Marina service
Wharf Street Marina
About
Wharf Street Marina at a glance
Small marina at 1 Wharf Street, Brooklyn, on the Hawkesbury River. Small marina at 1 Wharf St Brooklyn (some directories erroneously list 55A Brooklyn Rd); Hornsby Council place plan notes Long Island Marina and Wharf St Marina together have max 10 berths and 70 moorings
Service area: Hawkesbury River
- Marina type
- marina
- Operator
- Wharf Street Marina
- Region
- Hawkesbury River
- Water body
- Hawkesbury River
- Berth types
- permanent berthing
Facilities and services
- swing moorings
About Wharf Street Marina
Wharf Street Marina is the smallest of Brooklyn's marinas, a compact operation at 1 Wharf Street on the Hawkesbury River waterfront, close to the village centre rather than out along Brooklyn Road with the bigger yards. Its scale is modest enough that Hornsby Council's place planning for the Brooklyn waterfront records Wharf Street Marina and the much larger Long Island Marina together as having a maximum of 10 berths and 70 moorings, a figure that captures just how boutique this end of the precinct is. The marina's address has caused some confusion over the years, with directories variously listing it at 55A Brooklyn Road, but the operation is on Wharf Street itself, a short lane running down to the water near Brooklyn's public wharf and the ferry terminal. What it lacks in size it makes up for in position: this is the most central berthing in Brooklyn, steps from Hawkesbury River railway station, the Dangar Island ferry, and the village's strip of cafes and seafood shops. The marina's business is permanent berthing, and its customers are overwhelmingly locals and long-term boat owners who want their vessel kept in the heart of the village rather than in a pen a kilometre up the road. There is no glossy website or published tariff; arrangements are made directly by phone on 02 9985 7074, in the manner of an older generation of river businesses. For a boater approaching Brooklyn for the first time, Wharf Street Marina is easy to overlook among the bigger names, but for the people who berth there that low profile, and the ability to walk from train to boat in two minutes, is exactly the point.
Marina facilities
Little is published about Wharf Street Marina's facilities, so an honest account must stick to what is verifiable. The marina provides permanent berthing on the Brooklyn waterfront, with moorings forming a significant part of the local offering; Hornsby Council documentation notes a combined cap with Long Island Marina of 10 berths and 70 moorings, and moorings clearly outnumber berths at this end of the village. There is no advertised fuel berth, slipway, lift or chandlery on site, and no published schedule of rates, so prospective berth or mooring holders should treat the phone number, 02 9985 7074, as the first and only booking channel and confirm pricing, berth dimensions and any power or water connections directly. The practical reality of berthing here is that Brooklyn's service cluster compensates for whatever the marina itself does not carry. Fuel is available seven days a week at Fenwicks Marina and at Brooklyn Marina, both a short run up the inlet. Slipping and mechanical work are handled at Coast Marine's workshops at Long Island Marina, at Sandbrook Inlet Marina's slipway and Mercury dealership, and at Fenwicks' 50-tonne travel lift yard. Showers, provisions and meals are a land-based matter, and here the location excels: the village shops, cafes and pub are within a few minutes' walk, the general store covers basics, and the railway station makes provisioning runs to Hornsby or Sydney straightforward without a car. In short, Wharf Street Marina is best understood as a quiet permanent home for a boat, with the maintenance and supply infrastructure of the entire Brooklyn precinct functioning as its de facto service department, and the village itself as its amenities block.
Local sailing knowledge
Wharf Street puts a boat in the middle of Brooklyn's working waterfront. The public wharf next door is where the Brooklyn Ferry departs for Dangar Island and Little Wobby, and where the Riverboat Postman has long loaded mail and passengers for the run up the river to isolated communities, a service that still doubles as one of Sydney's best-value harbour cruises. Hawkesbury River station is a two-minute walk, on the Sydney to Newcastle line, which is why this pocket of Brooklyn has always attracted boat owners who commute to their craft. By water, the marina lies outside the main mooring fields of Sandbrook Inlet and closer to the bridge narrows; vessels approaching from Broken Bay pass under the rail bridge with its 11.8-metre clearance at mean high water springs and then have the village waterfront immediately to starboard. The tide runs noticeably through this gap, so skippers of low-powered craft should time berthing for the turn of the tide. Cruising options radiate in every direction: downstream to Broken Bay, Pittwater and the ocean; upstream past Spectacle Island and the oyster leases towards Wisemans Ferry, with more than 54 nautical miles of navigable river before the Windsor road bridge; and sideways into Cowan Creek's national park anchorages, less than an hour away. Ashore, Brooklyn punches above its weight for a village of a few hundred people: seafood and oysters from the river, several cafes, a classic country pub, and weekend markets by the water. The trade-off for Wharf Street's convenience is bustle, since the ferry, hire boats and day-trippers all concentrate here on fine weekends, but that is also the entertainment.