Old Salty said..

Smithy in 2008 the then committee of WV where aware of the consultation process going on. The information I was given on the discussion at the time was that if "Windsurfers behaved themselves they could fly under the radar and it would not be an issue".

How bazaar when you look at the agenda from my previous post that clearly show that both kites and sailboards were the focus.

Old Salty said..

Sorry Smithy I have edited my comments to make it a little less confusing

Probably more confusing, at the 2 workshops I attended, which by the way were facilitated by a private consulting firm, there was no inference that would be the case. It sounds more like the opinion of an individual and not that of Parks Vic.

Please don't get me wrong I am as passionate about this issue as everyone else is (now) just frustrated that when I was attending meetings in 2008 representing the interests of KBV officially and sailboarders unofficially, I still do both, the silence from the masses of both sports was deafening. When action was really needed with the best chance of driving change only a handful of people were there.

The funny thing is I remember sitting in the workshop at Carrum and the rep from the jet ski assoc was sitting back in his seat with a big grin on his face basking in the fact that the focus was on someone else for a change...

Edit, sorry just noticed how confused and frustrated my avatar is...

Old Salty said..

Drift will correct me but I think at Invy they quoted in the $10000 of dollars to move a no boating pole.

Yep...
I have to agree with Smithy in terms of the fact that this info has been around for a long time....and that 3 years ago there weren't many voices arching up...this stuff has been legislated, gazetted in a notice to mariners, and printed and released. Any changes will mean that it has to go through those processes again and someone somewhere will have to foot the bill.

It may or may not be relevant, but we have been through the process.
In our case, in 2009-2010 there was a strong proposal to ban jetskis on Anderson Inlet. On investigation, we became aware that the law didn't distinguish between types of vessels ( eg jetskis, motor boats, windsurfer, kayaks, SUPs) and so therefore, a ban on jetskis would also mean a ban on windsurfing.

As a committee, we developed a strategy with the following key points:

1) We had a 30 year history of windsurfing on the Inlet
2) We had rate paying residents who not only windsurfed, but had moved to live and work in the local community
2) We had an impeccable record in terms of injury/ accidents (2 recorded incidents in 30 years)
3) Our sport was predominantly "invisible" to most of the public- we were really only on the beach when no one else is around, and finally
(and critically)
4) Members of our club were experienced water users and as part of membership complied with our Code of Conduct relating to respect for other water users.

These points were drummed home through a local media strategy, as well as face to face meeting with key stake holders.

After 2 years of discussions with Gippsland Ports, we were able to have the Anderson Inlet Vessel Operating Zone Regulations (VOZR) changed to recognise and accomodate windsurfing. Not an easy process by any stretch, but we had the support of the local yacht club, the angling club, surf life saving and most importantly, the local business association and a recognised state sporting association- in this case-Yachting Vic.


During the discussion, we requested a marker be moved at Area 45 so we could continue to sail the mud banks. The price G Ports quoted was over 10k for a mark with channel lighting, and about 5k for a fixed pylon marker. We had worked hard to develop a strong relationship with Gippsland Ports, and they generously offered to include the marker re positioning in their maintenance schedule.

Interesting discussion. I have been windsurfing for about 30 years, but I was in a lay off period in 2008. I only discovered Seabreeze about 2 years ago. If I had been active back then and known about it, I would have kicked up a stink.

I've got to say, I wonder what difference we can make now. There aren't many of us windsurfers relative to kite surfers. They seem to have got what they wanted. Why are they going to listen to us now when the 'consultation' was held in 2008?

Another windsurfer pinged Friday night at Dendy St.

Old Salty said...
Another windsurfer pinged Friday night at Dendy St.

Doug, who was it? I'd be keen to have a chat to them and find out what the police had to say.

Unsure of name - told by a third party. Word was police waited for an hour for the guy to come in as he was consistently sailing into the non swimming zone and back out again

Managed to break my boom today several hundred metres off Elwood. After swimming for about 20 minutes, the boys at Elwood LSC must have taken pity on me and came out in their zodiac to give me a hand. Back on the beach I took the opportunity to have a chat to several of the guys about the new swimming zone. Turns out they are about as happy as we are. They were never consulted about the size of the new swimming zone and admitted they are unable to adequately monitor the entire area. They would be more than happy to have the poles moved, or as suggested by someone at the meeting on Wed, a new pair of markers within the existing poles that would mark the perimeter of a smaller ?swimming only? area. If we work closely with these guys, I?m sure we?ll have a much higher chance of actually getting something done here.

Afterwards, I was sitting on the beach (watching all the non-broken boom b@stards enjoying their sailing) noting quite a few individuals sailing deep into the swimming zone. Given we may be working very closely with the Elwood LSC on this issue, I would suggest everyone do their best to keep out of the swimming zone. Not going to help if we p!ss them off.

Smithy said..

Surf Life Saving Victoria were part of the 2008 workshops. The clubbies are not expected patrol the entire no boating areas but still just required to put their flags out for the patrolled area as they always have. Just as those do where there have been existing no boating poles.

Threads like this become a pain in the arse, people who haven't followed it from the start either just read the start then add their post at the end or jump to the end.trHalf the relevant information included is just getting lost.

Were you even at the meeting?? One of the main courses of action decided was to approach the life saving clubs and gauge their attitude. I did that today and thought others would be interested. I don't give a crap whether they were at the 2008 workshops. We're trying to formulate a course of action that will improve the very poor situation we find ourselves in now. Dwelling on who was or who wasn't at a meeting six years ago will not achieve that.

Anyone know who is calling the police? This will be our lead into what people we need to engage and educate.

Good luck everyone

I hope your efforts are well rewarded and windsurfing within the bay can not only continue but thrive.


Keep up the great work!!!!

I think the icebergers are pretty good bunch. The Herald Sun article is a feel good article

Be careful with names, emails and numbers on here. Mps and councillors different but this is a private individual.
He'll be getting so much spam that he won't have time to talk to us....

ginger pom said..

Be careful with names, emails and numbers on here. Mps and councillors different but this is a private individual.
He'll be getting so much spam that he won't have time to talk to us....

This info is freely available to all on the ELSC website via the "Contact Us" link.

That's right Smithy - a structured and unified approach is the right way forward, hence why I'm trying to get the volunteers all on google groups. There, we can table the approach, have all the members able to view and add their bits, and set about a working group in a coordinated manner.

Rather than lengthy emails to and from over this, an online format will speed things up and allow for great discussion and action. Unfortunately, I don't think these forums are suitable for this as we need to be able to upload and share documents in a private manner.

As this needs to be a club approach, and club represented, just waiting on WV's approval to do so. I have emailed them to see what they think.


PS - I was reading the kite forums discussions about how the windsurfers are organized and doing something about this - lets prove them right!