Checked out a new area for blokarting today with Danny and Joe,the surface is mainly soft but there are smooth hard areas where we can sail on around the edge of the lake.
It has only been dry for a couple of years now and will not sustain water due to the water table being depleted,Lake Gnangara is no longer a lake but a dust bowl so we will be keeping a close eye on it next summer
I contacted the Wanneroo shire rangers several months ago to see if they would object to using any of the dry lakes in wanneroo for landyachting- and got a rather abrupt reply that they were not interested in the idea.
They were not so much worried about the lake surface- but getting access to the lakes without doing damage to the edge of the lakes and leaving tracks etc.
I pointed out that no engines were involved, and the landyachts are very lightweight and would leave not residue or any damage to a dry surface- but it didnt wash with the rangers.
I should have gone and taken it further to shire management- but ran out of time and havent contacted them since.
With a bit of luck you might get a better response than I did (possibly the person I spoke to was just having a bad day)
I just got back from checking out the lake, and was surprised- with all the rain over the last couple of days there was only an area at the north end of the lake that was wet, and when I walked across the lake to test the surface I had trouble leaving footprints- and had to stomp my size 10 boot heel into the surface pretty hard to make a dent no more that 3/4" deep. Even in the soggy tracks left from vehicles it was hard to make an impression- kicking with the toe of my boot was a mistake- all it did was hurt my toes...
It is a bit chewed up in areas from 4wd and motorcycles (drivers and riders must be illiterate as they cant read the signs) but I found that the western side of the lake is much smoother than the eastern is near the carpark/ playground.
The western side is also much firmer around the edges (no soft white sand to get through) and I think there might be access from a roadside reserve.
As the signs dont mention wind powered craft, I will try and get my lefroy mini there tomorrow for a test- just need to bodge up a sail- I have a 5.5m windsurfer sail that has the bottom panel torn out so I will cut it back to the battern and see what happens.
I hope access here works out- this lake is only a couple of minutes from home for me as I live within sight of the Alexander Heights shopping centre.
Hi Sn,Yes I find it is always best to talk to the head honcho,the rangers don't make the decisions only up hold the ones in place.
I find it ironic that the Shire is so protective of the lake concidering and what a wonderful job they have done so far
.
The lake has always had some water in it at some time or another and now it is a dust bowl.
I will monitor the lake next summer and in the mean time I will find out who the best person to speak to.
Sn do you have a yacht and sail? where are you based?
I started the Perth Blokart club up eight months ago with my twelve year old son Ben who was constantly on the nintendo,now he sails blokarts with me and still spends whatever time he has on nintendo but while he is sailing with me it's our time.
Hi Andy- I have a lefroy mini ready to use, and a couple of sails are currently with Paul in kalgoorlie getting modified, but I picked up a couple of spare sails from balcatta recycling centre late last week.
So far it has only had a couple of tests on the oval across the road.
first version had suzuki hatch wheels/axles- but was too heavy, so I went and got the fallshaw wheels, then tried an adjustable seat- but it was too messy- so the mk3 version is built pretty much as Paul designed!
I built this mini as a father-son project to hopefully drag our son Brodie away from his playstation/nintendo d-s, and plan on building a second mini to suit Brodies size a bit better than the first one I built.
We are in marangaroo- within sight of the alexander heights shopping centre.
I hope to have time to try out the lake before I head back to sunrise dam on wednesday.
Great,I spoke to Barry from the Sandgropers today and CALM have not closed the lake yet,you might get some sailing in.
I'm based in Connolly and once at the end of each month our club migrate down to Safety bay for a blast,the first three week we sail at Belmont Park race course,we were told the other day our club is allowed to sail there all year round until further notice which should help our club grow even more.
I didnt get to try out lake gnangarra after all- had to do some stuff around the house before I headed back to the mine 
But you can be sure it will be on my priority list when I get back home in 2 weeks!
What are your thoughts on holding off on sailing on Lake Gnangara untill we make an official request to sail there.
My experience is that if we go through the right channels and approach the grand poobar rather than run the gauntlet of a head to head conflict with the ranger we will stand a better chance of getting what we want.
If they say no then it will be up to you weather you want to sail there or not.
If they say yes we will have the lake to ourselves for all time.
I will make contact with the Wanneroo Shire and make an appointment to see them as an official representative of the Perth Blokart Club,I think it will carry more weight if I went in person plus we can also show we have our own public liability insurance in place.
If we can hold off for a short time sn we just might find ourselves with a great venue.
What do you think???
Fair enough- I dont want to stuff up what could be a good venue for us all!
When I get back home, I will head there if the weather is ok and pick up some more of the junk on the lake- when I was there last time I collected a heap of glass bottles and car parts off the lake surface as I was walking around.
It would be nice if the place was properly fenced to keep the vehicles off!
If the shire are not going to put the toilet block back into service- it could possibly be converted into an open fronted shed- but the structural integrity of the building would need to be looked at by someone who knows what they are doing- vandals have been doing a good job trashing the place...
I cant really see any logical reason why the shire would want to stop landyachts from using the lake- it is about the only environmentally friendly/ non polluting activity it could be used for.
Going by the sign at the lake- the shire have banned everything but windpowered craft so I dont see how they can complain.
Sorry it took a while to put this reply together- web access is pretty dodgy out here!
Is your club only for blokarts- or will you let lefroy mini's in as well?
I doubt that I would be able to make it to many official meetings due to my work roster, family time when I am home and pretty heavy involvment with my rifle club during my RDO's.
I dont mind helping out with club stuff where I can- but the family get first priority!
Hi Sn,sorry for the delay in my reply,after sailing Lake Gnangara we found the surface to be dusty and chocking, quite unsuitable for sailing competitions,ok if your sailing on your own or in front but the bull dust /silt is so fine you can't breath.
The dust covers everything and is quite a job to get it off your sail and yacht.
For these reasons we have abandon the idea of sailing there.
I cant see the shire resurfacing it being a nature reserve and all that,but we are having talks soon to the city of Swan about another possible venue
