Dredging at Safety Bay

I guess we will have to use a bigger fin ,to point up wind and get around the big steel buoy . Why this time of year when we are about to hit the water?
maybe us windsurfers don't pay tax .yeah what ever.

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Deano said...
Or maybe you could sail in the massive area called warnbro sound, out the back of Pengos, around the islands, up to PK and back.
You might find you can sail faster if you get used to sailing in chop instead of doing the run jumping of water starting doing it again.

Sailing out in the sound can certainly be fun, but there aren't many runs in wa that are as flat as the run down the weed bank. If you're trying to go fast or learning a new trick I find it easier to learn in flat water, than have the extra element of chop to contend with.


A lot of the sailors who do the speed run, you'll find usually sail in chop at their usual haunt. The pond is a pleasant change when you usually have to sail in chop

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Stuthepirate said...

Windxtasy said..

So Safety Bay locals, is the dredge still parked at the entrance to the pond?
Is the speed strip over the sand bar and the area between the point and the sand bar still free of obstructions other than kiters?

Still in the pond.
the speed strip is still clear for now so if this ssw kicks in it might be on today

There's a nice big front just coming through now

I was greatly concerned by the media release stating that the dredge spoil was going to be used to enrich local beaches.
Any how, had my worst fears confirmed. I think we have effectively seen the end of the pond.

Sorry guys, loaded up from phone and pics were ok orientation on phone but seem to now be out o whack. Will fix when i get home.

After a rigorous public consultation program... they ticked the box. "We consulted the public- telling them how it will be done." Remember kids, this is the wild west australia... its not the rest of the civilised world. Its better to destroy a highly utilised recreational area to save face- spending a squillion to upgrade a boat ramp that was always going to have problems then just spend more to justify what we already spent- for now until it silts up again. Oh well, at least some polly's boaty mate will get to use it a couple of times a year so it was worth it.

But with the glass half full, it ~might~ make a better speed run over the bank or not affect it too much. Fingers crossed.

Spot on Chris I totally agree. The impact post dredge might not be a complete disaster however when you try to re-engineer a natural process consequences always emerge!

Not enough photo opportunity, Melville foreshore?

I was down on the beach where the dredging is being dumped yesterday (Thur 16th) and i reckon by the way they are pumping the sludge it spells the end of the pond and windsurfing there,they are going to fill in the pond and that channel they are cutting out for the BOATIES will fill in next winter and the council will have to build a new car park another couple of hundred metres further out when it all fills in...

Anyone catch the bit in the local rag about all the dead fish and crabs washed up
On beach.
Dredging will have no harmful effects on the environment they said. Not to mention the smell.
No good.

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Subsonic said..

So what's mandurah estuary like to sail in on a ssw?

Not always but on Ave 10 kts lighter than Safety Bay, and why Safety Bay has been a Mecca for Decades, the downside being the over-crowding, but be interesting to see what evolves??

Are you guys sure there's not a few kiters on council? 'Yeah, fill the pond up so its only 2 feet deep the whole way'.

In all seriousness I hope its finished by the time Christmas comes around.

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Subsonic said..
It will definitely be interesting to see what happens to the pond in the long run, maybe it'll help flush some of the gunk out, it was getting pretty shallow in places.

Iits just a shame they've decided to start the dredging right on and through peak windsurfing season.

Hopefully there'll be an enforced speed limit through the pond area for all the power boaters crossing the kite and windsurfing traffic. With no natural barrier to make them slow down and look around, I can see an accident on the horizon

I wonder if this isn't part of their reason for filling in the pond (which wasn't mentioned in the original plan) - get rid of the kiters and windsurfers so there will be no obstruction for the boaties going to the jetty. With the current kiter/windsurfer traffic it would be a nightmare.
I suspect one of the councillors is a boatie who lives nearby. I hate to sound cynical, but that is how councils work.
Most councils are trying to get rid of kiters because they are hazardous. What better way than to fill in their favourite spot?

I wonder what the sailing is like launching from the carpark east of Bent st. ,down by Donald drive is the wind wrong direction or swirly and hard to launch...
launch from there sail down to Waikiki then over to pengos and generally sailing in the bay as we usually are doing and bypassing the pond altogether...I understand their are a few sailors that are scared of the deep water ie Dead Water Dave.....has any done this....

Nothing worse than seeing your local vandalised ,and im not talking about the suction dredge ,its all the piping containers and crap associated with it all over the the foreshore, and the sludge / sandy / rocky bottom often stinken filling up onto the foreshore.


If you used a back actor the job would have taken 1 week and the spoil could have been dumped out to sea.????

Someone wants more sand on the foreshore (The mentality of global warming may have won that one )

All said and done ,after the dredging is completed it looks as if little will be effected , Im not up to speed with the depth of the channel or lenght / width but in terms of dredging operations its a small project.

X? Cube meters dredged hopefully 99 %will be pure sand not rocks this will end up on/ in and around the bay and foreshore as it thins out over time.

Its the rocky crap they should screen off if its in countered........something to monitor

Who wants to swim/ windsurf etc etc with rocks rolling around your feet , they will breakdown over time but it ****s you.

The greatest threat to sail power users will come with increased sized / number of vessels operated by bogan and Champane sipping wood ducks believing this channel will be adequate in 30to 40 knot seabreezes to protect them from a hissing, dragon spiting rouge wave

Hope it works out for yous