Kurnell Boat Ramp

[Paikea]

Sutherland Council is building a very large new picnic area at the Western end of Prince Charles Parade (the one that runs along the beach). Very impressive, new toilet block, massive parking for both cars and boats/trailers.

Unfortunately the new single lane boat ramp that they built only allows boats to be launched 2 to 3 hrs either side of High Tide. Something to do with Council not having gained approval to dredge the ramp.

The ramp is ideally placed for folks going out from the Bay, saves a big run from the Hole in the Wall or the Motor Boat Club Ramp.

You have to wonder why apart from the Yowie Bay and Grays Point Ramps the Shire is so poorly served with ramps. particularly when across the bay there is the magnificent ramp complex at the Container Wharves. Unfortunately getting there involves travelling some 20 K's from Cronulla.

Be good if we got some councillors who fish out of trailer boats.

Cheers

Paikea

[Jewhunter]

Good point,

The fact is if you live outside of the city then 20kms is nothing to drive to have good access to a water way.

We happily drive to the Fingal ramp on the Tweed that is 30kms away. Mind you it doesn't take long to get there.

It's all relative I suppose.

Cheers,

Grant.

[Geoff]

Unfortunately the new single lane boat ramp that they built only allows boats to be launched 2 to 3 hrs either side of High Tide. Something to do with Council not having gained approval to dredge the ramp.

Be good if we got some councillors who fish out of trailer boats.

Cheers

Paikea

I understand the Greens got their nose into the design claiming the weedy area was a fish breading area.

The chances of fish breeding in this area with all the boat traffic is very unlikely.

Your correct regarding the 2 / 3 hours , especially when retreiving.

It's been a few months since I was last at the ramp. Is one lane still covered by sand making it a one lane ramp.

If they extended the rock wall on the side it should reduce the sand onto the ramp. Also , there was a about a 6 - 8" drop off at the end of the ramp .

It only requires a few concrete railway type sleepers to make it more user friendly.

The bottom line , the ramp is a big improvement on the previous ramp but after spending a lot of $$$ it still has considerable limitations.

Geoff

[f1shen]

The Fisheries and the Department of Lands - two of the LEAST 'Green' and most bureaucratic government departments in my experience - will not approve ANY new development that threatens weed beds, particularly Posidonia strap weed or Zostera eel-grass. This rule came in in the early 2000s, from memory, and is a blanket ban - even when the dredge the Port Hacking, the dredge is meant to stick to the main channels where this weed doesn't grow, and avoid disturbing it where they can (obviously more of a guideline in this case).

More of an issue at the Kurnell boat ramp is the fact that it abuts a groyne - any dredging that takes place there will be filled in again with sand relatively quickly which is captured by the groyne. You can see how the sand is creeping up the concrete ramp. Unfortunately it's not worth the Council's time or money to get a dredge in every six months. The smart money would have been to replace the groyne with a longer, built up ramp to take boats past the weed and into deeper water, but that means big initial outlay for the Council, and they'd probably prefer to spend it on more cockatoo proof bins, or redoing the pavement in Sutherland than spend it on improving access to the water.

[Geoff]

f1shen, on 02 Oct 2013 - 08:02 AM, said:

More of an issue at the Kurnell boat ramp is the fact that it abuts a groyne - any dredging that takes place there will be filled in again with sand relatively quickly which is captured by the groyne. You can see how the sand is creeping up the concrete ramp. Unfortunately it's not worth the Council's time or money to get a dredge in every six months. The smart money would have been to replace the groyne with a longer, built up ramp to take boats past the weed and into deeper water, but that means big initial outlay for the Council, and they'd probably prefer to spend it on more cockatoo proof bins, or redoing the pavement in Sutherland than spend it on improving access to the water.

I'm not an expert on sand migration due to tidal flow but just trying to apply some common sense to the problem.

Take a look at the old ramp . The interesting thing , there is no sand on the ramp,

http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.php?showtopic=22223

Looking towards the water at the new ramp the LH lane which is in the same place as the old ramp has no sand to speak of , where as the RH lane which has been built closer to the groin is covered.

The large groin is already quite long & I don't think dreadging will do much in the long term.

They simply need to take a Bobcat or Backhoe , remove the sand then extend the small rock wall on the edge of the ramp to at least the end of the ramp to prevent the sand from migrating.

Councils are not very bright when it comes to addressing these issues & as you mention allocating funds.

This reminds me of the sand migration problem at Little Beach ramp at Pt Stevens.

What did Council do , prohibeted boats from driving onto trailers. The prop thrust would have pushed the sand away from the ramp but driving off , which pushed sand onto the ramp , was OK.

How bright is that ???

Geoff