My boat is kept on a trailer in New Beach Road, Darling Point from where I launch it at a public pontoon across the park.

This morning at 11.50am (according to neighbours) a tow truck appeared displaying no signage and said he was "contracted to impound the boat" but I had received no notification. When I contacted Woollahra Council they told me they knew nothing about it. I also contacted their tow contract or who also said they knew nothing about it.

I know the the new legislation on boat trailers on roads has recently come in and Woollahra Council are one of the test areas but according to the act, they are supposed to make every effort to contact the owner and issue a 15 day notice.
www.olg.nsw.gov.au/public/about-councils/laws-and-regulations/boat-trailers-declared-areas/

I have received no notice and there was nothing on the boat or trailer yesterday afternoon.

I have reported it as stolen to the police and written to Woollahra Council - anyone got any other ideas?

Im sorry to hear this. Unfortunately that area is full of opportunity for **** bags.
Last year in daylight a rental truck stole all the dinghies from rose bay....

Sailing dinghys have very little resale value.

Definitely agree nothing that can justify stealing.
The boat in question is/was on a street no where near the owners residence and just happens to be one of the few "free" parking positions on the waterfront at Rushcutters Bay. Even the backpackers are told to move on in no uncertain terms if they try to park there overnight.
My question would be how would the insurance company act if a claim was made? Thou would punt that it was impounded as is blatantly in violation of the boat trailer legislation linked above.

Gee I am glad I live in Bundaberg.

Things exactly like this are the reason i bought a house out of sydney. Full of money grabbing dickheads.
Was at a friend's parents for dinner the other day in kensington. They own a 4 mill home with double garage and room for 3 cars in driveway. They park 2 of their 5 cars on the street and they purposly use up 2 spots outside their house as they dont want anyone else to park there. These people are in their 60s and this attitude totally sucks!! Mememememeememememe

Get one of these .... www.trektransponder.com.au/ if you boat comes off its mooring in a blow or someone tries to move or nick your trailer boat you will know, and know where it actually is, even if it is a greedy council.

twodogs1969 said..

Easy pay for a storage unit

The nearest place for a storage unit is Alexandria and I'd have to rent a car every time I want to use it. The only way to get a tow car on short term rental is to rent a Ute from Bunnings, Alexandria which means a 25 min trip before you start, then get to the storage unit, take it to a launch site (e.g. Woollarah SC in Rose Bay) and then reverse the process after.

Currently I use the eBike to get to the boat which is 5 mins away, next to my sailing club (RANSA) and near the pontoon I launch from.

For someone like you that doesnt have a car, are you a member of goget??
Goget have utes with towbars, vans, people movers, normal cars and i even saw a convertible goget in north sydney the other day.
THey have literally thousands of cars.
You pay per hour or daily. cost of renting a ute for 2 hours is $16. When i had my hobie, id rent the ute, grab the hobie, drive it to rose bay, return the ute or hang on to it whist sailing.

This sort of behavoiur by these government departments, councils etc is making this town un-livable in my opinion.

Rant Warning!!!

Opal Cards. What a joke. for someone like me who rarely uses public transport, ive found myself stuck recently as i couldnt even buy a ticket with money and was refused to get on a bus. Had to get a taxi. I tried to top up my account online the night before but couldnt remember my password so opal blocked my account and asked me to call them biz hours mon - fri...Ahhhh but i need a bus now??? theres no room for being spontaneous and catching a train or bus. you just cant. well you can but you might cop a fine for not having a ticket.

Tolls....Recently ran out of $ in my account. RMS cancelled my etag. Tried to top it up the other night. couldnt. Gotta ring RMS between biz hours mon - fri....so now im to receive a bunch of extra charges when the letters come in the mail.

Cops on trains. Hassling everyone for tickets. rude & stupid sometimes with drug dogs. total harrassment. Nothing against the cops. theyre just puppets doing as theyre told.

Councils. Changing rules, fining people soooo much for sooo little. The amount these fines are is criminal, but its legal. No where in the world are the fines so high. You gotta ask yourself, are these guys on our side??? No theyre not. Same with the police and theyre hefty fines and theyre incompetence. Ive taken them to court and won. didnt wanna do it. Cost me 2 grand to do it, but damned if i was to be told i was doing the wrong thing when i knew i wasnt.
Theyve recruited soo many police, parking wardens etc that it would be a miracle or a rare thing to not receive a fine in Sydney. I see this system as plain stealing. Keeping the cogs of the courts going. Its all big business really. Im pretty bitter about it obviously because ive been fined over and over again living in Sydney. Much more by about 1000 than anywhere else.
Years ago i lived in bondi. Id park my car on Francis St. I went away for 4 days. When i came back the council had plonked a "No Stopping " sign where i was parked and also fined me. Drove me nuts. Couldnt get off it either.

Please excuse me...Ive been in the country(at home) for 4 days and have to go back to ****ny tomorrow. The only good thing about the joint is my boats there.
Apart from that theres a maggot at every turning just waiting to shaft you. I just cant wait to shift my business down here so i dont have to go there, like EVER.

Sectorsteve said..
For someone like you that doesnt have a car, are you a member of goget??
Goget have utes with towbars, vans, people movers, normal cars and i even saw a convertible goget in north sydney the other day.
THey have literally thousands of cars.
You pay per hour or daily. cost of renting a ute for 2 hours is $16. When i had my hobie, id rent the ute, grab the hobie, drive it to rose bay, return the ute or hang on to it whist sailing.

Yes I am a member of Goget and we have 5 of them within 5 mins walk but no, they don't have any vehicles with Tow Bars (I've been nagging them about this every since I joined 5 years ago). Even if it was just on the Utes and Vans.

They say it's because of insurance but I made the point that other hire companies have utes with tow bars.

AFAIK There are three ways to rent a tow car in the Sydney area
- Ute rental from Bunnings (cheapest), Kennards or Sydney Ute Rental (Unfortunately they closed their Moor Park depot 6 months ago).
- Ute or 4WD rental from regular hire company e.g. Hertz (often only available on mining spec vehicles) but you have to pickup from the airport
- Car rental from Drive My Car Rentals (drivemycar.com.au) but minimum rental period is a week. I've used them many times for longer road trips and they're great value - much cheaper than the mainstream rental companies because they are renting out other peoples vehicles.
I've rented this big 4WD for $60/day for the October long weekend when I'm doing the Jervis Bay Regatta.
www.drivemycar.com.au/

Donk107 said...

Trek said



Steve, you're not ranting its true. Australia is turning into a Police state with laws made up for everything by an overpaid group of individuals who think they can do anything and think they are smart because they call themselves the "government". In some countries when the people have had enough the government gets chucked. The ones here are lucky that hasn't happened yet.

In Sydney there's a fine for not locking your car!! Bad luck if you're having a picnic and want to listen to your car radio with the door open.

Last Australia Day I drove across Anzac Bridge at 81kmh which is over the speed limit because its "60kmh" zone. Now it WAS a 70 kmh zone. I had responded to a suicidal call from a mentally ill person I'm carer of and was trying to get back to work on time (working on Oz Day because I was carer thet day before and lost a day of work). Time was 6-7am, no traffic, clear dry and sunny. Bingo, radar trap, I got busted, lost 6 points and a huge fine. I drive that bridge frequently when its raining and IS dangerous, never any cops. A half blind 85yo lady can drive that bridge at 60kmh in pouring rain and its legal. But a carer driving at 81kmh on a roadway that formerly was 70kmh, when theres no traffic and its clear and sunny is "very dangerous". Good grief.

Two of my former crew, one a nurse the other an accountant sold up and have gone to live in Indonesia. One of my work colleagues packed up and went to live in the Phillipines. He says sailing there is great. Im tempted too.

Hi Trek

Instead of moving to Indonesia you should leave Australia and come to Tassie to live

Things are a fair bit more relaxed down here and very few rules are actually enforced (perhaps it is because every one is related to each other )

Regards Don

I got a parking fone in launceston....11 bucks. Same 1 heres 105. Nsw full of crooks!

Gee Whiz.. So glad I dropped out and moved to Goolwa SA
Sorry to say we are full no more allowed !!
unless you have a boat to race on Friday nights !

Live where you live
Life is what you make it

sad to here that dude :( try putting a tracker on like a 3g gps tracker next time. Hope this helps :)I'm new btw :)

1.2 million more people in syd since 2002. its sooooo relaxing there. .....

MorningBird said..
I don't have a problem with any of these issues in Sydney and love the city and lifestyle.
I haven't been fined for parking or anything else.
I obey the rules and pay my way. I use public transport a lot even though I own a few cars (a sucker for old British sports cars). The traffic sometimes gets to me but usually because I made the mistake of going somewhere in peak hour.
Maybe some people have an attitude problem.

True MB. The only time people get upset about Sydney is when they expect something more than what they get. I live on the Northern Beaches, pay a mortgage and only work part time. Thankfully my wife works full time, but we still manage to own a small boat, on a mooring, run two cars and a motorcycle. (used to be three bikes, but....) If you have the mind set that it's busy, and everyone is just trying to do their thing, then you'll be fine. Where else in the world can you surf on any one of 20 + beaches within an hours drive, sail on your choice of two gorgeous waterways and then on the same evening see a world class performance at a world class venue such as the Opera House. Sure, that's not everyone's cuppa, but for those of us who grew up here, it's a great place to live. Sometimes it's also a great place to get away from too.

At the local beach, the toilets are always in good order, with paper. The beach showers work and there's also fresh, filtered drinking water. The pavement and parking area is usually clean and there are recycling and rubbish bins close to all the picnic tables. The playground is well kept and clean and safe, including a safety fence. It's these things the parking fees, and council rates pay for. If you're not a rate payer, and you don't want to pay the parking costs, perhaps using the services is not for you.

Some people like the Northern Beaches so much they park their cars/boats/trailers in my street and leave them there for months while they live elsewhere. Two months ago, one was parked so close to my driveway that I risked an accident every time I drove out. It was there for about 6 weeks. When he finally came to move it, I asked him why. He just said, it was easier for him to leave it there, than tow it to Penrith. I gave him a beer, and told him he should think more carefully about where he parked, so at least I didn't have to risk a crash, because I couldn't see around it. He was very apologetic, and when it came back to the street, he'd parked outside some one else' house. With plenty of room to move around it. Being a boat owner, I could understand his plight, but I can sure understand why some others would simply call the council, or the Police and ask it to be removed. Especially if it was impeding access. There are rules for a reason, but often a lot of people don't realise they're not doing the right thing until they're told.

MichaelR said..

MorningBird said..
I don't have a problem with any of these issues in Sydney and love the city and lifestyle.
I haven't been fined for parking or anything else.
I obey the rules and pay my way. I use public transport a lot even though I own a few cars (a sucker for old British sports cars). The traffic sometimes gets to me but usually because I made the mistake of going somewhere in peak hour.
Maybe some people have an attitude problem.

True MB. The only time people get upset about Sydney is when they expect something more than what they get. I live on the Northern Beaches, pay a mortgage and only work part time. Thankfully my wife works full time, but we still manage to own a small boat, on a mooring, run two cars and a motorcycle. (used to be three bikes, but....) If you have the mind set that it's busy, and everyone is just trying to do their thing, then you'll be fine. Where else in the world can you surf on any one of 20 + beaches within an hours drive, sail on your choice of two gorgeous waterways and then on the same evening see a world class performance at a world class venue such as the Opera House. Sure, that's not everyone's cuppa, but for those of us who grew up here, it's a great place to live. Sometimes it's also a great place to get away from too.

At the local beach, the toilets are always in good order, with paper. The beach showers work and there's also fresh, filtered drinking water. The pavement and parking area is usually clean and there are recycling and rubbish bins close to all the picnic tables. The playground is well kept and clean and safe, including a safety fence. It's these things the parking fees, and council rates pay for. If you're not a rate payer, and you don't want to pay the parking costs, perhaps using the services is not for you.

Some people like the Northern Beaches so much they park their cars/boats/trailers in my street and leave them there for months while they live elsewhere. Two months ago, one was parked so close to my driveway that I risked an accident every time I drove out. It was there for about 6 weeks. When he finally came to move it, I asked him why. He just said, it was easier for him to leave it there, than tow it to Penrith. I gave him a beer, and told him he should think more carefully about where he parked, so at least I didn't have to risk a crash, because I couldn't see around it. He was very apologetic, and when it came back to the street, he'd parked outside some one else' house. With plenty of room to move around it. Being a boat owner, I could understand his plight, but I can sure understand why some others would simply call the council, or the Police and ask it to be removed. Especially if it was impeding access. There are rules for a reason, but often a lot of people don't realise they're not doing the right thing until they're told.

Seriously its an awesome place - no doubt. great services, clean, kinda organised, however some things just aint being thought through. My job as a draftsman using a motorbike and attending many properties mostly on the northern beaches has been sooo good, but in the last 5 years to get up there - even on a motorbike has sometimes been impossible. So much so i ditched all the clients up there. Have you not seen all the new apartment blocks and developments? theyre everywhere. I cannot see how they benefit anyone except the gov, realtors and developers. Have you seen kensington lately? This is where i stay when in town. Anzac parade is now inaccessible from where we are in kenso - by car. its clogged and a completely different place to what it was even 12 months ago. All that area, Zetland, Alexandria , Botany Mascot is gearing up for a massive influx of the new residents. Mostly Asian kids in their 20s driving around in 120k cars. Im not being rascist but all these new glass boxes theyre building and these little urban villages are all for the chinese. The gov wont tell you, but Oz and nz are being incorporated into asia. John Key openly admits this but we are not told this. China is unliveable. Fly over shanghai or any chinese city and youll see. Auckland - my place of birth is the same. its become so overcrowded and unaffordable and my mates i grew up with are living in a place thats totally different from when we were kids and theyre hurting. Sure they own houses and pay rates etc, but they cannot get anywhere and theyre paying max $. Im talking about a rural area on the west coast of Ak 30km form the CBD.
Sydney is the most amazing city on the planet in my view but its clogging up all so a few can get very wealthy. its a real shame and i personally think its a completely different place to what it was and not for the better.