Page 24 - Bush 'n Beach Fishing mag

ONavigation aids in Moreton Bay updated
CCASIONAL- fully stay on the plane commercial vessel op- LY it’s neces- through there, provid- erators who traverse the sary to make a ing we remain within Rous Channel.
Offshore
by BILL CORTEN
bit of noise to get a job the easy to read marked Getting the informa-
done, and that is exactly what happened with the recent upgrade of the navigation buoys in the Rous Channel.
Marine Parks because without their input and assistance in the pro- cess, the boating com- munity would not have received such a good outcome.
This is a massive game changer – the marked channel defines an area where a natural channel formed, previ- ously declared as a go- slow turtle and dugong protection area.
boundaries on both sides of this channel.
tion out there is not quite so easy, and no doubt there will be eventual upgrades to electronic charts avail- able from the various manufacturers.
After a concerted ef- fort with multi-agency support, the upgrade finally took place and the outcome has been considerably better than many people an- ticipated.
Outside the whole of the new marked channel is still a go-slow area.
The biggest problem with the Rous is the sandbanks are mobile, and it is an area that requires programming flexibility and vigi- lance to maintain safe navigation marks.
As important is now an additional channel is clearly marked with red and green buoys, which cuts out the long tortu- ous horseshoe bend in the Rous and provides a relatively straight line.
As the new channel is greater than 2m deep at low tide, the mark- ing of its boundaries with both green and red buoys was strongly sup- ported and insisted on by Marine Parks in the multi-agency process.
No doubt, there will be a need for tweaking the location of a few of the buoys over time, but it goes to demonstrate what can be achieved when there is a multi- agency approach and a determined drive to get the job done.
Or you can do what I did recently – go for a run through the ar- ea and mark all of the buoys in both channels as waypoints (using red and green icons, which I keep exclusively for marking navigation aids to prevent any con- fusion).
Sadly, that had been lacking for well over a year and the delayed re- sponse was not a COV- ID issue.
This links the western end of the Rous Chan- nel near the junction with the Little Ships Channel to the exist- ing green buoys at the eastern end of the Rous.
We can now all law-
It is a big bonus for recreational and small
Safe boating as we wind down to Christ- mas.
However, let’s give credit to Maritime Safety Queensland in recognition of the good job they have done.
The first item of im- portance to readers is that the Rous Chan- nel itself is now well marked, and for the time being the naviga- tion aids are accurate – given the changing na- ture of the sandbanks.
It provides far more direct access to Amity and South Passage Bar, and now there is less risk of grounding on the sandbanks within the horseshoe area of the Rous.
This latter comment is critical for skippers to comply with, as be- ing able to stay on the plane in the new chan- nel is a major conces- sion, granted to all of us in a sensitive area of the Marine Park.
There are notices to mariners with latitude and longitude locations on MSQ’s website msq. qld.gov.au
Visit msq.qld.gov.au
Also, a big thanks to
Shop 4, 127 Colburn Ave
VICTORIA POINT
07 3820 9757
Page 24 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, December 2020
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