When I bought my Lotus 9.2 she was on a mooring on the south side of LMYC Marina at Belmont. I had to do a fair bit of preparation to the yacht prior to sailing her north to Queensland which took a week.

For me the location was perfect. About a 300m row to shore and not a bad beaching area for the dinghy with a park adjoining with a toilet block that is never locked.

The yacht club is right there as is the Gunyah Hotel with an excellent bistro. There was a BIAS chandlery right next door to the hotel but it has since closed.

The big benefit was that I did not need to have my car there as the Belmont shopping precinct was just up the road.

The mooring area is in the bay and quite protected. The yacht club is very much a social hub and casual berthing is available as well as a working berth PLUS a mast crane.

If you were to base yourself there club membership would be a good idea as a certain amount of free berthing comes with it. The members are very friendly and helpful though I can't say the same ting for the then manager. The club house also has hot showers and toilets and a set of dinghy racks of which you could probably get one for secure storage of your dinghy.

From the beach to mooring area.



Yacht club and dinghy racks.



The park and Gunyah Hotel.



You will need bird netting.



The working berth with mast crane in the right of fore triangle.



If you are in the working berth, keep your clothes on.


Moorings are close together but not too close.






All in all a very handy location.

Thanks for that. Some great shots.

You could also look at the Western side ie Toronto or Wangi Wangi, which are just off the freeway & may very well be quicker to get to than the Eastern side. You'll probably find the commercial moorings are substantially cheaper at Toronto, than the East.

If you are travelling from Sydney then either side of Mannering Park, or Wyee Bay would be the closest to the expressway. Gwandalyn is a bit further(10-15 min), but probably better protected from the south and west.

The Western side of Mannering Park is protected from the south. The fetch from the west is not to bad. The eastern side is protected from the west, but more exposed to the south. It would pretty much average out, the western side marginally better, but the water is heated by the local power station and some say that growth is higher.

There is a marina at Wyee Point, where there are also commercial moorings. You might consider leaving the boat there for a month or so while you have a look around.

The key difference between the northern and southern end of the lake is that the southern end has less development. If you want to be close to bays where you can anchor surounded by bush with only a couple of other boats, go to the south. If you want to tie up to a club wharf and have lunch, pay to have work done on the boat or race in a larger fleet then head north.

If you want to look closer at the southern end then pm me and I can take you for a look.

I have used the marina at Wyee Point a couple of times now. The swing moorings are very Reasonably priced, about $140/month from memory. Morisett is the nearest shopping center with a reasonable industrial estate and Wyong/Tuggerah, a bit further to the south is also well serviced.
With lake Macquarie being so close to Sydney and a great sailing home/destination all sailing services are well represented. With the demise of Bias Boating at Belmont the only other large chandlery is Whitworths, just around the corned from the Knights stadium but there and quite a few smaller chandleries that are also competitively priced.

Thanks Mat,
Thats good to know.