What's with the new "no boating zones" at Hampton? Looks like we lost access to the main beach and will from now on be confined to the area between two northern rock groins.

According to ParksVic PDF circling around main Hampton beach is now swimming only? I have never seen so many swimmers there that they needed the whole beach. Are we still allowed to launch there, especially if there are no swimmers and beach goers (who generally disappear anyway when wind hits 20 knots)?

Has there been an incident to cause the new regulations? I have been windsurfing and now kiting at Hampton for 15 years and so far everyone managed to get along. Kiters and windsurfers generally launched from the northern half of the main beach.

I can imagine what its going to be like on a decent SW when we have 30 odd kiters all kiting between 2 rock groins.

Sandringham beach is the same. Whole beach is no boating zone.

Have KBV been included in the discussions with ParksVic? Seems like whoever came up with the zones has no idea about wind sports and prevailing wind conditions.

When I was there a few weeks ago a lady's kite went on top of a sun tanner and I had to run over and get it off her, not sure if that had anything to do with it. I have only been kiting at Hampton for a few months and was loving it... the bit that's marked as swim only was where I used to tac in and out on a s/w wind.

PaulVee said..

give this a try:

http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/478982/Elwood-to-Seaford-boating-swimming-zones.pdf

This has been in the making for about 4 years, it has just taken parks vic this long to actually put the no boating zone markers in. Not related to any recent incident.

Also correct that KBV and others where consulted and included in workshops but largely ignored. New markers have also been installed further down the coast including Edithvale. Aspendale markers where pulled out only to be reinstalled a little further out and about 20 north of the previous location

Also see sticky topic at the top of Vic forum...

Yeah, I'd like to echo the feeling of disappointment. It's a shame as the experienced local (and often, Port Phillip Bay tax paying) kiteboarders are those that are affected as a result of actions by others.

I like the idea of seasonal restrictions, or even something the life saving club can put out on busy days to say "No kiting/rigging in this area.".

It would be interesting to know how Parks Victoria plan on enforcing the new regulations.

If you take them literally and they expect kiteboarders and windsurfers to only use the designated areas then they are creating a dangerous situation. There will be crowding and the locations are not suitable for the purpose with hazards (signs and groynes and rocks etc) and limited escape routes (ie. no adjacent downwind beach at Hampton.)

If you take them as a lever to make people exercise discretion and caution then they're not so bad. You can ride out of the swimming area and keep your speed below 5 knots (not hard at all on a kite) and go nuts once you get out to sea. If you cause a nuisance and piss people off enough to report you then you'll get busted, as you should. If the beach is totally deserted then you can get away with hitting the waves on the inside.

On days with crowded beaches there's a chance you can launch in the wind sports zone and have some moral right to be there, although you still have to avoid causing a hazard to swimmers and beach goers.

One thing I am not happy with is the sign posts they are putting in the water to mark swimming zones. A rigid pole with a spikey sign is a potentially deadly hazard for a kiter. A rounded buoy is just as visible but you could survive an impact with it. Sure you're meant to be riding slowly and carefully when you're near one of the signs, but you don't deserve to die if you have and incident near one.

IIRC Parks Vic have the power to confiscate equipment.

I'm also curious to see how SHQ decide to handle this.

F THE ZONE if its 30 -40 ktns with waves and no person on the beach or in the water AS IT NORM , iam out there the world f crazY

vendeavours said..

F THE ZONE if its 30 -40 ktns with waves and no person on the beach or in the water AS IT NORM , iam out there the world f crazY

Asked a park ranger today re Hampton if out on extreme day as above He would only intervene if there was complaint but he said police may act ,,Need to ask the question. I think common sense will prevail Note Hampton is not the only area with concern

Parks Vic have advised via Twitter that new marker buoys and upgraded signage for Hampton shared wind sports zone will be installed in next few weeks.

Police were apparently there on Saturday checking out kiting - there were kiters right up near the Lifesaving Club.

Once new signage and buoys are in people could well get booked for doing the wrong thing.

Interesting comment from Sandrino about respective treatment of cyclists and kitesurfers in their environments....maybe if there were even MORE of us we could win some beach back ;-)

I am still a bit of a beginner, and preferred to use the northern end of Hampton beach, before the first groin, because the beach is wider so easy to rig/ launch/ land. I aimed to always stay a respectful distance north of the life-saving flags, so it is disappointing to note that some kiters with other views may not have helped our cause. However, I'm largely with lostinlondon....get a reasonable distance out from the beach and you can go where you like. Nobody is going to hold a tape measure to the 200m mark. In any case, it was only a matter of time before things became more formalised, although it will be interesting to see how things pan out. I would hope that some leniency will be applied for minor infractions, with bookings reserved for those who are fully ignorant, stupid or both

According to Windsurfing forum, water police are now enforcing the zones (2 guys warned and one guy fined at Dendy Street) so be careful where you kite, especially if there are swimmers in the water.

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Victoria/Parks-Vic-Boating-Regs-Port-Phillip-Bay/?page=2

Hi everyone. I have rung Parks about this and they tell me that the prime mover on this Swimming Only zone was Bayside Council.
You might want to put some pressure on the three local councillors for the area: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected].
The Director City Strategy is [email protected]

Please write and express your thoughts: one response has been that it must have been an executive decision not involving the councillors: my answer to that, is that Council should then mandate a change of policy to the executive.

I have EMailed them:
Hello I am writing to you as a resident of Beach Road (number 36, to the north of Hampton Lifesaving Club). I am ‘a senior’.

It is a lovely day: the sun is out and the water is calm.

In the past, I would have walked across the road and gone for a paddle on my ‘stand-up paddle board’. Unfortunately, this is now forbidden as Council has determined this to be a Swimmers Only beach. I thus am expected to load up the car and drive to a different area. Even a kayak is forbidden.

I find it quite extraordinary that I have to do this, as there is NO-ONE on our stretch of beach (or in the water) at the present time. Indeed, most of the day the beach is empty.

By way of background, what used to be a well-integrated beach with lots of shared activities in effect acting as a ‘Shared Wind Sport Area’ (which has a 5 knot speed limit within 50m of other vessels or swimmers), has now potentially been changed to an empty wasteland for the vast majority of the day. I am told by Parks Victoria that the area was designated like this in direct response Bayside City Council. Further detail is here www.parks.vic.gov.au/water-management/boating-and-swimming-zones

It used to be that passers-by could enjoy the spectacle here, of kites and windsurfers on the ‘wet and wild days’. These are to be banned, pushed downwind (and close to the underwater rocks opposite Orlando Street) to a dangerous area near the breakwaters. I have already seen two accidents where kites have been shredded there: this would not have happened if they could have launched in the normal wind-sports area to the north of the lifesaving club. It does not take much imagination to realise that there are not many beach users or swimmers on windy days. Furthermore in my 30-something years living in Bayside, I have never been aware of any conflict between swimmers and ‘vessels’ (other than PWC). This includes my time acting as a volunteer at a lifesaving club.

Council have stated that they aim ‘to improve the health and wellbeing of Baysiders’. Does this policy not include those on the water?

I wonder if you are aware of who made this very strange decision? I could possibly understand a limited ‘Swimmers Only’ area close to the lifesaving club (even though the club only patrols on about 50 days out of 365 and then only for part of the day) but surely it beggars belief to wipe out such a wide range of healthy activity from 600m of beach (Small Street to Orlando Street).

PS Parks say that SUP boards are OK under the new rules, but kayaks are forbidden. Blowed if I can work out the logic of that!

robinb said..

Hi everyone. I have rung Parks about this and they tell me that the prime mover on this Swimming Only zone was Bayside Council.

!

You should attend the Windsurfing Victoria Open meeting this Wednesday specifically arranged to discuss this issue and determine a course of action.

Sounds like you have valuable intelligence of the Parks Vic decision making process.

From the Windsurfing Vic forum on here:

Windsurfing Victoria will be hosting an open meeting with our fellow windsurfs and local stores to discuss the current PV changes, our concerns and propose a course of action with set tasks. The meeting will be held at the Sandy Hotel Wednesday the 26th Feb 2014 from 7pm. Some of us will be there around 6pm for dinner if you would like to join us before hand.

HighzaKite said..

robinb said..



Hi everyone. I have rung Parks about this and they tell me that the prime mover on this Swimming Only zone was Bayside Council.

You might want to put some pressure on the three local councillors for the area: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected].

The Director City Strategy is [email protected]





[/i]PS Parks say that SUP boards are OK under the new rules, but kayaks are forbidden. Blowed if I can work out the logic of that!

The logic of that is that Felicity Frederico ([email protected]) is a well known person on a SUP, all makes sense that the council was behind all of this (and hence lack of consultation). they want to keep their high ratepaying parents with kids in nippers content. By the way the best way to upset the council is through the local leader they love stories where the council stuffs up.

Forgive my ignorance, but I thought that 'Swimming only' meant 'Swimming only'. At least it does if you read PV's own guidelines and definitions (unless I have misunderstood?). How is it, then, that SUP are allowed and not a kayak? is the only difference standing up vs. sitting down? It would seem that an exception has been made for reasons which we are left to work out? Happy to eat humble pie if someone can advise that the rules mean otherwise...

That aside, I would be happy to see the new demarcation pole at the north end of Hampton beach simply moved a short way south, towards the life saving club. I don't think that would be asking for too much....it would be to simply formalise what was previously accepted as a sensible working compromise between windsports and swimmers. I have yet to see any swimmer making 600m lengths running parallel to the beach (and therefore warrant the whole of Hampton beach off limits for wind-sports). No problem with the nippers having their spot between the flags...or from the life saving club to the southern groin. do they also need the whole beach?

The only time I have seen an element of risk was when I came across a swimmer in 20+ knots at the north end of the beach, right amongst the kite and wind surfers - desite the southern end of the beach being empty.....I mean...HELLO! No damage was done though, everybody still avoided each other and I didn't see any arguments. Demarcation between zones is sensible, but it doesn't have to mean that priority needs to be unfairly weighted towards any particular group. Especially given significant evidence of what were accepted and working arrangements between users.

I am not familair with other beaches, but reading the forum I can see significant concern from many people regarding almost every change PV plans to enforce. What is good is that the concerns and challenges to the changes are more than emotive, or simply resisting change for the sake of it. I can see some sound and reasonable arguments why the new arrangements are either impractical or unsafe (in some cases to swimmers as well as windsports) - such as 'no rigging area on the beach', 'no safety zone for beginners who might get blown downwind', 'swimming zone right next to Elwood's sewerage outlet', etc. I agree we need to maintain this very objective approach to further the debate and (hopefully) get meaningful consideration for a more reasonable outcome.

See you Weds...

and a kayak can?

'nuff said!