Ramps, jetties and facilities at Maclean, Lawrence, Brushgrove and Ulmarra

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.

LAWRENCE


JETTY: 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.



BRUSHGROVE

Assume 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.

The ramps and bridge at Harwood

It may be useful to others planning to sail up and down the Clarence River in a trailer sailer for me to share my experiences to date (Jan 09). If you have anything to add please post a comment.

The Big River Sailing Club is around 3 km downstream of the Harwood Bridge. The tide turns at the bridge (so club members tell me) around 2.5 hrs after Yamba. The bridge is 8.5 metres high. It is possible to ask for the bridge to be raised but I haven't tried that and feel it is a bit mean to hold up all the traffic on the Pacific Highway for my 17 ft Little Dragon to potter through.

The ramp next to the Big River Sailing Club is on public land and is regularly used by recreational fishing boats as well as club boats. It is a single width ramp and needs a bit of care as the tide sluices past and there are annoying posts on the upstream side of the ramp. Also there is a tiresome tree that can (and has) snared masts and rigging on the left when approaching the ramp.

it is possible to tie up overnight to the bank adjacent to the ramp and put out a stern anchor, but be warned it isn't ideal when the prevailing SW is blowing.

There is heaps of space to park cars and trailers in the pleasant park-like area adjacent to the Big River Sailing Club. The Big River Sailing Club has toilets and showers open for members on Saturdays and otherwise by prior arrangement. There are no public toilets. It is around 3 km to the pub and general store.

There are also ramps just upstream of the bridge that used to be either end of the old ferry. The one on the northern shore is just outside the Harwood Pub. I haven't used either ramp and have been warned by several locals of vandalism for cars and trailers left near these ramps overnight.

Goose winging from Maclean to Lawrence

Nicky and I enjoyed a night tied up to the jetty at Maclean and a leisurely morning. The tide at Maclean is 3 hrs after Yamba and it wasn't low until around noon. I wanted to leave on the flood hoping to get to Lawrence or Brushgrove. There was still a fine NE breeze and it would be a run or broad reach all the way.

Thank goodness that Gary was driving Lee down to join Nicky and I for the day. I hoped he would be able to wave his magic wand over the outboard and it would work again. He tried and unfortunately confirmed that it needed a mechanic's workshop.

I had intended to tack back to Harwood with the tide the next day as the forecast was that the NE would keep on blowing. (The day after that a southerly buster was forecast at 35 knots it came in at 41 knots, so I am glad I decided to make sure I was home before that). However I was counting on being able to motor under the bridge at Harwood on the return trip. It seemed foolhardy to approach under sail with the wind on our nose and to be sure that it was exactly low tide. Gary (blessings on you) volunteered to drive me back from our final destination (whereever) to the Big River Sailing Club so I could return with the trailer. In other words we were able to make it a one way voyage.

It was a great sail from Maclean to Lawrence with wind and tide. We goose winged most of the way. The only downside was that it was a bit hot (see the photo of Pam). The new red awning that we put up in a minute when we are anchored is a real boon. However I covet Peter's bimini on his Farr 6000 which keeps him shady while underway.

Unbeknownst to us Gary was following us down the river photographing our progress but sadly his camera wasn't working well that day. We were unanimous - the Clarence River truly is the Big River. We saw a few tinnies fishing, a couple of jet skis, a houseboat or two, but not one other boat under sail all day. Remarkable.

I had missed out on sussing out Lawrence on my preliminary reconnoitres. As I was approaching I thought the ramp was about 200 metres further upstream than turned out to be the case. We suddenly all saw Gary prancing around on the seawall pointing to the ramp. I swung around rather suddenly and we tried, simultaneously, to drop the sails, get the keel and rudder up and jump over the side to hold her against the strong tide. Well, it is best summarised by saying that we need more practice as a team. But we did arrive on the ramp.

Then we had a problem. It was going to take Gary and me around an hour to fetch my car and the trailer and in the meantime Lee and Nicky had to be left looking after Little Dragon. There was a strong tide and it was hard to work out what to do, we ended up putting out a stern anchor and tying up to a post and hoping to hell that no-one would need the ramp as we were completely blocking it. All credit goes to Lee who seems to have been in the water holding onto Little Dragon for most of that hour while Nicky (true to form) served them both a cup of tea.

We had another near miss with the new mast as we came off the ramp. Gary was driving and he turned right off the ramp down the bitumen road to the jetty and back onto the main road (I would have done the same thing). To our horror there was a nasty noise and we looked up. We had just clipped a power line across the road. If the power line had been a bit lower then ...... no I won't go there. Seems that no harm was done.

After that Gary and Lee departed leaving Nicky and me to pack up and spend the night at Lawrence. Should I mention that the zodiac rowlock had bust? Seems that zodiac's are not meant to be rowed. Ridiculous. There is a great spot to overnight in the carpark just by the toilet block - it sounds sordid but it was more like having our own ensuite.

The next day as Nicky and I are trailing Little Dragon homewards we realise that she has somehow managed to come off the winch roller. It was a very flat roller and I later learnt that I should have been supplied a "V" shaped roller when I bought my new winch (I have now got a "V"shaped roller which she snuggles into far more securely). Anyway there was a nasty hole in the fibreglass and it was dangerous to continue. Luckily we were near the ramp at Maclean so Nicky and I decide to float Little Dragon off and rewinch her back onto the roller. We got organised in advance and were determined to make it a smooth operation. All was going well except that when we push Little Dragon she just won't float off. We push harder to no avail. I call out to a lad fishing nearby to come and help. He looks over and says "has that rope round the middle got anything to do with it? Ignominy, we have forgotten to undo the tie down strap. Well I still say that I will try to avoid the same mistake twice but there seem to be plenty more first-time mistakes.

On the run from Harwood to Maclean

I had it all worked out. Nicky and I would leave the car and trailer at the Big River Sailing Club at Harwood in time to get under the Harwood Bridge at low tide (11 am). My calculation was that we could just squeeze under at low tide. Initially I was going to sail the couple of kilometres up to the bridge, drop the sails and motor under the bridge. The wind was a fresh NE, so we would be on a run approaching the bridge, which I felt was a bit hairy.

At the last moment a well wisher suggested that we motor up to the bridge and raise the mast once we were clear. Knowing how little clearance we had I agreed. The outboard started fine and got us out into the river and then cut out, we tried several times and each time it stalled. Finally we anchored, got the mast up and decided to sail. The worry was that by then it was an hour after low water. We decided to risk it and made it - just. I was so relieved that I would not have to tell my insurance company that I needed another new mast.

Once under the bridge we anchored for a desperately needed a cup of tea and lunch. After that we set off under sail to Maclean which was less than 3 km upstream. It hardly seemed to take us any time at all given that we had the wind behind us and a flood tide beneath us.

Luckily I had visited the jetty at Maclean once before - approaching by road and I knew that a trailer sailor would fit neatly into either of the two inner berths, one approached from upstream and the other from downstream.

It was mid tide by the time we reached Maclean, according to the rule of 12ths that is when the tide is strongest. Sooner than I expected I was alongside the jetty, still with full sail on a run. I just turned into the wind aiming at the inner berth and hoping that we would come to a halt. We did. On the photos we approached from right to left. Nicky jumped off the foredeck onto a rock wall and secured us temporarily with a line round a tree. I rowed another line across to the jetty in the zodiac and pulled us into the berth. Not an orthodox arrival but in the circumstances (minus outboard) we were quite pleased. It worked and there was no damage to us or Little Dragon.

Then we needed more tea!

I thoroughly recommend the inner jetty at Maclean to other trailer sailors looking for an overnight stop close to all facilities.