By Phil Jarratt
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but jeez it’s good to be back home!
I stepped off the plane – after nearly two months away – right into some much-needed rain and some desperately needed swell. Someone must have told Huey I was coming, because I’m told there hadn’t been a wave on the Noosa Points since I left town, but there they were, marching across the bay and into First Point for a couple of midweek pearler sessions – glassy, warm water and the crowd within reason for the most part.
But just in case you think I’ve got the god of surf in the palm of my hand, I’ve got to duck across the pond for a week mid-month, and the long-range forecast is showing a pumping swell that starts the day I leave and finishes the day I get back.
And as much as I love Noosa, I have to say that it was disappointing to find our beautiful Dog Beach in much the same sad state we left it in, with massive erosion taking out half the beach and closing the bush trail at the western end, and the walkway sinking into the sand at the other end.
Given how little swell we’ve had over the winter months, the erosion must be caused by other factors, one of which might be the fact that the deep water channel to and from the bar now runs about 25 metres off Dog Beach, and its shores are subjected to fierce wake waves all day, every day.
Apart from the damage this appears to be causing on the beach, the speed at which boats negotiate this stretch of water is a serious accident waiting to happen.
Swimmers (often with their dogs) now make the crossing to the long sandbar that reveals itself on the half-tide at their peril, since power boats and jet skis treat this smooth water as a speedway.
Last weekend we watched the Coast Guard almost get swamped by a stink boat in a tearing hurry to get to sea.
So what is the speed limit for boats and personal water craft in the lower river?
Well, for 65 days – all of December and January and five days of Easter – a six knot, no wake limit applies to all sections, but for the other 300 days, outside of Noosa Woods and the canals, the rules are very hazy indeed.
The 2009 Noosa River Marine Zone regulations say the PWCs are allowed to use the lower river to “transit” from the hire station to beyond the bar, but doesn’t mention at what speed.
Outside of holiday periods, boats can travel at up to 20 knots, although a six knot limit applies within 30 metres of “people in the water” for boats and 60 metres for PWCs, regardless of what the signage says.
By my reckoning, that means a permanent six knot limit should apply in the channel the length of Dog Beach.
According to Maritime Safety Queensland, there are “penalties and on-the-spot fines for exceeding a speed limit”, but in all my stand up paddle excursions on the river and around the Frying Pan, I’ve never seen anyone get busted outside of the holiday period. You can pretty much get away with anything, as the bloke who nearly swamped the Coast Guard last Sunday showed.
Hold the front page – Vicco wins surf contest!
I’ve been following the career of Nikki Van Dijk with some interest these past few years since interviewing her during her rookie year on the women’s world tour.
Frankly, it was obvious she was going to get her maiden tour win sooner rather than later.
She comes from a strong Phillip Island surfing family, and learnt her chops in heavy water, which makes her a particular danger in the unpredictable Atlantic, where last week she dispatched ratings leader Sally Fitzgibbons and then three-times world champ Carissa Moore in the final to take out the Cascais Women’s Pro in choppy, tricky conditions that Portugal can put out on occasion.
What I didn’t know was that in taking the win, Nikky became the first Victorian of either sex to win a world tour event since Tony Ray won the Lacanau Pro in France in 1992.
In disbelief, I called my friend Rod Brooks, himself a multiple Victorian champion back in the day, and father of two great surfers in Troy Brooks and the late Shaun Brooks.
“Nuh,” said Brooko. “Troy won a few QS events and made it to the quarters, but no titles.”
So Nikki would have been the toast of San Remo for a minute last week, if she hadn’t had to race up the coast to Hossegor for the start of the Roxy Pro France, where sadly she went from hero to zero in the space of two heats, getting bundled out equal last in near-perfect conditions.
Nikki’s win at Cascais rocketed her into fifth position on the leaderboard, but the early exit in France will see her drop back a place or two again.
But you’ll be hearing more from this tough 22-year-old. It won’t be this year, but a world title is within her grasp.
Nev pitch perfect at Palace
Firewire founder Nev Hyman was one of two Queenslanders who last week won the right to pitch their start-ups to a global audience in London in December.
Nev and his Nev House affordable housing project will join Alisha Geary, creator of active-wear brand Faebella at Pitch@Palace Global, following their wins in Australia.
Founded by the Duke of York in 2014, Pitch@Palace provides a platform to amplify and accelerate the work of entrepreneurs.
Nev, a legend of Australian surfboard shaping, will build a recycled plastic Nev House on the beach during the Laguna Real Estate Festival of Surfing next March, as part of the festival’s sustainability program. More about this in coming weeks.
