After the recent cold fronts I noticed I could not see the Grumpynuts marker at the eastern end of Fangyland any more. I jumped on the sup went for a paddle to see where it had got to. I eventually found it and re installed as best I could. I will paddle out again with a mallet and try and drive it deeper. The marker is on the NORTH WESTERN side of the rock. That means you have clear water to the West and the North only, otherwise give the marker 4 metres clearance to be safe.

I also found a barnacle encrusted Wheelie Bin out a little deeper! There were lots of fun times as I tried to get all the black sludge out of it and get it up on to the sup to take ashore. It took a while, but I won in the end. Note to self - sharp barnacle encrusted bins and the board decks are not happy campers .grrr!

I ended up on my own little CleanUp Australia binge, and I went out for more. One scoop net and yet another piece of jetty was the final haul of dangerous debris. I also checked out the weedberg situation. At Wamba Rd there is a solid very large island. It was so thick I could walk on it! From there extending out and toward Nairns there are over one hundred bergs of varying sizes on the flats. There are very few bergs out wider than a virtual line joining the Rock Garden marker (at the western end) and Grumpynuts marker. Anywhere west of Wamba Road was also clear of bergs. Suffice to say, steep raked fins are the safest option now.

hooley doooley, I don't like the sound of bergs you can walk on Fangy, I though Pelicans were bad enough

Where is Grumpynuts anyway - did he ever come back from Christmas Island?

^^ what mike said.
Thats about 15 pelicans standing on two feet.
Thanks for the heads up and clean up Fangster.

Thanks Fangy for the clean up and yes they are some serious weedbergs ! I sailed through them over the weekend and they were manageable with a high rake fin at high speed but I wouldn't like to fall off into one as it could be hard to get away from the seriously thick weed.

How maqny fin marks in the wheelie bin?

Only teeth marks Decrepit...

Update on Grumpynuts marker. The marker still consists of two pieces of PVC pipe, a larger diameter section forms the base and a smaller diameter section the visible portion. I have taken a sledgehammer to the large diameter section and driven it much further into the ground to serve as a low water gauge.
It is set at approx +50cm tide. So this summer, if you are approaching the Grumpynuts marker from the Nairns end and you can see the thicker section of pipe above the water line, you do NOT have enough depth to sail safely into the inside of the flats.

Well done Fangy??What's the berg situation like now?

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Aus501 Boz said..
Well done Fangy??What's the berg situation like now?

Hey Boz the weed burg situation at Fangyland is; WEST of Wamba Road reaching around in an arc to Grumynuts is clear. Inside that arc is a minefield of sunk bergs that are only visible on low tides. The outer ones are solid and very hard to paddle a sup through! The weed burg hatchery up at the Boundary Island end is growing very well. As a rough guide to the state of last year's speed run: anywhere where there was thick weed last summer, is now totally barren and is a bare sand bottom.

Thanks Fangy, I'll try to stear clear this season, last time there were heaps at the sand patch and still managed to snap a RDM mast going over the front end even though I had a delta fin in??

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Aus501 Boz said..
Thanks Fangy, I'll try to stear clear this season...

That's an excellent idea Boz!

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fangman said..
Update on Grumpynuts marker. The marker still consists of two pieces of PVC pipe, a larger diameter section forms the base and a smaller diameter section the visible portion. I have taken a sledgehammer to the large diameter section and driven it much further into the ground to serve as a low water gauge.
It is set at approx +50cm tide. So this summer, if you are approaching the Grumpynuts marker from the Nairns end and you can see the thicker section of pipe above the water line, you do NOT have enough depth to sail safely into the inside of the flats.

It occurred to me that the Grumpynuts marker vs tide height could be a little more helpful. So re-write:
"..if you are approaching the Grumpynuts marker from the Nairns end and you can see the thicker section of pipe above the waterline, you have less than 30 cms (-1 foot-) of water depth when you are sailing over the shallowest section of the flats (namely the shallow sand patch nearby.)