Mosman Rowers Club: A Historic Harbourfront Venue with Deep Local Roots
- Alec Smart
- Jul 1
- 5 min read
From Boatshed to Community Hub: The Story of Mosman’s Oldest Waterfront Club
By Alec Smart
Mosman Rowers Club is a licensed restaurant, café and function room in Mosman Bay, adjacent to the Mosman Bay Marina. The historic venue, located in a timber building on the western shore of Mosman Bay began life in 1911 as a boat storage shed for rowing enthusiasts.
The since-upgraded premises are situated directly opposite the Mosman Bay Wharf which services the Sydney Ferries F6 route to Circular Quay.
According to their website, “The much-loved local institution since 1911 welcomes wet bums, sandy feet and paws to our special place in Mosman - a community hub for water-based activities such as paddling and kayaking as well as social events & more.”
There’s a café downstairs on sea level - The Rowers Gallery Café - for maritime visitors and regional regulars, which also opens for dinner and drinks in the evenings throughout summer.
Then there’s the heritage Rowers Bar on the upper level, accessible from the bayside footpath and Harnett Ave carpark, which offers lunch and dinner, with additional attractions including weekly trivia games, raffles and broadcasts of live sports events on TV.
There’s also a venue hire room on the top floor for functions.
Watery History of Mosman Rowers Club
Mosman Bay was popular with boaters and picnickers from the early 1870s, when ferry operator Richard Harnett created a cross-harbour service linking Mosman Bay and Neutral Bay on the North Shore to the central wharves in Circular Quay.
In 1871, the first Mosman Wharf was constructed, enabling The Herald paddle-steamer to berth and transfer passengers. (Unfortunately, The Herald‘s starboard steam engine exploded in April 1884 and it sank 450 metres off North Head.)
Previously, the forested, tidal inlet, with upper reaches that ended in shallow sandflats, was known as Great Sirius Cove and in 1831 had been developed as a whaling station by Archibald Mosman.
Great Sirius Cove was named after HMS Sirius, the flagship of the First Fleet and captained by Governor Arthur Philip, which was careened and refitted there in 1789.
During the decade the whaling station was operational, the inlet became known as Mossman’s Bay [sic] and Mosman Bay. After a peak in the mid 1830s, the whaling operation declined, and In August 1844 Archibald Mosman was bankrupted and relocated to Glen Innes to farm cattle.
The Mosman Estate was developed for new settlers, and thereafter, the entire headland and surrounding suburb adopted the Mosman name.
According to Mosman Council, “Richard Hayes Harnett Senior [the ferry operator] played a major role in opening up the area. In 1859, he began purchasing Archibald Mosman’s original 108 acres and over the next 30 years was responsible for the building of roads, a horse-drawn bus service and ferry services linking the city to Mosman.
“One of the main attractions of the area was the Mosman waterfall as the head of Mosman Bay. Pleasure grounds and picnic resorts sprang up around the foreshore to cater for the visitors who flocked here, particularly on weekends.”
Walk this way
Around 1880, Captain Blix built a footbridge of split palings with bamboo and sapling railings across the shallow upper end of the bay linking the wharf to Harnett Park opposite. This spared visitors and rowing club members the long, treacherous trek around the tidal flats over slippery boulders and sinking mud.
The first cable Tramway was opened between Milsons Point Wharf and North Sydney in 1886, which was extended to Mosman Wharf in 1897.
In 1899, a stone retaining wall was constructed at the upper reaches of the bay, and mud from the foreshore was dredged and transferred behind it, the area levelled, and Reid Park created.
To facilitate this, the walkway was demolished, and in 1900 it was replaced by a sturdier structure with a rotating central span (to allow access to dredgers to extract the frequent build-up of sea-borne silt), which opened in 1902.
This boardwalk remained in place until 1967 when the western end collapsed after the timbers rotted (earlier, in 1940, it had to be reinforced and partially rebuilt after decades of saltwater deterioration). The following year it was permanently demolished and the marina alongside (established 1956) was able to expand.
Origins of the name ‘Rowers’
Mosman Rowing Club – which gave the name ‘Mosman Rowers’ to the former boatshed on the western side of Mosman Bay that is now a popular dining venue - is no longer in Mosman Bay but based in Pearl Bay on the western tip of The Spit.
Although the historic premises were first built in 1911 when the club was launched, the association for competitive rowing enthusiasts began almost four decades earlier on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour at Dawes Point, where the southern pylon of Sydney Harbour Bridge now sits.
According to the history summary on their website, “Mosman Rowing Club was initially known as Mercantile Rowing Club and began racing in its distinctive red and white hoops in 1873.
“The club’s first boatshed was built on leased land at Dawes Point on the west side of Circular Quay. However, in 1911, poor water conditions around the Quay and the expiration of the Club’s lease meant that the Club could no longer operate in that location. A decision was made to relocate the original boatshed and all rowing equipment to Mosman Bay, and to re-establish the club as ‘Mosman Rowing Club’.”
Mosman Rowing Club (MRC) operated from the original sheds on the western foreshore for 22 years, launching vessels into the bay where they were paddled out into the harbour during training exercises.
In 1933, the original boatshed was demolished and a new clubhouse was constructed on the same site.
The website continues, “However, within 20 years, boating and ferry growth in and around Mosman Bay became such a problem for rowing and training that the Club moored a small houseboat on the sandy beach in Pearl Bay on Middle Harbour below what is now Spit Road.
“This houseboat became the Club’s senior training location. When Spit Road was rebuilt in 1964, the original sandy beach was in-filled behind a seawall and the old houseboat had to go…”
The rowing community raised funds for the construction of a new boatshed and clubhouse, which opened adjacent to Pearl Bay in 1967 and they graduated to the new premises while the old Mosman Bay clubhouse – Mosman Rowers - evolved into a licensed social club.
In April 2007, Mosman Rowing Club divested from the Mosman Rowers venue to focus solely on their Pearl Bay headquarters, and they’re now separate entities.
MRC have continued to train and nurture Australia’s top rowers – including many that have competed in the Olympic Games and other elite competitions.
Mosman Rowers going forward
Mosman Rowers reopened in March 2019 as a members’ club owned and run by its members with a board of directors. Catering – food and beverages - is provided by The Bird and Bear Group.
Although not established as a water-sports association, they recently announced a new partnership with Freedom Boat Club in Mosman Bay in which members receive all-inclusive access to a fleet of 6000 serviced and maintained boats across 400 locations around the world.
The club revealed, “The boats are ready for members to use at their convenience after booking online and no experience is necessary (we provide licensing and unlimited training). Just pay a one-time joining fee, a monthly fee, and the fuel you use for unlimited* access to Freedom Boat Club boats in Mosman Bay and beyond…”
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