Woy Woy channel 'worse than halftide rocks'

The entrance to the Woy Woy channel between Lions Park, Woy Woy, and Pelican Island, is getting so shallow that it is becoming a hazard for both commercial and recreational craft.

Central Coast Ferries captain Mr Daniel Rond said: "It is getting to the point where the ferry has to cross to the left-hand side or we run aground between half tide and low tide.

"I passed a sail boat one day with a 1.7 metre draft with its keel out that was hard and fast aground and the sailor was scratching his head because he had followed the channel markers," Mr Rond said.

"It is worse than Half Tide rocks," he said, referring to the narrow and shallow channel at the entrance to Brisbane Water from Broken Bay.

"At Woy Woy the mud and sand on the eastern side of Pelican Island has moved across into the middle of the channel.

"I call it the Kendall channel because the only reason it remains navigable is between half and low tide the Lady Kendall, which draws 2.2 metre, drags herself across the mud and is basically being a dredge.

"When the Lady Kendall goes to Brisbane for her annual service the channel becomes very shallow and I would say if she stopped running after about a year we would not be able to use the channel and that would mean the Brisbane Water ferry service would stop.

"It needs to be permanently dredged.

"It is also narrow - the channel at Half Tide Rocks is approximately 10 to 12 metres in width but at Woy Woy it is down to between two and three metres between half and low tide.

"Our ferry has a 5.1 metre beam and if we don't go straight down the guts of the channel, if we deviate two or three metres to the right, the right hand side of our boat will hit the mud.

"The Woy Woy channel is a four knot zone but the RMS doesn't want to acknowledge it is worse than Half Tide Rocks," he said.

Interview, 2 Mar 2017

Daniel Rond, Central Coast Ferries

Reporter: Jackie Pearson