Boat Hits and Seriously Injures Surfer at Currumbin Alley

[the gecko]

Ive taken a boat thru it, and Ive surfed it too. I used to live up the road from it. the 2 dont mix, but you cant ban anything unless you can police it every day from 6am.....You will never stop the surfers from taking risks.

Such a shame. theres no easy answer to this. The Seaway is also just a matter of time.

Andrew

[trymyluck]

You can't ban surfing there though

Why not?
You can't ride a board in between the patrolled flags so why not just put two flags up on either side of the bar.
If something drastic does not happen this type of tragedy will occur with increasing frequency.

I agree Scott, if we were skateboarding on the highway they soon throw the book at us...............Feel for the skipper and the surfers family.

[Jackinthebox]

There is no clear cut solution because the bar is part of the surf break and the waves go from Currumbin Rock, across the bar and then onto the area called Laceys. I grew up surfing the alley so can see both sides of it.

Sometimes you have to travel through parts of the bar where there are more surfers due to the changing sandbanks that are too shallow to cross.

Dunno what the solution is. I can think of one thing the authorities might do similar to another bar/surf break in the region but I am not going to say it on here.

Mick.

[hellfish]

Very sad news indeed but like others have said it was only a matter of time befoer an accident like this occured. Will be interesting to learn the details of how it occured. I know nearly every time i have gone out currumbin i have had close calls coming back in. In a big tiller steer tinny on the back a wave and the surfers will paddle strait in front of you. Next thing you are on top of them befor you know it. Its like overtaking a truck on the lefthand side and being surprised when you get merged on! I dont get the mentality of the guys who do that. You are not going to come off good against a boat or a truck as today has shown so why do it?

[aussiefool]

Yes a very sad day today for both the surfer and skipper. I too have had a couple of near misses on the bar there, once while watching a person walking with his board I fell off the back of the wave that I was sitting on and came so close to flipping that it was not funny, and got abused by the surfer for good luck. The other time the surfer looked like he wanted to play chicken with me just to catch a wave after I was committed to crossing the bar on the way back in.

[goat boy]

and so it begins
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/...oast-news.html
I don't reckon anything will change. The boatie might not be charged either, cyclists get hit and killed by motorists and no charges are laid sometimes depending on circumstances. In this case the boatie has credible back up from VMR staff.

[PADDLES]

are the rules for boats the same as for jet skis? ie. not within 200m of swimmers.

it's a tough call, but at the end of the day it'll be ruled as the skipper's responsibility to not run someone over. it'll be deemed that a boat under power is a lot more manouvreable than someone paddling a surfboard. i think i know too what will come of this, and it won't be favourable for boaties i don't reckon.

[Noelm]

I have seen this first hand, a good mate of mine ran over a spearfisherman almost a Klm from shore, no divers flag, nothing, the diver was very seriously injured, but my mate was charged and sued for a lot of money, regardless of the circumstances, it all comes down to a "safe speed" and a "proper lookout" all fully covered in the rule book! how that is interpreted by the courts is almost always not in favour of the boat driver.

[fat-buoy]

Point here is safe speed... the skipper has to maintain a safe speed.. in a bar that speed has to be enough to make it past the oncoming waves safely.. coming in is dictated by the speed of the wave as you sit on the back of it... was the boat going out or coming in? Either way there is a huge responsibility on the surfer to keep a watch out for the boat also... the boats don't just sneak up on the waves, it is usually a calculated and deliberate moment to put a boat through the waves, and even then there is bugger all ability to change course to any great extent... if a surfer then decides to cut in front or whatever and puts himself in danger then so be it..

My son surfs and I boat.. I would hate to think of the consequence if the two should ever meet on the water.. I would doubt it very much though as I think he is smart enough not to drop in on a boat.

[FishHunter]

To me it seems very simple, Vehicles hurt you when they hit you so it behooves you to stay out of the way. If you dont and you get hurt its your problem.

My only sympathy is to the boatie who is going to be pilloried as in modern society its always someone else s fault

[Noelm]

I think that is a tad harsh, it was an accident, accidents happen all the time for various reasons, we must feel sympathy for the people involved, regardless of who did what or why.

[PADDLES]

absolutely right noel, the poor bloke who was skipper will have to live with this for the rest of his life, and yeah, it would appear it was a complete accident.

[PinHead]

To me it seems very simple, Vehicles hurt you when they hit you so it behooves you to stay out of the way. If you dont and you get hurt its your problem.

My only sympathy is to the boatie who is going to be pilloried as in modern society its always someone else s fault

what a disgusting comment..there are 2 kids today who do not have a dad.

My sympathies to all involved in this tragic incident.

I would wait for the authorities report o nthis before making any comment on fault or anything else along those lines.

[business class]

Ive crossed this Bar hundreds of times and sad to say but this has been coming for a long time . Im not sure where this guy will stand with laws as we have to remember this is not known as a NAVITABLE bar. Ive had a couple of near misses myself even to one point one fell of just infront of us to where we were lucky to miss her. I feel for the both parties involded as it would be devistating for both involved. There is going to be alot said now about the popular bar im just not sure what they can or will do. The only way to fix it IMO is to dredge out north of the bar rock wall, add another rock wall and turn it into a navitable bar as dredgeing wont work as now seen for the 10th year in a row. the reason for this is because there is apparantly large rocks not too far below the ocean floor where they dredge. Hopefully they can come up with something to fix this issue as no one no matter if your a surfer or a boatie wants this to happen again. what a sad mothers day for these families.

[Jabiru658]

are the rules for boats the same as for jet skis? ie. not within 200m of swimmers.

Yes but this was a surfer and not a swimmer, a surf board is in effect a (hand) paddled boat I suspect.