I sailed down at the river today and noticed an excavator at work at the notch, I tried to go and have a look but got hunted by council staff. A quick google and it reveals that they do intend to breach the sandbar today in preparation for a 3m floodwater rise in the river today. Will it return the heads to the glory days of old, who knows but I hope so....it's a long wait till summer.
That would be sweet. Shoalhaven Heads used to be a great place to sail. However the last time I was there it just looked silted up and terrible. Amazing a council will do something like this. They all seem to believe silted up waterways is the way it should be.
At Sanctuary PT the carpark and playground are under water and lapping at the back door of the houses on sanctuary point road and some of the houses around our side and it hasn't stopped raining yet.Better get some diggers to sussex inlet ASAP
^^^There's a lot of water about, When I hit the water at 9am everything looked normal. I came in 3 hours later and the jetty had gone under and the water was lapping at the bottom rail of the safety barrier on the jetty. It would have rose 1m in that 3 hour period...I'll duck down early in the morning before the council guys start and get some pics of the entrance.
I use to sail there 23 years ago as well. It was fantastic when it was open. You could get a run along the sandbar get up some speed up, go through the opening and go for these big jumps and finally break the board in half as you would land on the face of the next incoming wave. Best fun ever!!!
The various estuary management options have all sorts of environmental effects. www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/habitat/aquatic-habitats/wetland/coastal-wetlands .The management practices of the good old days may have been great for windsurfing but not so good from a green perspective? Don't know, how did they manage it back then?
The various estuary management options have all sorts of environmental effects. www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/habitat/aquatic-habitats/wetland/coastal-wetlands .The management practices of the good old days may have been great for windsurfing but not so good from a green perspective? Don't know, how did they manage it back then?
Seems like no dredging is done because something unforseen might happen, resulting in clogged waterways. So its alright to develop the land, resulting in more erosion and run off but we can't touch the silted up waterways. If the lake entrance breakwall at Windang/Warilla could have been completed recently then anything should be on the table. The breakwall has been a huge alteration to the environment there.
I suspect a lot has to do with less water being let down the river from Tallowa dam. I seem to remember reading some years ago that the water collected above the dam was being pumped elsewhere and just did a search which confirmed that it goes to Sydney and the Illawara. I came down from the dam in a kayak 20 years ago and was surprised at how little water generally comes down there. I suspect that since that time the amount of water has diminished significantly, so only rare floods where the dam releases the kind of water that might open the lagoon.
^^^Keen but not that keen, darkness was falling as the work was still being finished...Unlike council workers to push a job into overtime. Plus it was pi$$ing rain...It was ok while sailing but standing around in it wasn't my idea of fun, It was beer o'clock anyways.
The heads are still open and ok for flat water sailing, it is very tide dependant though, only good around high tides and the tide there is about 2.5hrs behind the ocean
if your looking for flat water your better off going to sanctuary point , adds an extra 1/2hr to the trip , taking into consideration guys travel from Sydney and Canberra , it would be worth it
The thing about Shoalhaven heads is that is not far from Gerroa and may be good in the occasional Southerly. However Sanctuary Point does look as if it can be sailed in nearly in any direction and seems to have a good group building of late.
