Tweed bar death fears

Andrew MacDonald | April 6th, 2010


A SPATE of boat rollovers in the treacherous Tweed River bar has left veteran local boaties fearing a fatality, as sand build-up and inexperienced boaties form a volatile mix.
NSW Maritime yesterday confirmed it was investigating the capsizing of three separate vessels during bar crossings in the past fortnight -- almost half of the eight rollovers reported to Volunteer Marine Rescue in the past 12 months.
Yesterday, an incident during which the occupants of a speedboat were thrown into the water about 100m from the Tweed River mouth was referred to authorities amid allegations the vessel may have been 'wave hopping' -- a dangerous practice which can incur a fine.
A NSW Maritime spokeswoman said the skipper said he was 'having a look' at the bar when the boat was struck by a rogue wave about 9am.
Local fishing professionals and rescue volunteers said the recent rollover problem was caused in part by a build-up of sand near the southern and northern walls of the bar -- which has not been dredged since September 2008.
The river mouth is also serviced by the Fingal pumping jetty which only operates sporadically amid concerns about sand build-up on the southern Gold Coast's surf breaks.
John Ede, of Reel Fish'n' Charters said the sand build-up and the inexperience of some boaties was a recipe for disaster.
"When you look at all the recent incidents, it's people in small boats who don't have much experience out there," said Mr Ede, who did not operate any charters over the potentially-lucrative Easter weekend amid concerns about conditions.
"If a boat goes upside down and someone is caught underneath, they drown -- all it takes is a knock to the head and someone is gone."
Mr Ede said the river mouth desperately needed dredging before another serious incident.



"The Tweed is one of the fastest growing ports on the eastern seaboard and we've got a massive influx of inexperienced people getting boats and going out to sea," he said.
"It's ludicrous what they're doing."
Point Danger VMR chief controller Carmel Jones said most of the recent problems had been caused by a build-up of sand near the bar's northern wall.
"That's only happened in the last couple of months," she said.
The website of the Tweed River Entrance Sand Bypassing Project, run by the NSW and Queensland governments, indicates there are no plans to dredge the river mouth.


Gold Coast News bulletin