Check it out for yourselves, but this is what I found in January 2009.MACLEAN
Tide turns 3 hrs after Yamba.
PUBLIC PONTOON/JETTY Sailing upstream from Harwood one approaches Maclean from the NE and soon arrive at the "public pontoon" (see mini chart). Small yachts can easily fit into the two inner pens. It is a wonderful modern floating pontoon with all mod cons nearby. There is water on the pontoon, a toilet 50 metres away and pubs, supermarket, news agency and old fashioned coffee shops within a hop skip and jump.
An old pub, Argyle Hotel 02 6645 2015 is about 100 metres from the pontoon. It may soon be restored to its former glory but at present has large, cheap, unrenovated rooms upstairs if you want to sleep ashore.
RAMP: Keep going a bit further upstream (maybe 300m) and there is a fine double concrete ramp. There is room to park the car and trailer nearby adjacent to the police station. So I guess that vandalism is unlikely.
LAWRENCEJETTY: There is a newish jetty about 200 metres upstream of the ramp. The jetty seems more suited to larger craft than my 17 ft boat. At low tide I wouldn't be able to get ashore as there didn't seem to be the usual ladder to clamber up.
RAMP: It's double width concrete but immediately upstream there is a rock wall and downstream an impenetrable wall of tall reeds. So there is nowhere convenient to tie the boat up temporarily (see earlier post "Goose winging from Maclean to Lawrence"). As the ramp is on the outside bend of the river the tide runs really strongly. I was warned that it drops away to 9 metres depth not far out from the end of the ramp and there is a rocky bottom. I could have anchored in shallow water on the other side of the river but the tide was so strong that I doubted that I would have been able to row my zodiac inflatable back to the ramp.
Warning: There is a powerline over the road between the ramp and the jetty. There really needs to be a warning sign...
It is about 200 metres from the ramp to a toilet block and a little further to both a pub and general store that sells petrol. There is heaps of room to park the a car and trailer. There are splendid picnic shelters, water tap and even an electric BBQ nearby.
BRUSHGROVEAssume that I am continuing to sail upstream from Lawrence and looking for a convenient anchorage - Brushgrove looks excellent. It is on a tributary running due east from the main river. Quite a few small boats are moored or anchored in the first couple of hundred yards before the bridge. It is a convenient depth to anchor and out of the main tidal flow.
RAMP: There used to be an old ferry across this tributary and the ramps are still in use. I didn't like the look of the ramp on the northern bank next to the pub. The ramp on the southern side looked pretty reasonable, but beware of some overhanging branches about half way down the ramp. There is a tiny beach adjacent to the ramp which would be convenient to tie up briefly. Parking the car and trailer nearby looks OK but I have no idea no safe it would be overnight.
PONTOON: The Brushgrove Hotel is on the northern bank and it has a courtesy pontoon at the bottom of its beer garden for customer's use. The Brushgrove Hotel 6647 6201 has rooms $40 double and $30 single and serves lunch and dinner 7 days a week.
There is a toilet block in the park behind the pub - around 250 metres from the pontoon but no shops or other facilities in the area.
ULMARRA
Ulmarra is a pretty little township and quite unlike Maclean or Lawrence it has become trendy with art galleries, antiques and an upmarket coffee shop.
The tide turns 4 hrs after Yamba at Grafton so I guess it would turn about 3.5 hrs later at Ulmarra.
RAMP: Simple - forget it. I wouldn't try it in my trailer sailer. Much too steep. There is a toilet block above the ramp around 150 metres from the pontoon.
ANCHORING: Just outside the pub on the SE bank very exposed to northerlies. It is shallower on the northern bank but a long row to the township without an outboard in my inflatable.
PUBLIC PONTOON/JETTY This is just below the picturesque pub beer garden and seems to be a popular spot for yachts to tie up in suitable conditions. You will need good fenders.
The boringly named Commercial Hotel 6644 5305 is extremely attractive and right above the pontoon. It has rooms ranging from $35 single to $70 for the large twin bedroom including a light breakfast. There can be music to midnight on Friday and Saturday. There are also a couple of B&B options very close by.
The main street just behind the pub has everything, art gallery, antiques but probably more usefully a good general store and up market coffee shop/restuarant that assured me that they are open all the year 7 days a week from 8 am. It would be a good half km to the nearest petrol station.
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