Boating holidays

Holidays afloat

Holidays and boats are a match made in heaven and, after a long and arduous year in working hell, we owe it to ourselves to get afloat.

From the high seas to the clandestine creek, from serious racing yachts to not-so-serious R&R and fishing, we have all boating bases covered. Here's some holiday reading. Come along for the ride ...

Nature has it that before and after a storm there comes a calm. But once ensconced in Cowan Creek - that deep, navigable, wonderfully accommodating tributary to the Hawkesbury River - you will find a calm that is everlasting. Do as we do and take shelter from the storm. Grab a mooring or anchor in the gummy mud and tie a stern line around an oyster-encrusted sandstone boulder. Ensconced, you can at last explore the limits of calm. Ommmm... the sound of boating holidays.

How calm can you go? Blissfully, deeply, through-to-the-core calm in Cowan Creek. Like barely breathing. Or heaving if you pick the right anchorage. Close to nirvana, in fact. But calm takes many forms aboard a boat. It's a multifarious thing for the holidaying multitudes who seek refuge in the month of January. Which is a fortunate thing, as calm and crowds don't usually go together. That said, thanks to the courteous boating community, Cowan Creek is an exception. Even crowded bays in peak season exude a palpable sense of calm. A sangfroid among a sea of boats.

There's the end-of-year calm when you kick back out of the midday sun under a big boom tent or canopy; the spiritual calm that comes from doing nothing more than admiring the stirring scenery; the calm that leads to a routine siesta; and a different kind of calm celebrated with the traditional sundowners at the end of the day. A communal barbie and a bottle of beer on deck. Then you settle into the serenity. Spend a still night aboard, under a star-filled sky, where there's barely a ripple and just a zephyr blowing through the deck hatch. This is pure calm.

So it goes, day in and day out, aboard the scores of boats that venture into Cowan Creek for their summer holidays. As little as an hour's cruise from Sydney harbour, about three hours by sail, or half that from Pittwater, the creek seems doubly serene during a tempestuous week. Seek shelter in the creek should bad weather be forecast. If there's weather's agreeable, go no farther.

Once again, we're banking on the wind and currents carrying us along the creek this January, whereupon we will wash up on the shore, drop anchor, and say "this'll do." In Cowan Creek, it's all smooth sailing because of the great water depth. Provision well, pack the watertoys and fishing gear, top the tanks, cruise at a slow clip, anchor or moor if you can find a spare buoy, sleep aboard and kick back.

Where better place to start than aptly named Refuge Bay? The deep cove at the mouth of the creek is accommodating and though popular, the anchorage offers a great introduction to the wonders of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. Refuge Bay is also replete with moorings, mostly private or club owned, but to such an excess that, even in peak season, you will find one spare. Should you be asked to move on by its owner, oblige, before simply grabbing a spare with the boathook.

NATURE'S REFUGE
Like most of the creek, Refuge engages the otherwise idle minds of those of us inclined to marvel at nature. Scour the rugged ridges of Hawkesbury sandstone shaped over time by the weather, and note the gnammas or large holes caused by weathering and the root action of plants, the walls of honeycomb caused from salts leaching out of the soil, and look at the trees growing in impossible places.

There are scribbly gums, red bloodwoods and she-oaks, but many more Sydney red gums or angophoras, whose gnarled branches and rust-coloured bark complement the sandstone. And you might even notice the New South Wales Christmas bushes in bloom.

The cascading perennial waterfall is the centrepiece. Shower under its bracing stream and your hair will dry soft and silken. The water is drinkable and potable should you have a suitable container to catch it. And when it rains, the pressure offers a free massage.

The kid-friendly soft-sand beach is another attraction. Besides historic engravings of visiting vessels dating back to the early 1900s, Refuge has a plaque commemorating the successful mission of the Z Force, who trained and sailed from the bay in 1943 on the 20m ex-Japanese fishing boat Krait on a sortie to Singapore Harbour and back.

With protection from just about all winds and just a suggestion of surge from the big swell at sea, Refuge Bay is a must-see by day and a must-stay at night. The moorings close to the western shore are sun-drenched at first light and offer bushland views, but wherever you choose to moor here sleep comes easily after a long day of resting on one's oars.

You can explore adjoining Americas Bay, where there's a waterfall in the northern corner that runs after rain (or the more reason to visit in bad weather) and where, although tending to muddiness, there's even more weather protection than Refuge in its farthest reaches. 
Despite a flotilla spread across both bays there's a sense of community, camaraderie and joi de vivre. Add views back down the Hawkesbury River. There's even a garbage barge. And many more adjoining creeks, beaches, bays and waterfalls to explore. How utterly convenient. See you up there. Ommmm...

By the time you are reading this, I will have completed my 10th Sydney to Hobart. This year, I'm filling the position of general dog's body, trimmer and occasional helmsman on AFR Midnight Rambler, a modified Farr 40 aboard which I often race for sport and pleasure on weekends. In fact, our small group of fellow diehards has been racing together for well over 20 years on a number of different Midnight Ramblers.

You would think that by now we would know better. But, hey, we're in good hands: our skipper, Ed Psaltis, is lining up for his 27th consecutive Hobart race! Ed and partner and co-skipper Bob Thomas, who is also aboard, are the overall winning skippers of the tragic 1998 Sydney to Hobart. There were just 44 finishers from a fleet of 115 that overcame 60 to 80-knot winds and storm force seas.

With this year's race being the 10th anniversary of the infamous1998 race, when the perfect storm swept six sailors to their end, there's a real edge to the build up. Our preparation started in winter with a race to Southport and has continued with a number of passage races, mid-week training sessions and a session working on the boat itself. Come Boxing Day, we want to be a well-oiled machine, able to pull off the most complicated sailing manoeuvres in any and all conditions.

Some readers may well be wondering why anyone would want to race to Hobart during their annual sabbatical. It's a good question and one I will answer thus: I put it down to selective memory. Somehow I can only remember the magnificent spinnaker runs down the Tassie and NSW coasts. I have blocked out the hours of backside numbing torment, of wet and cold misery, sitting on the edge of a small yacht smashing through yet another southerly change.

Maybe it's the traditional medicinal dose of rum at the post race celebration in Hobart that helps with the memory loss?

Seriously, Hobart over the New Year is magnificent, with the great weather and the timely and superbly run Taste of Tasmania on the docks, providing superb local produce and wines for hungry yachties, tourists' and locals.

NO VEGIES
Which reminds me: our diet aboard the boat is not the usual holiday fare of summer fruit and healthy salads. We operate to the KISS principal, which also flows to our diet. With only a tow-burner metho stove and 10 hungry yachties, hot meals are out of the question.

What we do is fill the icebox with frozen food - meat rolls, meatballs, pieces of meat (no room for vegetarians on this boat). Then as the days pass we gradually eat our way to the bottom of the icebox, as the meal packages thaw. And all meals are taken with legs dangling over the high side. The occasional accidental addition of salty water simply adds to the balanced diet!

If I still haven't convinced you to set sail to Hobart, let me reveal the real reward for undertaking one of the world's greatest ocean races. It's not about winning, or who has the fastest boat. For me it's all about the people we sail with and accomplishing something special together as a team. There is nothing like a bit of hardship to bring out the best in people, and to reinforce the sense of pride that only crossing the finish line in the Derwent can bring.

Following the Hobart, right about now in fact, I'm more likely to be taking a leisurely paddle on the Lane Cove River at a pace far removed from that of a powered-up Farr 40 blasting its way across Bass Strait. There's no better way to let that selective memory think about the highlights of the Sydney to Hobart and to delete the lowlights so I can do it all again in 2009. Happy sailing.

Summer on the Sunshine Coast is a great time for fishing. The warm water hugs the coast and brings with it some truly world-class fishing. Fortunately, my homeport of Mooloolaba has one of the safest bar crossings on the east coast of Australia. With its north-facing entrance protected by Point Cartwright, the Mooloolaba River grants easy ocean access even for small craft in most conditions.

Now, I am particularly excited about this summer, as I have two new boats to play with. There's a Cabo 38 Express that I skipper, as well as my own boat: a little Formula 15 centre console. So long as the weather gods smile upon us this holiday season, both these boats should get plenty of use.

CHASING BLUE MARLIN
My plan for the Cabo is to fish for blue marlin with the owners. The blue marlin grounds are between 30nm and 50nm from Mooloolaba, and, generally, we fish in 200m to 500m depths between Noosa and Cape Moreton.

I think this is going to be a good season for blue marlin, as there have already been good numbers of the fish seen swimming east. In fact, during my delivery run in the Cabo from Manly near Brisbane to Mooloolaba, we caught two blue marlin around the 160-180kg mark - a great way to christen the boat.

Summer also bring a healthy population of juvenile black marlin and sailfish to the inshore grounds off the Sunshine Coast. By inshore I mean anyway from eight nautical miles to 18nm offshore, in 40m to 60m of water, where shoals of baitfish attract the baby billfish. It's simply a matter of trolling around until you find large bait schools on your depthsounder. Once you have located the bait simply concentrate your efforts on that area - the marlin and sailfish are never far from their preferred food source.

SOLO BILLFISHING
As my backyard waters are quite accessible to small boats, I plan to do a bit of solo billfishing out of my Formula this summer. Few forms of fishing are more satisfying to me than catching a marlin singlehanded out of a 15-footer.

Of course, Sunshine Coast fishing isn't just about billfish. I love eating fish, too, and no doubt will stage a few trips in the Formula to put some fillets on the table. Summer time is mackerel time and we are fortunate to have good migratory populations of Spanish, spotted and school mackerel patrolling our inshore reefs.

The key to successful mackerel fishing is getting an early start. The first couple of hours of daylight are the best. I catch mackerel using several methods including trolling lures and baits, as well as anchoring up and drifting pilchards down a berley trail. Make sure you bleed the mackerel as soon as they are caught and place them in a saltwater and ice slurry to maintain their best eating qualities. And, of course, observe the bag limits.

A couple of other summer inhabitants of the Sunshine Coast I love eating are mahi mahi and cobia. These are generally caught as bycatch rather than a target species, although drifting or slow trolling live slimy mackerel around bait schools gives you a good chance of tangling with these tasty predators. If processed in the appropriate manner you won't find many better eating fish.

BARRAMUNDI ANYONE?
If the wind is blowing hard and I'm kept at bay or in the canal, as it were, I have one more ace up my sleeve. Just four hours up the road is Lake Monduran - a freshwater impoundment with a healthy population of stocked barramundi.

These barra reach over one metre in length and are great sport on spin and baitcaster tackle. Casting lures around the submerged timber and weed beds is the preferred way to tangle with a big barra.

While there are a lot of casts between fish, just one encounter with a metre-long silver beast among the snags leaves you shaking and, well, hooked for more. Impoundment barra taste like mud, so we snap a photo and release them as quickly as we can.

So that's my summer on the Sunshine Coast. As you can see there are plenty of great sportsfishing opportunities. See you on the water with a bent rod in my arm.

By the time you read this, I will have (hopefully) completed my boating holiday.

As I sit here, co-incidentally on my boat, the S&S 34 Lionheart (formerly owned by adventurer Jesse Martin), I am looking forward to an exciting and fulfilling festive season of boating.

The plan is to tackle the fickle Bass Strait on my mate Darren's Bavaria 40 in the Melbourne to Low Head (Launceston) race. I've done this race on numerous occasions and know that it can be either a glamour run of reaching in moderate sou'westers or, if you're caught by a front, it can be a nightmare of gales and treacherous seas.

Whichever way it goes, I know we have a sturdy boat and a fine crew both of which will see us through to the finish near Beauty Point on Northern Tasmania's picturesque Tamar River.

TAKE THE TAMAR
Following the race, which should get us there on the afternoon or evening of December 29, we're planning a trip up the mighty Tamar to the city of Launceston. The trip up the Tamar is one of the great nautical tours of Australia. I've done it a couple of times before and can't wait to do it again.

The serpentine route takes the boat through the Tamar Valley, truly a sight to behold. It'll take us all day on the yacht. Meandering through the farms, vineyards and hills of Tasmania, the historic homesteads and lovely villages tantalise the senses. It's a trip that any and very boatie should do.

And then there's Rosevere's. I have written about this place in these pages before but I'm going to do it again. Rosevere's Hotel is a must for the Tamar tourer. With its own pontoon beckoning the boatie, Rosevere's offers a fine lunch either indoors or out and, well, it's wise to taste the local wines as an accompaniment.

We'll probably draw straws for who's going to be the designated driver for the next leg up to Launceston (it's usually a foredeckie who gets the short straw) while we sit on the cabin top and marvel at the scenery.

Launceston is where we'll see in the New Year, probably moored at the new(ish) marina or at the Yacht Club which is up near the gorge.

Then there's the trip back down the Tamar on New Year's Day. We'll tour down the Tamar again and berth at Beauty Point for the night before cruising back across the Strait to Port Phillip Bay, a trip of around 200nm.

Once returned, the boating doesn't stop. I'm planning to jump straight onto the mighty Lionheart for a bit more R&R. Hopefully, we'll head back toward the heads to Queenscliff where we are members of the Queenscliff Cruising Yacht Club. Parked at the club, we'll enjoy the serenity of Swan Island and take the tender to Queenscliff where restaurants and arts-and-crafts shops await.

From there one can plan day trips out through the Rip to see the pilots meet the big ships and guide them safely into the Bay or over to Portsea and Sorrento to watch the couta boat racing or take in the stately homes along the foreshore.

Then, after a few days relaxing, it's back via the West Channel to our home at Sandringham Yacht Club.

GEELONG WEEK FOR ME
But it's not over yet. After a brief period of work for both my wife and I, Geelong Race Week beckons.

What a week that's going to be! Geelong really turns it on for Race Week. Whether you're a competitor like us or a spectator, Geelong Race Week has it all. Exceptional racing on the flat waters of Corio Bay, night life with bands, stalls, fine dining, and other entertainment. Then there's the classic passage race from the start line off Williamstown around the mark off Portarlington and through the narrow Hopetoun Channel to Royal Geelong Yacht Club. A fleet of more than 200 yachts jockeying for position at the start and spreading out over many miles en route to Geelong is really a sight to behold.

Finally, back home. A cruise of around 25nm back to Sandy, hopefully with a bit of glassware won at Geelong, but certainly with great memories of another fantastic start to the boating year.

Ah, it's tough being a boatie in Melbourne over the festive season!

Our West Aussie stringer, Mike Brown, says Rottnest Island, only 10nm from Fremantle, is a holiday hotspot, yet many Sandgropers still haven't been there.

Spending a week at Rottnest Island seems such a clichéd thing for a Sandgroper to do and, yes, there are plenty of boaties who head there whenever they can. Having said that, surprising numbers of weekend warriors have never taken a boat to Rotto. And there are many more landlubbers who haven't been there at all. Still, if we all went at the same time there would be problems - the whole island is only as big as a wheat and sheep farm.

Despite the throngs of boaties who do turn up, Rotto remains an unspoiled near-paradise. The island is only 10nm from the mainland so finding it is no problem, but you will want a chart for poking around its bays. Chart WA 412, produced by WA's marine authority (visit http://www.dpi.wa.gov.au), is superb for the job, so good it won international prizes. Load it on your plotter or have it in your hand.

I have tried every way of staying at Rottnest: at the camping ground, in the hotel, at the hostel, in a rental cottage, in a trailerboat parked on the beach. They are all better than not going at all, but nothing beats being on a decent sized boat on a mooring. The mooring is the big trick. You can hire one and book it three months in advance, but don't leave the booking too late for the popular periods or you could dip out.

I'll be cheating and staying on a boat that has permanent use of a mooring. Not my boat, I hasten to add, but there's a lot to be said for a boat-owning friend. Another good thing about the boat is it has an annual admission sticker, so there's no landing fee. Not that I'd grudge it, because a lot of work and money goes into keeping the island reserve as pristine as it is.

PUB SMART
Having the local pub licensees spend $4 million on smartening up the iconic establishment has been a boon to boaties. You could always get a drink there, but for a long time that was about all. Now the pub has not only the best ocean outlook in the state, but some of the best food too. Meanwhile, you can keep an eye on your boat as you eat it, and drink from a wine list that is as good as you would expect - the licensees also own Sandalford Wines.

Naturally, we'll be taking a few bikes over to the island: transport is all by leg, one way or the other. And like most people I'll vow to do a couple of wheeled end to ends of the island and not even make the first hill out of the settlement.

But I'll definitely get the mask and fins on a few times and get my exercise that way. There is great ocean bottom all round the island, and a surprising quantity and variety of sea life. I'll mostly be leaving them alone, but many others will be chasing fish (hooks only, spear guns are banned) and pulling craypots. I'll restrict myself to a few sand whiting off the marlin board. Hey, holidays are about relaxing.

If I feel like company when everybody's off doing the Zane Grey thing, I can always take the tender or even swim ashore and indulge in the local version of the dolce vita. I'd have to take the aviator sunglasses with me because there is now a Dome coffee shop, and even the tearooms are run by an ex TV celebrity chef.

We'll have at least one session away from the mooring, around the southern side in the Parker Point anchorage. There is a lot of competition for space in here, but this has the clubbiest of atmospheres and a purely marine outlook, with barely a trace of civilisation visible from the water.

And then I'll have to practice wearing shoes again and wonder where seven days went.

Corporate advertising manager, Ric Hawkins, loves sailing so much he says he would sail around in a fruit box if it had a mast

I have been sailing since I was eight years old, but over time I've developed a real passion for one design racing. I currently sail an 11m one design and also enjoy competing in the Etchells, Sydney 38s, and many other classes when the opportunity arises. In fact, if a group of us were all given a fruit box that floated, with a mast and sails, I would be out there racing - it doesn't matter what design it is, the excitement of close tactical racing is in my blood and it keeps me coming back again and again.

I've been involved in many different regattas in quite a few different countries around the world. This is an upside of being involved in class racing - it's not only fun but you also visit some amazing places. No matter how many regattas I do, I learn something new to try and work on next time I'm out on the water. Or about myself, which can be pretty scary at times...

Earlier this year, for example, while doing the Sydney 38 Nationals during Geelong Week, I learnt to always try to be absolutely honest about your weight when asked. I think we had a crew of nine and I also think that most of us had estimated that we were slightly lighter than what we actually were. You see, in this type of class racing there is an overall weight limit for the crew.

One of the memories that will stay with me, though, is that I could barely walk for days after this regatta. Whatever was left of the muscles in my legs had tightened right up. Let me tell you, suffering cramps on a boat during a race is not recommended, let alone on the dance floor of a nightclub the night after. Not a good look!

Competitive sailing is addictive, but I'm the first to admit that sometimes you need an escape. This is why, by the time you are reading this, I hope to be relaxing somewhere up the river on a boat, well away from it all.

I just love messing about in boats and one of my favourite destinations to unwind is a quiet cove somewhere in Broken Bay, just north of Sydney. Although being quite close to home, it can seem as if you are a million miles from anywhere.

I go searching for a quiet beach with no one on it and a constantly flowing waterfall, of which there are quite a few up the river. The Hawkesbury is a truly beautiful part of the world that offers much to do and see. And you need a boat to fully experience the area and add that personal slant to the trip.

SELF REPAIRWORK
However, the truth is I won't just be relaxing but also repairing ... myself, that is! While I've seen and heard of some amazing accidents during regattas, a while ago, after completing a regatta, we were putting our boat away and packing it up when I, who thought I could never put a foot wrong on a boat, did just that and went straight over the side.

This normally would be quite okay and result in a splash and slight embarrassment, but the boat had been craned out on to a concrete hardstand. I now know why they call them hard stands. A few fractures later and I am slowly recovering after applying my therapeutic whinging to whoever will listen.

The big lesson here is that no matter how many times you have done something, no matter how simple it is, be careful! Being in a robotic trance after doing this a hundred times before was my downfall. Before I knew it my left foot had left the deck and over I went. Simple as that, flat on my back!

Having a fractured pelvis also meant a delay in sailing my Laser dinghy, which I was due to start the very next day after the accident. SO I'm sure there is a message in that somewhere. But I'm more determined than ever to prove to myself that I'm not only okay now, but better than before I had that senseless leap of faith. I know it will be a while before I'm crossing Bass Strait, but it's good to have goals, isn't it?

Another reason that I want to sail a dinghy is that I have two boys who are growing up fast. I want to be able to have fun with them on the water. I have some great memories of when I was a nipper sailing up the very same river I will be heading to and with some friends.

It all started when my parents bought a Careel 18 trailersailer. It was our first family boat and the class association provided us some fun racing days and many trips away to various waterways. It was such great family fun and a source of fond boating memories that are etched in the mind forever.

Whether it's sailing, fishing, exploring or just having breakfast together in the cockpit of your boat, there's nothing quite like float therapy. Boating in all its forms is a great family forum. See you out there.

We're not saying exactly where we're going within NSW's Myall Lakes National Park, but that's our boating destination once Santa's done his bit.

Myall Lake, Boolambayte, Two Mile Lake and Bombah Broadwater are four interconnected lakes spread over 10,000 hectares of relative wilderness, with a great choice of water-access camp sites. This series of lakes is an ancient river bed and the Myall Lakes area was internationally listed in 1999, under the Ramsar Convention Code, which records the world's most significant wetlands.

The Myall Lakes wetlands are in near-natural condition and are home to regional and migratory birds. The waters are shallow and sheltered, fed by sea breezes that guarantee excellent sailing.

Sure, there'll be the inevitable crowds of holiday makers around, but there are plenty of boat-only camping areas that we can anchor near and secluded spots for shallow-draught vessels.

There's 4x4 or water-access-only camping at Brambles Green, Rivermouth, Joes Cove, Freshwater, Two Mile Sands, Mackaway Bay, Johnsons's Beach, Shelly Beach, and Sunny Side.

BENNY FIRST
Little Benny - our Beneteau First 21.7 - at 6.4m length overall and drawing only 0.7m with the keel swung up suits Myall to a tee. If we had the time and the inclination we could even launch at Tea Gardens and motor up the Lower Myall River. The 1.5 to 2.0m depth of this narrow, winding channel wouldn't worry us, but it makes more sense to launch at Violet Hill, halfway up the four lakes and foray north and south from there.

Another advantage of this base is its large, grassy camping area, making it possible for some of our landlubber mates to set up there and join us for day sailing. There's a sheltered anchorage nearby and there's also a pontoon and some shallow bays where we can tie up near to the camp ground.

For a leg stretch we'll puff our way up Violet Hill for a spectacular view of the waterways. If Violet Hill is too crowded there are public boat ramps at Nerong, where there's a food shop, Bulahdelah, Korsmans Landing, Mungo Brush, Myall Shores and Violet Hill. The putt-putt down the Upper Myall River from Bulahdelah is less frenetic than the Lower Myall commute up from Tea Gardens.

Well make a couple of overnight trips around the lakes and a must-do is a visit to Mungo Brush, on Bombah Broadwater. This popular spot will be packed with campers, but we can camp on the boat away from the madding crowd. The attraction of Mungo Brush, apart from its basalt-soil-fed littoral rain forest is its proximity to the surf beach - a stroll over the dunes away.

We'll also spoil ourselves with an overnight stop at Bombah Point and pop into the resort at Myall Shores, where there are showers, a shop, cafe and licensed restaurant.

With our tow vehicle parked at Violet Hill, we can easily make a bee-line for Bulahdelah if we need supplies, but usually our visitors bring sustenance with them.

LIVING ABOARD
Although Benny is a tiny yacht, Beneteau's designers have done a brilliant job of maximising space. The cockpit is quite comfortable for four and the tapered cabin roof allows a couple to stretch out for a sunbake. Below decks there's none of the usual trailer-sailer clutter: the mast is stepped on deck and, in place of the customary, intruding compression post is a stress-distributing ring within the FRP structure. The iron keel winds up flush with the underside of the hull, but none of it intrudes into the cabin. Four adults can stretch out in the cabin if the weather takes a turn for the worse.

Kezzie and I sleep aboard very comfortably, and we have a portable loo for additional comfort. Our little Waeco 18lt fridge keeps frosted articles that way, powered by a 60W solar panel.

The 10hp four-stroke Honda gets us along at 5kts-plus when the wind won't blow and, when sailing, the rig is easy for two of us to handle. If we join an impromptu race, we can hoist the asymmetric spinnaker for some extra speed.

Our little boat gets over the perennial problem of mooring in some parts of the Myall system, where thick weed prevents anchors from setting. We can usually tie off in a shallow bay between two trees. We've anchored around the lakes in larger vessels and had some fun at night when the on-shore breeze turned off-shore.

It's necessary to keep an ear open for weather reports, as the lakes can become rough in windy weather. Myall Lakes National Park can be closed at times of bushfire and bushfire danger, so we always check with NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service - phone 1300 361 967 (within NSW); (02) 9253 4600 or visit www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au

Suggested maps are the waterproof boating map for the Myall Lakes and the Upper Myall River (PDF–646Kb) that can be ordered on the NSW Waterways website (visit www.waterways.nsw.gov.au), or the Boating Guide to Port Stephens and the Myall Lakes (free download, visit www.geocities.com/freemaps).