Recent tragic events have highlighted our duty to take care of each other out there. Unfortunatley not everyone thinks and acts this way.
I have recently had discussions about the possibility of this recent event actually happening with my local authorities. I was shocked and saddened to wake up the sad sad news this morning. My concerns have mainly been with jet skis heading through a rivermouth surf break at horrendous speeds whilst surfers and paddlers are in the water. Help keep these areas more safe for surfing and paddling. As the correspondence below says, please report any incident you feel could be life endangering to the authorities. If they don't know about the incidents then they will not take any action.
it is a bit concerning that it takes someone to die for something to happen, i frequent a very nice rivermouth break on the central coast, i have had many close calls with jetski's who think it is ok to jump waves where there is 40 people surfing, this break does have a channel but this does tend to closeout or stand up a bit when there are larger waves, thus causing ferries and larger boats to fly through very close to surfers, i am sad that someone has died, but am a little suprisied that it has not happened earlier, i think that these people that frequent these areas should show some caution for surfers, but that's just my opinion.
Jarryd
A bit of a different take on things, but are we the ones in the wrong place? as the river mouths are there for access to the ocean. It just so happens that as a result of the mouth being there that there are some times good waves as well but i thought if it came to the crunch the surfers might be moved on and the boats left to use the channel!!! I feel for the guys in the boats sometimes when i see them coming in and there are 100 surfers in the way and they have to watch for waves to make sure they get in the bar safely as well as watching out for surfers.
Quite often out at the alley a boat might go screaming through the wave zone in a lull to get in and you can hear people yelling at the boat to slow down, but the boat is only doing what is needed to get in the bar and if you have ever crossed a bar with breaking waves you will no what i mean..
It is sad that it has taken a accident to bring this up but maybe just maybe the boats are not in the wrong!!!!
well said Jacko. Think about it, the Goldy has over 50km of beaches and only 4 bar crossings, far easier to move the surfers than the boats.
I don't think its alot to ask to be looked out for while you surf the edge of a river mouth.
Tha maroochy river mouth is wide, not that busy, chanel is clear and wide (unlike the alley), plenty of room for all, but you still get personal watercraft ripping thru the surf area using the surf as a "jump" without a care as to what is on the other side of that "jump"
Pretty dangerous stuff.
Of course this is only the occasional Jet ski rider, most are very courteous.
I know at the Alley now you are not allowed to wave jump on a jet ski, the bar is there as a access for boats to the ocean so maybe something like what they have done at currumbin might help at maroochy?
Jacko
The death of a surfer on the Gold Coast following a collision with a boat was "an accident waiting to happen", the city's acting chief lifeguard says.
Richard King, 42, of Currumbin Waters, died just hours after being hit by a boat on Sunday while surfing at the popular Currumbin Alley at the southern end of the coast.
People on the boat pulled Mr King out of the water immediately and he was rushed to Gold Coast Hospital where he died.
Peter Miller, Acting Chief Lifeguard for Gold Coast City Council, told ABC Radio on Monday they had had some close calls before.
"I guess it's an accident waiting to happen and unfortunately it's cost a life in this circumstance."
"When you have boats going in and out on a constant basis and so many people there, so many people, not just the experienced boardriders that get right out the back, but the little ones, the parents there ... there's just hundreds and hundreds of people there.
"So I guess this was always going to happen at some stage," Mr Miller said.
The end of the patrol season a couple of weeks ago would have made no difference to the outcome, he said.
The beach at the mouth of Currumbin Creek was one of the most dangerous on the coast.
"We have more rescues there than any other beach on the Gold Coast," Mr Miller said.
"It's a tidal flow, so when that tide runs out and you've got a big tide, there's a huge volume of water going out and for the unwary it's a real trap."
Mr Miller said as far as he could see it was just an unfortunate accident and there was very little that could be done to prevent it happening.
He also said it would not be popular or practical to ban surfers from the area.http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8246498/qld-surf-death-waiting-to-happen
Very unfortunate circumstances that have transpired, but if proceedings over the last few weeks (which are no different to the last 20 - 30 years) are anything to go by, it was quite possibley avoidable.
I wasn't there, so I can't comment on this incident, but my girl had a tinny roll over her a little over a week ago at the Alley, because the guys rushed their entry and rolled on the face of a wave.
The boaties that are worth their salt, tend to slowdown or stop to assess the area access and make an informed descision before crossing the river mouth. Unfortunately others don't slow or stop to assess the situation and charge on through with ill regard for themselves and others (an all to common occurrence at the Alley).
The boating regulations require skippers to give way to unpowered craft and swimmers.
Whilst I am unaware of any accident happening at The Pass, Byron Bay where technically it is not a river mouth/bar crossing, the potential for an accident is far higher. The skippers stop before entering the the surf zone, generally wait for a lull and a gap in the pack before proceeding.
Better education may help to prevent further injury and death, but I believe a higher
precence from the authorities will deter those who willfully disregard the safety of themselves or others.
I wouldn't advocate banning boats or surfing at the Alley... people need to look, learn and listen and conduct themselves in a respectful manner.
There is a parallel thread running on the Currumbin incident "Currumbin Alley - surfer hit by boat!"
CMC sums things up pretty well here:
"In normal creek conditions the channel runs along the breakwall and then does a dog leg out and around so that boats can access what is normally a bit of a no mans land for the crowds, learners etc between the Alley proper and Laceys.
At the moment the sand is so choked that the breakwall is the shallowest part of the creek. This leaves boaties no choice but to run up the middle of the Alley and then try to go around the end of the shallower than normal bank coming off the rock and extending over to the wall. There is usually a more pronounced gutter and this allows the boats to navigate the bar without coming too close to regular surfers.
You'd have to think that these conditions played a part in today's unfortunate accident. What a sad day for his family and our beautiful area. Let's just hope that something is done to monitor the bar and maintain it despite the political hot potato that it has become."
Imo the likelihood of this tragedy happening at Currumbin could have been greatly reduced if the local and state governments had dredged these channels properly. All they seem to do is talk and point fingers at each other. This type of incident has been predicted by many people over the years (even here on Seabreeze).
These waters need proper dredging if a similar occurance is to be prevented. I highlighted proper dredging as the locals have all seen the lame attempt at dredging that has taken place in the past by the contractors. Let's see what real action takes place from here...
A few months ago I was almost hit at the Alley. I had just dived off at the dying stages of a wave and, as I surfaced, an ocean bound boat popped over the next wave of the set. It crashed down about 8-10m away and scared the absolute crap out of me. If it had skewed a bit on landing, it may have pointed at me and when he gunned it I would have been toast.
I was initially angry/hyped up and wanted to kill someone. BUT, I realised that it probably wasn't as close as I first thought, and I really was in the middle of the low tide channel. Having said that, he would have had to have been blind not to see me while surfing my wave, and was a bit stupid to be punching it through a set. (sets were about 5 min apart)
Since then, if I am surfing the alley, I will always look for boats leaving the river and not take the wave if there is.
I think any of us that regularly surfs the Alley will have seen quite a few close calls, particularly around Dec - Feb when the mackeral are running and Palmy reef looks like a car park.
Never once have I seen the Water Police in the area enforcing 6 knot speed limit, I reckon Prios is spot on the 3 - 4 times a year boatie can be a danger.
I'm sure there would be a big uproar if the Alley was closed to boats - we would hear all about how much they contribute to the local economy etc, however I'm sure that the local community who use the area would contribute more are far greater in their numbers.
As I read on another thread any of us who regularly surf the Alley have probably had the pleasure of sharing waves with Richard. I never met him however my thoughts go out to his family & friends
