CRUISE TO LAKE MACQUARIE BY MV "AQUABELLE"
'AQUABELLE' is a custom 57ft Ocean Alexander owned by the Greenhalgh Family

   “Mate, it’s like a sheet of glass....doesn’t get any better”:  Marine Rescue Lake Macquarie, looking down at the bar from their perch on Swansea Head, couldn’t give Aquabelle better news.  We’d radio’d MR LM while off Norah Head, an hour south, to check bar conditions and to arrange for the low road bridge at Swansea to be raised so Aquabelle could pass through the Swansea Channel, over the ‘Drop Off’ at Marks Point and into Lake Macquarie, our Easter cruising ground.   

Swansea Bar & Lake Macquarie is 37nm north of Broken Bay, an easy  4-5 hours if you cruise between 8-9.5kts.  Along the way, there is plenty to see including the beaches of Avoca & Terrigal and the recently de-commissioned coal loader projecting into Catherine Hill Bay.  Off Avoca, a string of yellow buoys now marks the resting place of the former HMAS Adelaide, sunk in April, 2011 to create a dive site and fish refuge.  There are two ‘open roadstead’ anchorages perfect for a short morning or afternoon tea stop to break the journey (calm weather only):  tuck up under either Broken Head into Terrigal Haven; or under Norah Head.  In good conditions, both allow easy dingy access to the beach with town shops a short walk away for emergency supplies.

The key factor in planning a passage to Lake Macquarie is the tide:    plan  to arrive at & depart over the bar between the 4th hour after LW and the top of the tide.  For Aquabelle, this meant an 0530 departure from the Club’s mooring at The Basin on Thursday, 21 April (2011), which put us off Moon Islet outside the bar at 0945.  Finding the orange bar leads and keeping them in line, the crossing proved to be just the ‘sheet of glass’ the  MR volunteer had described:  Aquabelle could have been running up Cowan Water it was so calm!  Depths over the bar did not fall below 3m. 
 

         
   Once through the bar, we picked up a courtesy mooring below the Swansea road bridge, brought the tender down off the boat deck and tied her up ready to tow, enjoyed a quick dip in crystal-clear tropical water, had a cup of tea (accompanied by the Admiral’s Banana & Raspberry bread) and took in the sights of fisherfolk everywhere.....on land and boats.....casting into water alive with jumping and ‘chopping’ fish.

Right on 11am, just as we had requested, traffic lights stopped road traffic, the double-bascule bridge opened, its channel lights turned from red to green and we puttered through, into a long,  well-buoy’d channel that threads between shallow sandbanks to the Lake proper.

 ^{"The lake"   -    Lake Macquarie}

   Lake Macquarie is the largest coastal lake in Australia, with an area of about 110 square kilometres.   Its southern shores are less developed and provide sheltered, private anchorages.  Its northern parts incorporate suburbs bordering Newcastle, including Warners Bay, Eleebana & Toronto.  Generally shallow, with depths of 4-10m and a tidal range of only around 200-400mm, anchoring is possible virtually anywhere and can be selected with just the wind direction in mind.  Crew who prefer to pass on the ocean passage and join just for calm-water cruising, could take a Sydney train to Wyee or Morriset, where the stations are only a couple of kms from the lake edge.  If the weather turned, delaying the return passage, there are multiple marinas where a vessel could be safely berthed, allowing the crew to return by train and plan a later retrieval voyage.

Once within the Lake, Aquabelle’s first stopover was Cams Wharf, on the south-eastern shore.  The tender was taken ashore to Rafferty’s Resort and the crew chose the Thai restaurant for a well-earned lunch; the Ship’s Girl voted the Beef Pad Thai the best ever!

After a brisk walk around this attractive resort, Aquabelle moved first to Summerland Bay, where a wharf is located conveniently close to a service station & general stores (petrol for the tender’s outboard; hot cross buns); and moved again to her first night’s anchorage, at the head of Chain Valley Bay.  These southern bays are surrounded by forest reserves and the shoreline is sparsely settled.  Grassy banks run down to the water’s edge and public wharfs, all well-maintained, are everywhere. 

^{Good Friday - Exploring the Lake}

    Good Friday began with a pre-breakfast tender ride a couple of km up Karignan Creek (dead idle;  hold centre channel to avoid fallen timber snags) before we raised the anchor and putt-putted quietly around the S & SW bays:  Wyee, Bardens, Sugar & Bonnells.  In Bonnells Bay, we dropped anchor just W of Shingle Splitters Point and took a long walk around the shorefront to Boat Harbour, where we swam in warm water.  Our late lunch anchorage was off Pulbah Island’s E side, where we tucked in close to shore out of a brisk, but short-lived, NW breeze.  After another swim, we cruised around Wangi Wangi Point where we checked out the Workers Club wharf:  it is available overnight and meals at the Club are said to be very good. 

   Aquabelle  had other plans however:  Kilaben Bay is just north and Rathmines and its WWII Catalina base occupies its southern shore. 

After another excellent shore-side walk through well-kept parkland, we settled down for the night W of Styles Point, in another millpond anchorage. 

^{Easter Saturday}

Saturday continued the run of fine weather.  At Toronto,  the annual Wooden Boat Festival was in full swing
and we enjoyed a short cruise on Protex, the Sydney Heritage Fleet’s 1908 ferry. 

Also at Toronto is the Royal Motor Yacht Club, which welcomes overnight visitors at its dock.  Toronto’s extensive shops are right behind the easily accessed waterfront (hardware store and big bait-&-tackle shop in the main street). 

Continuing our circumnavigation, we ended up in Cockle Bay in the far north of the Lake, where we dropped the hook for lunch off the Teralba Sailing Club:  the Laser State Championships were underway & made for an impressive backdrop.  Turning south, we ran through Warners and Croudace Bays on our way to the Lake Macquarie Yacht Club at Belmont. 

       
                                                RMYC Toronto
 

    We decided to stay at the LMYC’s visitors’ dock to make easier taking a taxi 10 minutes back to the Fujimoto teppanyaki restaurant at Warners Bay (highly recommended);  and  so we could walk to church the next morning, Easter Sunday.  LMYC itself has a restaurant and large outdoor ‘beer garden’ looking over its berths.  Just a block away, on the old Pacific Highway, is a Bias Boating chandlery.  Other than this, Belmont has little to commend it to the visiting cruiser and is perhaps the least attractive of the Lake Macquarie townships.  

We were late off LMYC’s dock on Sunday morning;  the perfect weather continued and we  decided sand beaches and fishing were the go, so we returned to the ‘Drop Off’ and just south, picked our  way through the shallows to anchor off Elizabeth Island.  The tender was employed to take the crew to sandbanks just knee-deep in water, where we fished for bream....which proved too smart for us.  We enjoyed ourselves a little too much and stayed so late that we lost the direct sunlight that had shown up the deeper channels;  extracting Aquabelle back to safe water was a near-run thing!  We hauled over to Wangi Wangi Bay and anchored off the RSL Club for the night.

    ANZAC Day,  the RSL and indeed, the whole of Wangi Wangi’s main street were the focus for ceremony and celebration.  There must be a vintage military enthusiasts’ club nearby because the parade that followed the veterans’ march resembled MayDay in Moscow: tanks, half-tracks, lorries and jeeps in various stages of restoration rumbled by.    We watched as long as we could and then escaped to yet another lakeside walk, 1.4km each way on a level, sealed pathway from the RSL to the Worker’s Club, then back again to the tender tied up to the RSL’s dock.  Along the way, we found Sir William Dobell’s retirement house, now a museum & gallery, which looked to be a worthwhile stop but was closed for the ANZAC Day public holiday.

Leaving Wangi Wangi Bay, we picked up a little diesel at Pelican Marina’s conveniently located fuel wharf in the Swansea Channel.  There is a very good restaurant here, ‘Milanos’, and they will provide free berthing at an easy-access dock for diners.  We made a 1pm bridge opening to suit the tide and then it was another very good bar crossing and out to sea for the return voyage to Broken Bay.  Sea conditions were an uncomfortable 1.5m confused waves over 1.5m swells of short period; and it was raining.  We bounced all the way back to Broken Bay, arriving just on dark at The Basin where we stayed the night, leaving early to get back to Bobbin Head Tuesday morning, 26 April.  We’d certainly had the best of the weather on the Lake and found we’d missed the usual Easter rains in Sydney.

*   *   *

Lake Macquarie represents an excellent cruising ground for BHCC members.  Weather conditions need to be right for the ocean leg and the local Marine Rescue must be contacted to confirm the bar is safe (start calling 5 days or so before planned departure).  DON’T just assume our good fortune with the bar conditions and as noted above, tide times are critical.  Once within the Lake, however, the diversity of secure anchorages, easy shore access and outstanding facilities makes for a very enjoyable destination.  See the Notes section below for useful contacts.  The Lake Macquarie Visitor Information Centre (physically at Swansea) is happy to post useful maps and guides to intending visitors;  these can also be viewed online at www.visitlakemac.com.au.

*   *   *

Aquabelle’s next long cruise is likely to be to Crookhaven (The Shoalhaven:  Nowra)...& perhaps Jarvis Bay, via easy stages (eg:  south via Syd Harbour & Woolongong; returning via Kiama & Port Hacking).  She is always happy to convoy with another vessel for the sea legs.

CRUISE NOTES:

1.     LM Marine Rescue has bases on both Swansea Head and on the Swansea channel adjacent Pelican Marina: 
        phone 02 4971 3498 for bar conditions & to book the opening of the bridge.  A webcam can be used to view the
        bar at any time:  Swansea Bar Web Camera - NSW Maritime

2.    Mecure Rafferty’s Resort, Cams Wharf: 02 4972 5555; www.raffertysresort.com.au Baan Thai Restaurant, open
       lunch & dinner Tues-Sunday.  Very convenient accommodation for visitors who cannot stay aboard overnight.

3.    Wangi Wangi Workers Club:  (02) 4975 1451.   www.wangiworkers.com.au The Club manages the jetty located
       immediately in front of the club premises. This is a relatively large deep water marina type jetty with draft up to 2
       metres for general public and community use. Overnight mooring is allowed for a modest fee for bona fide tourists,
       which includes access to power and water connections.

4.    Fukusui Teppanyaki Restaurant (within the Lakeside Motor Inn, Warners Bay):  bookings essential, evenings only
       Mon-Saturday 02 49657086/0418332929

5.    Lake Macquarie Yacht Club, Belmont: 02 4945 0022.  www.lmyc.com.au
      Visitor berths available for reasonable charge against outside perimeter

6.    Pelican Marina, Swansea:  02 4972 0790 (easy-access fuel & casual docking)

7.    Milano’s Restaurant, Swansea (at Pelican Marina; on waterfront with free dock; Wed-Sun lunch & dinner): 
       www.milanosonthelake.com.au 02 4972 0550

8.    Royal Motor Yacht Club, Toronto:  02 4959 2051 www.rmyctoronto.com.au (convenient visitor berthing, providing
       easy access to the Club’s restaurant and to Toronto shops/supplies)

9.    Lake Macquarie Visitor Centre:  1800 802044;  www.visitlakemac.com.au
10. Charts:  check your Chartplotter:  many East Coast electronic charts display Lake Macquarie only in outline with no
      depth soundings or navigational data.  Alan Lucus’ charts in Cruising the NSW Coast give comprehensive
      soundings and his usual invaluable information on approaching the bar.  NSW Maritime produces an essential 
      ‘boating map’ of Lake Macquarie; this can be ordered online at www.maritme.nsw.gov.au/publications/maps

 Article and photographs Contributed by the Greenhalgh Family.  
 

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