Pittwater boat owners given strict on-water COVID-19 exemptions

The special exemption, signed by NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard on Saturday and coming into force yesterday, applies to anyone who has a “proprietary interest” in a vessel – they either own a boat or have a share in one – and another member of their household.

The exemption allows them to enter the Northern Beaches quarantine zone and jump aboard, but once the boat is underway they must stay in the Pittwater area.

Boaters are required to travel directly to and from Pittwater in a private vehicle, stopping only at the place where the boat is moored.

Under the terms of the exemption, boaters will need to wear a face mask when they are near anyone and maintain a 1.5-metre distance. No one but the other member of the household can step aboard the boat.

Once on the water, the boat is not allowed to stop at any other place than its mooring unless it is an emergency.

Sydney yesterday introduced mandatory mask-wearing at most public indoor spaces, with anyone not wearing a mask facing a $200 fine for not complying with the public health order.

It has also split the Northern Beaches COVID-19 hotspot into two separate zones split between the northern section under tight lockdown – residents cannot leave their homes without a reasonable excuse – and the southern section under the same restrictions as rolled out across the greater Sydney area.

Boat owners living in the southern part of Sydney's Northern Beaches are still allowed to go out on the water, but can only have a maximum of five people from the northern area onboard.

Sydney’s COVID-19 outbreak forced the cancellation of the 2020 Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, the first time in the event’s 75-year history that it has not taken place.

Unlike Victoria, which banned boating and fishing as it grappled with a second wave of COVID-19 infections, recreational boating is still a permitted activity in the greater Sydney area.

However, if the people onboard are not from the same household, they must maintain a 1.5-metre distance from others “as much as possible”.

Boaters who live outside the Northern Beaches area are not allowed to enter Pittwater by boat unless they have an essential reason.

Under NSW Health’s rules, no more than 25 people can be on a boat at the same time as long as they each have at least two square metres of space per person.

NSW is also now grappling with a separate COVID-19 cluster in Sydney's western suburbs.