A prominent marine rescue organisation remains essentially landlocked, after its request to dredge a mountain of sand in a major waterway was denied.
The Caloundra Coast Guard has been hemmed in at low tide, after a tidal breakthrough at Bribie Island caused massive shifts of sand in the area.
Spits have emerged either side of the group’s Tripcony Lane headquarters, with one to the north at Happy Valley and one to the south in the Pumicestone Passage.
Coast Guard volunteers can get to sea at mid to high tide but they can only sometimes negotiate the shallows at low tide.
Their main rescue vessel generally has to be towed to the Caloundra Power Boat Club ramp.
They had hoped dredging could be undertaken, to alleviate the problem.
But they were informed last week that was not a viable option, by the state member for Caloundra Jason Hunt
“We have been told officially now there will be no dredging in the passage,” Coast Guard Caloundra Commander Roger Pearce said.
“That’s a big disappointment.”
Mr Pearce said surveys of the waterway by Maritime Safety Queensland revealed that dredging would essentially be useless.
“They (MSQ) decided there would be too much sand movement and it would fill back in too quickly,” he said.
“With the expense of dredging and with it silting back up, they didn’t think it was worth it.
“We (Coast Guard) are not scientists, so we’ll just take it on the chin and be guided by what the experts say.”
It’s a significant blow to the group.
“We’ll have to trailer our vessels down to the Power Boat Club (on Lamerough Parade),” Mr Pearce said.
The process could sometimes cost them up to 30 minutes.
“That could be life or death if someone is in the water,” he said.
“But generally speaking, we can get out just as quickly by trailering the boat there.
“If someone called me now, I could be at the ramp with a crew in 15 minutes and we’d go straight out to sea from there.”
He also said that their main boat “can scoot over sand if it really has to” in the passage, depending on the depth of the water.
Sometimes it is only ankle deep and in many places it is just sand and people have been able to basically walk from Golden Beach across the passage towards Bribie Island.
Coast Guard’s only other apparent option is to base the main boat at the new Pelican Waters marina, on the south side of the spit.
“But we’d still need 15 minutes to get to the marina, and then 15 minutes to get the boat ready, and then a slow passage out through 4-knot Lamerough Canal,” he said.
The latest decision on dredging is also a blow to local boaties.
“The biggest test will come at Christmas, when the residents of Golden Beach and Pelican Waters want to take their boats to Caloundra like they usually do, for picnics on the beach,” Mr Pearce said.
But the conditions in the passage seem to be evolving all the time.
“So who knows what will happen in the long term,” he said.
“Many people said the northern island of Bribie would disappear but it’s holding pretty firm.”
Maritime Safety Queensland General Manager Kell Dillon said conditions were not stable in the passage and dredging could be essentially pointless.
“The ocean breakthrough at Bribie Island has resulted in a dynamic coastal system which is yet to establish equilibrium, particularly with changes in wave action following winter and ongoing South-East Queensland severe weather events,” he said.
“Any dredging carries a very high risk of sand re-filling the works in a very short time. “
“The area remains unpredictable and highly dynamic, with sand and water rapidly moving and reforming.
“We cannot second-guess those natural movements and based on this, no works are recommended until a clear understanding of the likely outcome is known.”
He said Maritime Safety Queensland and other state agencies, including the Department of Environment and Science, will continue to monitor the waterways and shoaling changes during the next six months, with aerial photography, satellite imagery and hydrographic surveys.
Mr Dillon said one of the possible scenarios was a deeper channel forming in the passage.
“There are a few potential outcomes with respect to the short and long-term changes in the passage and the old northern entrance,” he said.
“These will greatly influence waterway access in the passage and whether a deeper channel will form and stay open, connecting north and south.
Mr Dilllon said MSQ will continue to engage with the local Coast Guard to inform them of changing conditions.
Relief for canal users
Meanwhile, an emerging spit that caused some concern near Pelican Waters has now essentially cleared, ensuring boaties have access to open water.
Sand had been building up near the entrance to Lamerough Creek, which is the entryway to the suburb and its new multimillion-dollar marina.
But Mr Pearce said it was no longer threatening to get in the way of boaties.
“It has settled down,” he said.
“We’ve had some rain and it’s taken a fair bit of water out of Lamerough, which has taken that little spit away.
“So, there’s no impediment getting into Lamerough or getting out to sea.
“That’s a big relief for all of those people (around there).
“I was at the marina the other day, dropping a boat off, and it was an easy passage all the way in.”
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