Four days on the Hawkesbury and Cowan Creek

Cowan Creek and the lower Hawkesbury are the most sheltered multi day cruising ground within reach of Sydney. The water is deep, the hills are steep and wooded, and on a weekday in October you can have a bay to yourself. This is a four day plan that stays almost entirely inside protected water.

Who this suits and who it does not

It suits crews who want a low stress multi day charter, families, and anyone building confidence before a bigger trip north. It suits sailors who like anchoring and do not need to cover distance. It is also good ground for a learn to sail or mentored charter, since the consequences of a mistake are small.

It does not suit anyone chasing consistent breeze. The valleys are steep and the wind is fluky, patchy and sometimes absent. You will motor. It does not suit deep draft boats in the upper reaches, and it does not suit people who want beaches and reef. This is bushland and dark green water.

It also does not suit crews who want to get out into the ocean. Many charter vessels here are limited by their Survey: see glossary">Certificate of Survey to sheltered waters, which means the passage out through Broken Bay may not be permitted at all. Check before you book, and read safety and commercial vessel rules.

The shape of the days

Legs of four to twelve nautical miles, all rounded planning estimates. None of them is a passage. That is the appeal.

Day one is the shortest leg in this whole directory, and on purpose. You leave Bobbin Head after a handover briefing, you go around the corner, and you anchor. It lets a new crew practise anchoring, reefing and the tender in water where nothing can go wrong.

Day four is conservative because the upper reaches are tidal and because the return has a deadline. Give yourself a spare hour.

Decision points

The first is whether you leave Cowan Creek. Going out into Broken Bay on day three is the only part of the trip with any exposure. If a southerly change is forecast, or the nor-easter is already fresh, stay inside and spend a second night in the Cowan arm instead. Nothing is lost.

The second is anchorage choice against wind direction. Jerusalem Bay and Smiths Creek are narrow and steep, which means they are sheltered but also means the wind accelerates down the valley in gusts and shifts direction with the terrain rather than the gradient. Anchor with room to swing in a circle, not room to sit in one direction.

The third is the afternoon sea breeze. Sea breezes build on warm afternoons in southern Australia and southerly changes can be abrupt. Plan to be anchored by mid afternoon in summer.

Seasonal detail is on the weather and seasons page.

What to book ahead

Boats first. The Hawkesbury fleet is small and the good weekends go early, particularly over school holidays and long weekends. Australian school holidays create demand peaks, with the longest over Christmas and January.

If you want the best conditions and the fewest boats, book September, October, April or May. Summer works but is hot, busy and thunderstormy in the afternoons.

Provision fully before you arrive. There is almost nothing to buy once you are up the creek, which is part of why people like it. See provisioning and the bareboat guide.

One honest warning

The oyster leases and the rock shelves are what catch people out. The charted channel is generous in the main river but the side creeks shoal fast and unevenly, and some of the rock is not where a casual glance at the chart suggests. Go up the narrow arms on a rising tide, slowly, watching the sounder, and do not take shortcuts across the inside of bends.

The second warning is mobile coverage, which is patchy to absent in the steeper gullies. Get your forecast before you go into a bay, not after, and carry a radio.

Local operators are listed in the operator directory, and the Hawkesbury and Cowan Creek and Pittwater and Broken Bay pages have the regional detail. Costs are set out under costs.