water, and some restaurants as well like Pete's Bite and Berowra Waters Inn. Once into the main Hawkesbury system it's about 90km from the Rail Bridge to Windsor. Very quiet apart from ski boats, but there are supplies at Berowra, Spencer, Wisemans Ferry, Dargle, Sackville and Windsor.

Here also is a link to all the ramps near Brooklyn www.rms.nsw.gov.au/maritime/using-waterways/boat-ramps-map/#/?address=brooklyn%2C%20NSW&radius=20000

I've used the ramp at Akuna for a powerboat and it's got a bit of a drop off that you can't usually pull up over if the boat is loaded. Empty it's fine. Facilities there are good and parking is usually easy, but the fee is $12 a day. Not bad really. www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/Picnic-areas/Akuna-Bay there is a photo of the ramp in this pic. As Yara said, not sure how secure everything is there, but the National Park is technically closed from dusk til dawn, although they don't lock any gates.

Phone reception in the main passages is very good, on Telstra, but tucked away in small bays it can be patchy.

Hope you have a great trip!

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Sectorsteve said..
sounds like a good spot for sure and i would launch from bayview. I wouldnt wanna be paying for parking for weeks to keep a car there. i dont see the point. the councils get enough money from other streams so im not too keen to do them favours. theyve gotten 10's of thousands off me over the years so im not a fan.
Personally id prefer my car and trailer on the residential streets rather than that carpark which youd be paying for. THeres alot of bored kids around there and that carpark isnt near anyone meaning its open slather.
This is the reason my boats been safe. Its near houses.

Steve, I can see your point, but really? Having lived in a street with lots of long term, and short term boat trailers taking up most of the space and leaving no where for residents to park is not a fun place to be. Especially when you come home and the boat's outboard is 1/3 of the way across your driveway and they leave it there for a week. That's what not giving a F... is. We ended up moving. Oh, and it's my rate money that goes towards your cheap/free parking..... you're welcome. People who don't give a f... have been the major cause of the new boat trailer parking laws initiated late last year. 3 Months without moving, and it's impounded.

A couple of other things to consider. Long vehicles, as in over 4.5 metres in length, are not permitted to stay in a public street for more than an hour. If you park a 26ft trailer + Car in Mona St, around the corner from the ramp, you may be booked. Rangers have booked trailers parked in Pittwater Road outside Rowland Reserve Ramp not because they're over time, but over size. The fine is $88. I know what I'd rather pay.

Last time I looked, Rowland Reserve Bayview is $20 per day max, for a max 7 day stay. $100 for a week's parking is pretty cheap, 1/3 of the price of a basic caravan site at nearby Narrabeen. It may have changed recently, but a call to council will sort that out.

In regards to security? Bayview is one of the busiest ramps around, and the boaties usually look after each other. There is always someone around, and it's regularly patrolled by police and rangers. Not to mention the hundreds of dog walkers using the dog park next door. I'd be more worried about parking outside someone's house and having them get the ****s because they can't see around your car, or park near their house, then calling the police or council to have you booked.

Glad we can all have our opinions. Wait while I put on my flame suit

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MichaelR said..

Sectorsteve said..
sounds like a good spot for sure and i would launch from bayview. I wouldnt wanna be paying for parking for weeks to keep a car there. i dont see the point. the councils get enough money from other streams so im not too keen to do them favours. theyve gotten 10's of thousands off me over the years so im not a fan.
Personally id prefer my car and trailer on the residential streets rather than that carpark which youd be paying for. THeres alot of bored kids around there and that carpark isnt near anyone meaning its open slather.
This is the reason my boats been safe. Its near houses.

Steve, I can see your point, but really? Having lived in a street with lots of long term, and short term boat trailers taking up most of the space and leaving no where for residents to park is not a fun place to be. Especially when you come home and the boat's outboard is 1/3 of the way across your driveway and they leave it there for a week. That's what not giving a F... is. We ended up moving. Oh, and it's my rate money that goes towards your cheap/free parking..... you're welcome. People who don't give a f... have been the major cause of the new boat trailer parking laws initiated late last year. 3 Months without moving, and it's impounded.

A couple of other things to consider. Long vehicles, as in over 4.5 metres in length, are not permitted to stay in a public street for more than an hour. If you park a 26ft trailer + Car in Mona St, around the corner from the ramp, you may be booked. Rangers have booked trailers parked in Pittwater Road outside Rowland Reserve Ramp not because they're over time, but over size. The fine is $88. I know what I'd rather pay.

Last time I looked, Rowland Reserve Bayview is $20 per day max, for a max 7 day stay. $100 for a week's parking is pretty cheap, 1/3 of the price of a basic caravan site at nearby Narrabeen. It may have changed recently, but a call to council will sort that out.

In regards to security? Bayview is one of the busiest ramps around, and the boaties usually look after each other. There is always someone around, and it's regularly patrolled by police and rangers. Not to mention the hundreds of dog walkers using the dog park next door. I'd be more worried about parking outside someone's house and having them get the ****s because they can't see around your car, or park near their house, then calling the police or council to have you booked.

Glad we can all have our opinions. Wait while I put on my flame suit

I agree with you. I wouldn't park a trailer in a busy street. I guess you're right and come to think of it trailer for a 26 footer would be massive. I only think it's fair to do so if it's not in a busy area and you're not taking up spaces on busy streets. Like in the country I suppose.
as for councils around there they're a holes. I got booked on prince Alfred drive whilst doing a house survey there, parked on gravel on the roadside for an hour on a Saturday. some snitch called the council. it was gravel but the ticket said I was parked on the nature strip. I got off the ticket, but it spawned my hate for the council around there and the snitches.
This and many other reasons I why I don't work up there anymore. the area is getting way too busy. Getting harder to get to and from.

mossie you're best bet is to pay for your trailer parking Somewhere . The area around the Pittwater, although full of nature it's actually quite busy and full of narrow streets and nearly no parking - let alone for a big trailer. On the weekends it can take an hour to drive not far at all. It's a peninsula and really busy on weekends.
I think the cheapest option would be Akuna bay. You can get a yearly national parks pass for about $70 and then your free to be there the whole year.

however you've also got a boat ramp At patonga plus many other places on the north Sidea of the Hawkesbury on the Central Coast. It is fairly busy over there too but not as busy and more spread out than the northern beaches.

a few xmas's ago i took my hobie to SA, Vic and NSW. I sailed her in york pen, port philip bay, the grampians, wilsons prom.
I never got raped for parking. Not even in melbourne. I think its nice if we can return the favour to travelling sailors rather than worry if we can get a carspace outside our house one night.
People leaving trailers and boat son the street for months on end in built up areas is a pain for sure but some of us use the boats often. my hobie was never in the same place twice every week yet still i got fined and vandalled. easier to have a moored boat.