Marina service
Ferguson's Boatshed Marina
About
Ferguson's Boatshed Marina at a glance
Historic 'boat-ique' marina operating since 1901 at The Spit, offering 55 modern floating berths for vessels up to 30 m/100 ft with individual power and water pedestals and wheelchair-accessible walkways.
Service area: Middle Harbour
- Marina type
- full-service marina
- Operator
- Ferguson's Boatshed
- Region
- Middle Harbour
- Water body
- Middle Harbour (The Spit)
- Wet berths
- 55
- Maximum vessel
- 30 m
- Berth types
- permanent berthing, casual berthing, superyacht berths
Facilities and services
- power & water
- 24/7 security
- fuel
- grey waste disposal on request
- fuel service on request
- 63-amp shore power
- superyacht berths to 30m
- wheelchair-accessible walkways
- security key access
- long-term berth leases
- on-site supervisor 7 days
About Ferguson's Boatshed Marina
Ferguson's Boatshed has been selling boating services to Sydney since 1901, making it one of the oldest continuously operating boat businesses on the harbour. The shed stands at The Spit in Mosman, at 83 Parriwi Road on the eastern side of the Spit Bridge, where Middle Harbour narrows to its famous pinch point. The present marina describes itself with the coined word boat-ique, and the label fits: small by international standards, deliberately selective, and wrapped in a Federation-style boatshed that was architecturally redesigned to complement the modern berthing arms while keeping the ambience of the classic boating era. The 55 floating berths were engineered with superyachts in mind, taking vessels up to 30 metres or 100 feet, and the whole waterfront was purpose-built with disabled and wheelchair access to all walkways, an uncommon and forward-looking inclusion in a marina of this vintage. Management leans on the idea of being one of a select few rather than one of many, and the operation runs with an on-site supervisor seven days a week. The marina's position east of the bridge matters more than it might seem: berth holders can reach the main harbour without ever waiting for a bridge lift, a genuine advantage over the big marina clusters inside Middle Harbour. The Spit precinct itself is Sydney's densest marina neighbourhood, with Middle Harbour Yacht Club, Clontarf Marina, Smiths Boatshed and Catalina Anchorage as immediate neighbours and d'Albora's big marina across the narrows, yet Ferguson's holds its identity through history, intimacy and superyacht-grade hardware.
Marina facilities
The marina's 55 modern floating berths use Bellingham pontoons with rubber fender protection and are individually serviced with pedestals providing water and 240-volt power, with overload-protected outlets available up to 63 amps, capacity that suits large motor yachts and visiting superyachts running air conditioning and hotel loads. Berths range up to a maximum of 30 metres or 100 feet. Security is handled through lighting, security-key access for entry and exit, and the constant presence of an on-site supervisor, seven days a week. Wheelchair-accessible walkways were purpose built across the marina, and the same thinking extends landside, with disabled parking spaces and a loading zone close to the entrance. Grey waste disposal and fuel services are available on request, coordinated through the marina and the neighbouring facilities of the Spit precinct; the closest public fuel berths are at d'Albora Marinas The Spit across the narrows and at Clontarf Marina east of the bridge, so Ferguson clients are never far from a bowser. Berthing is oriented to long-term lease arrangements, with the marina actively marketing secure long-term berths in Sydney Harbour's middle reaches, and casual berthing by arrangement where availability allows. Car parking uses the council car parks directly in front of the marina and on both the east and west sides of Spit Road. There is no slipway, travel lift or hardstand on site; haul-out work goes to the boatyards elsewhere in Middle Harbour, though the supervisor can point owners to local shipwrights and mechanics. Contact runs directly through the marina's phone and email, keeping arrangements personal in keeping with the boutique scale.
Local sailing knowledge
The Spit is Middle Harbour's choke point, and the Spit Bridge dictates local boating rhythm. Weekday lifts run at published times morning, midday and evening, with additional weekend openings, and closed clearance is about six metres depending on tide, so tall rigs on the wrong side plan around the schedule. Courtesy moorings on both the Dalbora side and the eastern side hold waiting boats for up to two hours, capped at 20 tonnes displacement. Ferguson's, sitting east of the bridge, escapes this entirely for runs to the main harbour: out past Middle Head and you are on open harbour water within twenty minutes. Westward, once through a lift, the no-wash zone begins and Middle Harbour opens into its celebrated cruising ground of bush-lined bays: Pearl Bay, Quakers Hat Bay, Bantry Bay in the Garigal National Park reaches, and the anchorages up toward Roseville Bridge. The Spit waterfront doubles as a dining precinct: Ormeggio at the Spit, the hatted Italian restaurant at d'Albora whose name appropriately means mooring, anchors the scene, with cafes, fish and chips and the Middle Harbour Yacht Club's bar and bistro nearby. Parking around the marina is council-operated and tight on summer weekends. By road the CBD is a straightforward run down Spit Road and Military Road. Local knowledge worth having: bridge-lift afternoon slots on summer Sundays turn the narrows into a queue, so returning berth holders time their approach, and the middle harbour flats outside the marina hold an honest daytime anchorage while waiting. Middle Harbour Yacht Club's racing next door gives the waterway its weekend fleet colour, and the whole precinct hums with keelboat culture.