Ku Ran Gai Chase National Park – October 2019
26 October 2019 | North of Sydney, Australia
Paul Dickinson
We cast off from our berth at the Royal Albert Yacht Club Marina at about 1240 on Thursday 11 October. There was a gusty Westerly of 10 to 25 knots blowing, so we had a good sail the length of Pitt Water, albeit with several sail trims! As we approached the entrance the large bluff to the west all but blanked out the wind and, given that we would be turning into the Cowan Creek that headed west, we furled our sails and started the engine.
Around the bluff and we headed up Broken Bay to Cowan Creek which led some 7 miles or so into the National Park. However, first we had to push into the bay and past the entrance to the River Hawkesbury. And then the wind really blew! We had over 30 knots on the nose, with the outflow of the Hawkesbury to contend with as well. There was nothing else for it but full power! And so we battered our way into wind and current. The scenery was continuing to be nice, but we were concentrated on the spray erupting from the bow and holding course.
A mile or so in and we could smell a strange aroma from the engine. It was that sweet smell of antifreeze. And sure enough the water temperature gauge was rising rapidly. It was a case of engine shut down, and quickly. Helen then stayed up top, helming to hold our bow as best into wind as we could to reduce our drift rate. Fortunately there was plenty of sea room; still a fast fix was needed. Paul headed below into the engine compartment, which was unpleasantly hot and humid, with fluid pooled under the engine. It took far longer than normal to check all the engine freshwater pipes as Tai Mo Shan was very mobile in the strong wind and the engine was still hot. Still, after a few minutes he noticed that one of the hoses at the front of the engine had the marks of a hose clip, but no hose clip; the source of the leak. It wasn’t long before he had a spare hose clip out of the locker and was fitting it to the hose. All done, the freshwater topped up, and it was a case of starting the engine to check for leaks. No leaks, and so back to full power into the wind and current. We had drifted back about ½ mile in the 15 minutes it took to fix the leak.
We pressed on past the entrance to the Hawkesbury River. This is a large, wide river that extends many miles inland. Unfortunately there is a railway bridge with a clearance of only 11 metres miles or so in which limited us to that stretch. As we passed we could clearly see the semi-circular arches of the bridge, and many boats moored to the side of the river. We would view the river from this distance and not push up it. Instead we had 7 miles or so of Cowan Creek to explore!
It was still blowing a gale; literally! As we approached the Cowan entrance we passed an inviting bay. Our guide informed us that the park authority had laid some 50 mooring buoys in the park. These were yellow in colour, rated to some 20 tonnes and 14m boat length and free to use for 24 hours. As we pressed on the inviting bay proved to be two bays; America Bay and Refuge Bay. These bays had lots of yellow buoys, almost all were unoccupied. A simple decision, we headed into Refuge Bay. Well named, Refuge Bay was sheltered from the wind howling down Cowan Creek, with only the occasional strong gust diving down from the surrounding steep hillsides. We spotted a well-placed mooring buoy and headed straight to it, rounded up and secured ourselves to it, using engine reverse to ensure the mooring would hold. Great, we were secure in a good anchorage. The only problem was that the buoy had boat names on it. We were not in the park yet, and so these were private buoys. Ah well, we decided to stay. If the owner came along and asked us to move, we would, to another mooring buoy! Of course, given the season (winter), the time (1520) and weather, we were pretty sure the owner would not even know we had used the buoy.
Friday 19 October was a different day. It was bright, sunny, and not a breath of wind! What a difference a day makes! We cast off from our (borrowed) mooring at a sensible 0950 and motored out of Refuge Bay and into Cowan Creek.
Cowan Creek pushes right into the Ku Ran Gai Chase National Park. The main arm is navigable for some 7 nm. Along the way there are three arms that extend at least 1.5nm from the main creek, and several small bays and inlets. The information boards at the marina at Bobbin Head at the end of the creek were useful. They noted that some 20,000 years ago sea levels were some 120 metres below their current level. (For those concerned about recent global warming and sea level rise – the maths show an average rise over 20,000 years of 6mm a year). Cowan Creek had been just that, a river flowing through the land, eroding the rocks as it flowed and forming a canyon. Over time the seas had risen flooding the creek and forming the waterway. Apparently one of translation of the aboriginal word ‘Cowan’ is big water; fitting. The result is that Cowan Creek is a stunning waterway. The creek is some 0.1 to 0.25 nautical miles wide, with steep crags rising up steeply, indeed almost vertically in many places, to a height of 50 or so metres along most of its length. There are a few small settlements; we counted three. These had large houses perched precariously on the hillside, with Bobbin Head also having a small marina, park and visitor centre. The rest of the park is native Australian bush. The north side of the creek has a walking track, which the information boards mapped out, complete with warnings of a steep climb in places. The south side was just bush, no tracks.
We motored gently down the creek. The entrance and the area outside the Hawkesbury was some 8 metres deep. However, the creek itself was between 10 and 25 metres deep. It seemed that in most places the sides simply continued down past sea level. It was winter and so there was very little traffic on the creek. The settlements had several private moorings nearby and these were mostly occupied by a range of boats.
We found the creek to be one of those places where the scale of the landscape just seems to make everything else small. The occasional yacht we passed at anchor seemed tiny against the magnificent backdrop. This was Australian natural bush at its best and we found ourselves reducing engine revs to the minimum allowing us to make progress with barely a sound or ripple to disturb the peace.
In due course we came to what was charted as the last bay before the ‘civilisation’ of Bobbin Head, some ¼ mile or so around the corner. There were two yellow park buoys in Houseboat Bay, one of which was already occupied by another yacht. We were soon hooked up and secure on the other one. The 7nm trip had taken 1 ½ hours.
We stayed on board the rest of Friday just enjoying the scenery. The bay was small and so, at only a couple of boat lengths away, the cliffs seemed close. Still the mooring was secure and we were safe. At night the stars came out and the lack of light pollution made for a great display. The bush had that spicy aroma that wrapped around us. The only strange part was the sound. Yes there was the sound of many birds in the bush, and the occasional splash of fish breaking the surface. But below it all was a distant rumble. We checked our charts and maps. We were in the national park, but the main Pacific Highway up the east coast of Australia was only some 5 km away.
Saturday saw us put the dinghy into the water and take a tour. First was to the head of our small inlet. A few hundred metres in and the water suddenly got shallower; just enough for the dinghy. We continued on up and after another hundred metres or so came to the rocky end. There was evidence of a reasonable sized waterfall dropping some 3 or 4 metres. However that was dry. Instead the stream had worked its way through the rocks and exited under a large slab. This produced a small waterfall dropping a couple of metres in to a grotto formed by the large slab overhead. Very nice.
We headed out of Houseboat Bay down to the end of the navigable part of Cowan Creek at Bobbin Head. Here the creek widened a little and split. One arm was shallow and crossed by a small road and pedestrian bridge. Prominent in the middle was a sign declaring that no motorised vessels could proceed past that point. The other arm carried on past the marina. The chart indicated that this arm got very shallow just past the marina. The headland where the channel branched sported a jetty with the ferry moored on it. The inner side had a dinghy attached and we headed there and our dinghy soon joined it.
Ashore we strolled to the marina. Along the way we talked to man with 3 fishing rods set up. Apparently there were sizeable fish here including Kingfish. Most fish were smaller, Bream sized. The man firmly stated that the fish were here (despite us not catching any!), and then stated he had not caught any yet. And so we strolled on the marina. In addition to the half dozen piers with perhaps 20 boats on each, this had several small businesses along its front including a café selling commercial ice cream. They were not the delicious scoops of homemade ice cream we love, but the ‘Trumpets’ were still very nice on a hot day.
Our stroll ashore continued as we walked over the small bridge to the visitor centre. We talked to the shop assistant, explaining how we travel. Suddenly her manager came out. The manager had also sailed and cruised a bit offshore. Needless to say the next half hour or so passed quickly! And so back to Tai Mo Shan and a quiet beer and barbeque in the peace of dusk.
Sunday saw more gentle winds in the park. We dropped off the mooring and motored gently back up the creek. Being the weekend there was a bit more traffic, but it was still a very pleasant experience motoring gently through the impressive beauty. As we reached the end of the park at the Hawkesbury the creek opened out into Broken Bay, and the wind increased to a moderate easterly. We would have to tack up the bay but this was a nice wind, so we decided to use it and sail. Well Paul did, Helen shook her head and went below! Of course the fact that there was another yacht also sailing out didn’t feature in the decision. Game on! An hour or so later we turned into Pitt Water again. Paul had a big grin, a nice sail upwind with several tacks, and we had beaten the other boat by at least a quarter mile!
And so we sailed back into Careel Bay and anchored up. The next day we would head north up the coast to Port Stephens.
Photos. The park. Clockwise from top left. Tai Mo Shan on the mooring. The waterfall grotto. Next two, the scale of the scenery – spot the yachts! Next two, just beautiful bush and water.