So How about it lads,

With the swell pumping over the last few days and the crowd factor out of control and only getting worse.
It got me thinkin.

How many of you would be prepared to pay a few bucks to see some more man made reefs ( like the one at Narrow Neck on the Goldy ) around the place??
Could be something like local councils funding it with a $5 levy to all visitors or what ever. Jesus most councils sting you more than this for a few hours parking.

Or the Big Boy's in the industry helping fund it and give something back instead of just counting there cash.

Could be something like $10 bucks from every board sold or 1 dollar from every block of wax, or the likes.
Or some thing in All Surf Shops ask you, like in BCF stores where you can make a Coast Guard donation.

With reports of over 2 million people in OZ that surf, Shouldn't take to long to get super good breaks with crowd numbers a little more spread out around this great land of ours.

Thoughts??

I'd shell out some coin for a wavepool Lock mate .... that'll take some Metros out of the equation

There are massive problems with creating long lasting man made reefs for surfing Locky unfortunately. The main issue is that in a relatively short space of time the made made effort is swallowed by the surrounding sediment and its shape and the depth that it was installed at are compromised. Narrowneck is a classic example of this. When used in the right situation and normally with a variety of other soft or hard engineering solutions they can be very effective at managing erosion and other issues. One day I am hoping we can get this right but for now our dreams are best focussed on Greg Webber in my humble opinion

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Ted the Kiwi said..

There are massive problems with creating long lasting man made reefs for surfing Locky unfortunately. The main issue is that in a relatively short space of time the made made effort is swallowed by the surrounding sediment and its shape and the depth that it was installed at are compromised. Narrowneck is a classic example of this. When used in the right situation and normally with a variety of other soft or hard engineering solutions they can be very effective at managing erosion and other issues. One day I am hoping we can get this right but for now our dreams are best focussed on Greg Webber in my humble opinion

I am hearing what you are saying Ted. More R&D needed here for sure,

My thoughts were if you put enough of them down hopefully some would work at different times of year??

Say if there was 15 or so at various places along the goldy, there might be 4 or 5 working at any 1 time during the year.
Same on the Sunny coast.
Just sharing my thoughts,
Personally I'd prefer to still hit the beach and get the sand between my toes and my salt water fix, instead of waiting in line beside a concrete pool for my turn.

absolutely beach any day for sure but the Metrohipsters will flock to the crete sweet

great idea locky
we talk about it all the time up here.
+ great fish structure.

I've just shelled out $3k for 10 days of uncrowded waves in PNG at Chrissy. Same thing I guess.

Bring it on.

Great Idea.
What if we take it further? Every sport in Australia gets some type of funding, either indirectly, provision of sporting grounds and facilities or directly, Institute of Sport or similar. It seems odd to me, that Councils and State Governments provide funding to almost all sports, but provide nothing toward a high participation sport like surfing, that I'm aware of. Considering we produce some of the best in the world, I think we have an argument!
But let's solve two problems at the same time. I read a report, I think on this web site, about using artificial reefs to stop the erosion of city beaches. The report was about the Cronulla area in Sydney, but would be functional almost everywhere.
By placing a series of reefs along an open stretch of beach, the wave energy was reduced prior to it reaching the shore.
Maybe we have an opportunity to save the coastlines, at the same time as setting up some nice A-frames.
Needs some thought, but hey!!

Sandy I work in space and can advise you that there is some significant work going on at the moment. The main constraint is one of where the state govt actually sits with regard to the protection of the coastline. You are probably aware of the issues surrounding places like Old Bar and Belongil. There are several other spots that also require some attention. There is presently a review going on regarding coastal reform. The present govt is looking to transfer more decision-making authority back to regional and local spheres of government - a traditional liberal government ideology. This means that local Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plans will need to be developed and implemented by councils. Where the govt boundaries span the natural coastal system then these will become subsets of a bigger regional plan. There are many historical problems that have remained unsolved - Labour was more focussed on the do nothing approach or as they termed it planned retreat. The climate change debate moved the focus from the current threats affecting the beaches to longer term challenges faced by sea level rise - and so little has been done in recent times to address these current threats. This is my bug bear. We are yet to see significant change under the Libs but it will come. One of the most important issues that needs to be resolved is what a formal mechanism for resolving local conflicts (normally between the greens and landowners) will look like. The present situation of landowners suing the local council is hardly a model for the future!! Then we need to consider what the funding mechanisms for resolving these problems will look like. I firmly believe that there are soft and hard engineering solutions that can be adopted (and artificial reefs are one of these tools) to help solve the threats that we currently face and have written extensively on this. PM me if you want me to send you some of this.

Yeah I probably would but I found a better solution...move somewhere cold...seriously if Kirra was in Vicco you wouldn't have half the crowd problems....especially on the mornings that the temp starts with a minus sign

Yep for sure..

Patience is a virtue!

Even Bob McTavish suggests that's it's not a great time/era to start surfing, due to the crowds/popularity...

I'm with Tux.... I can't wait for winter. First light and cold = surfing on my own!

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Simondo said..

Patience is a virtue!

Even Bob McTavish suggests that's it's not a great time/era to start surfing, due to the crowds/popularity...

Well tell him to stop selling boards to all the old boys then. That would reduce mid week crowds at my joint by half

Would I pay $$ for man made reefs? Absolutely!

In fact, the crowd was so bad Saturday at my local, that I offered to buy everyone breakfast if they'd **** off and let me get some waves to myself for an hour!

I can think of a few places in WA that just need the gaps (holes) filled, we've been talking about it since the 80's...hell yeah, I'd be all for it. More the merrier

Sorry it was easier to snap an image to share

Hope it works jb,as narrowneck is a hoax

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chrispy said..
Hope it works jb,as narrowneck is a hoax

Have to agree with Chrispy here JB, a lot of time and money was spent at Narrowneck for absolutely no gain in a surfing sense. This reef had a dual purpose part of which was foreshore protection. This has worked to a degree but the surf side is a dud.

I have worked in Civil Engineering all my life and have been involved with a fair amount of Maritime work. My opinion is leave it alone. I am not aware of any place on the Oz coast that has benefitted from us fiddling with it. breakwaters are a good example.

Perhaps if Engineering science can come up with something definite in the future it may be a goer at this time there is no positives out there.

Good thoughts for sure I just don't think the knowledge is anywhere near good enough yet.

Just my thoughts.

ET.

The best way is to make surfing just so uncool ........ Turn the surfing fashion control off.......

All people wishing to continue surfing should model them selves on cptn good vibes .

Get rid of the sporty, healthy hipster lifestyle image .

Parents will then push there offspring onto the tennis court instead .


The funny thing is , I don't think I'm joking

Not much good for me all the way down there. But the local groms could do with a decent break in town before they get their drivers license & score heaps of uncrowded epic cold sharky waves.

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E T said..

chrispy said..
Hope it works jb,as narrowneck is a hoax

Have to agree with Chrispy here JB, a lot of time and money was spent at Narrowneck for absolutely no gain in a surfing sense. This reef had a dual purpose part of which was foreshore protection. This has worked to a degree but the surf side is a dud.

I have worked in Civil Engineering all my life and have been involved with a fair amount of Maritime work. My opinion is leave it alone. I am not aware of any place on the Oz coast that has benefitted from us fiddling with it. breakwaters are a good example.

Perhaps if Engineering science can come up with something definite in the future it may be a goer at this time there is no positives out there.

Good thoughts for sure I just don't think the knowledge is anywhere near good enough yet.

Just my thoughts.

ET.

Yeah i agree in part with leaving stuff alone. The problem is they after have already started and sometimes a fix is needed. Middleton Beach in Albany is just one spot i think would benefit and work well. Only really because of the location and direction when the swell is on. I will say though i have no idea on the science so i can only say it would be cool if it worked




In the top of screen is a small inlet called Emu point that they have already started to have issues thanks to rock walls and channel dredging, now they are suffering erosion along the top end of Middleton Beach. Right in the centre of the beach is a heavy weed bed that when big storms shift the sand around it you get a nice wave in the centre. I just thought something just out from that could be ideal, especially as the swell needs to work from a specific direction thanks to the geography of the bay..

Many of the surf breaks in the area are very isolated as Mick pointed out and something close to town would really help locals including business IMHO..

Also i should say our family beach home looks directly over Middleton beach, so would be ideal for me on holidays

Hey JB - did you see this ?

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Ted the Kiwi said..
Hey JB - did you see this ?

I had seen it but hadn't watched it. Just did and its one tough camera..Did i miss something else