A sustained dredging program of the Swansea Channel over the 2009-10 summer means that boats should have no problems coming up the coast and getting into the lake.
The dredging program, administered through the NSW Land and Property Management Authority, (LPMA) began in late September 2009, and is expected to conclude in April 2010.
As a result, approximately 40m to 50m wide channels will have been cut through two problem areas adjacent to Swan Bay and The Dropover into the lake itself.
At completion of the current work, these channels will provide 2.5 m to 3 m of water depth, depending on tides and weather conditions
A spokesperson from LPMA said that the behaviour of the channel upstream of Pelican is unpredictable and therefore it is difficult to predict navigation conditions this far out from the event.
However, the NSW Government through LPMA and NSW Maritime will continue with its monitoring program following the work. This program includes routine hydrographic surveys carried out approximately every four months by NSW Maritime.
The next NSW Maritime survey is due to be conducted on completion of the current project.
Now that the channel is wider, there is a much better prospect of 2 to 2.5m draft vessels being able to take part in this year’s event, said Shaun Lewicki, commodore of the Heaven Can Wait Yacht Club.
‘Previous monitoring of the channel has shown that, under worst-case conditions, the channel silts up at about 650 mm over 12 months,’ he said.
‘So with six months to go before this year’s event, we can be reasonably confident that boats with a draft up to 2.3 m should have no problems getting into the lake.’
Funds for ‘emergency dredging’ of the Swansea Channel were allocated in the NSW Government’s 2009 budget, and dredging started a few weeks before the 2009 Heaven Can Wait 24 hours charity race.
However, poor weather in that period meant that dredging could not be carried out to the hoped-for extent, and a number of boats planning to participate in the event decided not to risk the channel, Lewicki said.
‘We lost 10-15 boats who were planning on coming up for the 2009 event, but decided not to due to the state of the channel,’ he said.
‘A number of out-of-lake boats did come up, and some of these required assistance from the Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol (now Marine Rescue) Lake Macquarie in getting through the channel.
‘But now that the dredging program has been completed, and we are set to have adequate depths until well after the 2010 HCW in October, we are confident of having many more out-of-lake boats attending this year,’ said Lewicki.
‘In the next few weeks, the HCW YC will be writing to all sailing clubs in the greater Sydney area, from Broken Bay/Pittwater to Port Hacking, inviting them to attend this year’s race.
‘Last year, we raised nearly $23,000 for our charities, the NSW Cancer Council Hunter Division and the RVCP Lake Macquarie division, and we are looking at raising substantially more amounts this year.’
The HCW regatta, which is co-hosted by the Royal Motor Yacht Club Toronto, consists of a 24 hour race, in which yachts race around Lake Macquarie as many times as they can in 24 hours.
A ‘One Lap Dash’ race is held in conjunction with this (with the same start time and course) for those boats, skippers and crew who do not wish to sail a full 24 hour race.
source: Sail World, March 12, 2010
