Artificial reefs, one for North Wollongong beach?

[marcus]

Gday all
Just thought id share a thought with those that are interested.
ive been splitting my time between my home town of cronulla and my new home of 5 years at north wollongong.
what really gives me the willies, is surfing the reef at north wollongong and it just doesnt break properly, it has its good days when it can have either a good right into the lagoon, or a left into the beach, but these days are few and far between.
The reef there has holes all through it that make the wave slow and close out on itself without any thing for a surfer to drool about.
i got to thinking a while back that it may be a good idea to create an artificial reef out there, either from that slag rock that is in aundance at the steel works, or form used tires linked together.
even if a large barge dumped a whole lot of rocks in there it would be a better wave than it is now, as swell would shape the reef and move the rocks around.
I know there are alot of die hard north wollongong locals that love the place, and im not saying i dont like the place, it could just do with some help.
Imagine a reef splitting the wave into peeling lefts and rights and the outside bombora having a wave similar to sunset.
what do you all think, is it possible, and does anyone else feel it would be a good idea.
cheers
marcus

[goodo]

I tend to agree with you marcus.The reef hasnt had a good left for yonks.i remember when ew'd get those big cyclone nor east swells pushin onto the reef makin a big heaving take off with the water drawing off the reef pitching a big thick lip into the cungi covered super dry ledge then walling up allthe way down the line through 'the bowl' and kickin out half way to the club house.it just doesnt happen any more.then mid winter pure south swell 6-8ft fukin sunset peaks marchin in from the bombie before backin off in deep water.then jacking again when it felt the reef on the inside..before reeling down the line.bucklin up in front of seconds before kickin out way down the line past the creek.oh the memories...it will happen again..and when it does i'll b there.c u out there,i'll be the old bastard sittin deep with a smile on me dial.......

[Jamoe]

do they work but?

ive never heard of Narrowneck on the gold coast going off? or am i just out of the loop?

[streetdaddy]

the reef at narrowneck didn't do much for the waves from what I've seen, experienced and heard...

[dicko]

the narrowneck reef was more about protecting 'precious' real estate and the narrow stretch of beach then producing quality waves.

[streetdaddy]

Nevertheless during original construction it was purported to be improving the waves, however I've not seen any major improvement as a result...

[thermalben]

I suppose it depends on your interpretation of 'improving' the surf. As Dicko said, Narrowneck was originally intended to stop beach erosion, and this in itself has been quite successful. As to whether the surf has improved, well, this is debateable - although it has fallen under the original expectations, I've certainly seen some excellent waves off the reef in the last few months. And in times when the reef itself has not been working, there's been some great banks to the north and south of the reef - this could be attributed to the construction as well.

But then again, if you were expecting the construction of something like Kirra, Cathedral Rock or Summercloud, you were always going to be disappointed. In terms of global artificial reefs, Narrowneck actually gets a really good wrap - Chad Nelson (environmental director for the Surfrider Foundation) said "Then there's Narrowneck which is considered the grand success. That's the one that everyone sort of looks to".. (full text http://www.surfermag.com/oneworld/reefnelson ).

Cables (WA) is deemed a 'flop', and there's been plenty of very average reports on Pratte's Reef (in California) - check out the links below.

http://ruhooked.com/Features/ENVR_Pratt ... une01.html
http://www.surfrider.org/artificialreef ... _reefs.htm
http://www.elporto.com/pratts_reef/prat ... update.htm

[vidman]

talkin mans intervention with the surf, even if Narrowneck is a hoax what is the sand pumping from the tweed, I dont hear any complaints about the (superbank) at snapper! I say more experimentation.
This morning the banks are crap all over the place at W'gongs nth'n suburbs probably due to the racking of the beaches done 2 days ago, this beach cleaning method mows the banks flat that are created by the wind and swell action. Can't they move the sand around to create a good bank, I remember a few years ago when some enterprising locals at Maroubra dug out a channel with a bobcat at low tide.
The councils don't give surfing enough respect they only consider the tourist trade the beaches create and not those of us that use it all year round.
Gold Coast council should be encouraged for trying different methods of improving the surf, and for recognising surfers as a consumer. During the Billabong Pro $2 000 000 is spent by people (mostly surfers) that come to watch this event and surf the points.

[Bok]

I can't agree more with minor alterations to surf spots. There is nothing worse in knowing that if the bottom shape of a reef or sandbar was slightly deeper or shallower it would produce an easier take off or tube section instead of a close out.

In my experiance of surfing up and down the coast there are a number of beach breaks which surfers never even bother checking beceause we all know that these beaches will just be closing out. Some of the beaches that spring to mind are:
-Mollymook Beach
-northern tip reef at Bendalong Caravan Park
-Shellharbour north and south beaches
-the middle section of Palm Beach, Sydney
-the middle section of Seven Mile Beach - below Foster
-Elizabeth Beach

I believe that some kind of small rock, concrete, or tyre reef would have to provide more rideable waves than the current natural set up.

[Shari]

It's still almost impossible to determine what the long term effects are going to be when we start tampering with the coastline.

[vidman]

Man has been tampering with the coastline throughout the ages, sinking ships to create artificial reefs for diving, old tyres chained together for marine habitas, mowing sandbanks flat to remove rubbish, pumping sand to keep river mouths open.....harbour infrastructure!!! All I'm saying is IF we're going to mess with it we should do it in a way that benifits surfing not just to create trade for the council.

[Bigpete]

It interests me to hear that Cables is cosidered a flop. I haven't been back to WA for almost forty years but When I heard that they (whoever "they" are) were building an artificial reef at Cables to "improve" the surf I was appalled. Cables (the unimproved version) in my memory was the class wave in the Perth metro area. Mind, you had to wait for a decent swell. A breaking wave at Cables was the indicator that things were pumping. But it was a great break, thick, hollow, rights that we quite happily shared two or three guys all in th pocket. . It's a shame to hear that the engineers might have stuffed it up. I mean why not do something to improve that useless (in my memory) stretch in front of the dingo sign?
Ah well maybe I should get back West and check the old place out again.

IMHO if someone wants to build a good surf reef why not look at Terrigal or Umina / Ocean Beach.

[Ian M]

Wollongong Council did play God several years ago with a certain northern suburbs reef, when they razed the platform and dumped sand to make a so-called 'boat ramp' safer. There were protests, and some rocks were replaced but it shows that the local authorities are open to tampering with the coastline...
North Reef lefts used to be incredible and the rights were meaty, mean and makeable in winter. Both were reasonably consistent. Can't remember it being that good for a while tho. A good flood could help move a bit of sand thru the setup, hopefully patching the holes. Problem being the muck, scuzz and dregs that have accumulated since the huge '98 flood -which formed that interesting bommie for a while @200 metres out.
Alternatively what would happen if, in conjunction with careful planning and consultation, some of the sand dredged from the Lake Illawarra entrance (assuming a committed long-term plan is on the cards) could be transported the few k's up the coast and donated to the cause if a tyre setup etc were constructed?
Maybe the predicted El Nino/ El Nina cycle changeover will bring 11 years of sickness!

[vidman]

Yep, I live just up the road from that reef, it used to be my favourite spot until underground surf ran a photo in every issue and body boards became a majour problem, then they pulled out a heap of rock to improve the boat ramp... after all the protesting they decieded to dump the rock back in and its never been the same since.

[streetdaddy]

In terms of global artificial reefs, Narrowneck actually gets a really good wrap - Chad Nelson (environmental director for the Surfrider Foundation) said "Then there's Narrowneck which is considered the grand success. That's the one that everyone sort of looks to".. (full text http://www.surfermag.com/oneworld/reefnelson ).

But once again, it sounds like they're referring to the environmental successes rather that the creation of a better wave... So many more things make a good wave than just the ocean floor contours, will they ever be able to create anything A-class? Here's hoping...

[vb]

Haven't been up the north coast for yonks, but the couple of times I've visited trial Bay jail (South West Rocks) I got depressed looking at that breakwater off the point and thinking what a great right-hander might exist without it. Better still maybe, nuke the thing and there'd be plenty of rubble for an extensive "artificial'' reef .... cheers vb

[marcus]

hey i know about the boat ramp up at austi, and the spot nearby isnt exactly secret
growing up in cronulla there were bodyboarders coming down from cronulla back in mid 80s to 90s, so i dont see how a magasine that nobody reads has contributed to the crowds there,
and the reef up at austinmer was ok before the council changed it to make a boat ramp, what im saying is that the rocks at north wollongong which fom a reef of somesort hardly provide a wave at all.

to put it into perspective, think about all the soccer feilds and playgrounds councils provide all over australia, and the amount of money spent on those sports.
why cant waveriding sports get some of that pie?
if you actually succeeded making a nice reef, think about the dollars beinng brought into the area from travelling surfers.

theres a bombora type of reef i have surfed near shellharbour that seems to be made of dumped scrap steel.
the mind boggles at the opportunities that could arrise from carefull planning and engineering of these reefs.
cheers
marcus

[FatDad]

Hi fellow surf reef junkies,

being a founding member of the International Recreational Surfing Reef Committee and organisor for the Inaugeral International Surfing Reef Symposium (held in Manly before any "engineered" reefs were ever built), I can speak with some authority on this subject. In a nutshell:

> Cottesloe was a flop because there is no point in building a reef where there are no waves - location, location#!#!

> As some of you have pointed out, Narrowneck was a dual purpose "reef" - to protect beach amenity through creation of a salient, a non land-tied tombolo while providing a "world-class" surf break. Unfortunately, the former objective predominated, albeit also of limited success given public liability issues to keep the "reef" well below low tide level... This too affected wave quality, but primary factor was that the reef that was designed (which included model trials etc) could not be built. The design shape and particularly slope was simply not possible given the chosen construction materials for the reef (1.5m dia geotextile bags). A graded bolder structure was more surf freindly, but a political decision was made to allow removal of the structure and reduce potential for injury; affecting also constructed depth!

It is not that it cannot be done...,

Sad, but true! [img]D:\Documents and Settings\h46\My Documents\EDC\PHOTOS\Surfing\PeterCs\Naturally.BMP