If you are passing through Tutukaka Marina this summer...

[Murky 1]

The good news is the pizzeria will be offering Budvar on tap for this summer. Had a little sample yesterday and it slid down very nicely indeed.

 

The other news appeared in the latest marina newsletter as below. If it is a Northland Regional Council requirement as stated, then one would imagine it will also apply at the other marinas in the region - Marsden Cove, Opua and Doves Bay. No idea at this stage how energetically it will be enforced...

 

Mediterranean Fan Worm

This worm which has been widespread in Auckland marinas for several years has been found in Northland at Marsden Cove Marina and in one instance at Tutukaka.

The Northland Regional Council is making a concerted effort to stop it spreading in Northland and, in conjunction with the marinas, has formulated an action plan to deal with the problem.

Boats arriving in Northland marinas from Auckland will be required to answer a short questionnaire, asking about their home port, when the boat was last slipped and anti fouled, and if they have any reason to believe their boat may be carrying the worm. If the answers indicate that there is a risk a diver will inspect the hull, and if the worm is present the boat will be required to be slipped at an authorised facility in Whangarei to be cleaned.

Letters will be soon be sent to all Auckland boat owners that we know of who are likely to be coming to Tutukaka for the coming summer but if you have friends who you know are coming please give them a heads up on this issue.

[Guest]

And if we anchor?

[Murky 1]

Oh, if you anchor you are not in the marina - I would have thought it's as simple as that. The team there definitely have enough on their hands dealing with the summer peak and my expectation would be their interest in getting involved in debates with boats out in the bay would be less than zero.

 

Or were you asking whether the Budvar hose could be stretched out into the bay?

[Guest]

While I admire their motivation, one has to question their efficacy if they are missing 80% of the boats (the ones that aren't stopping at the marina).

[Murky 1]

Oh for sure.

 

My guess is that it is a pretty standard sequence of events:

- regional council has obligations surrounding biosecurity

- no-one ever has any resource for these things

- they have looked to the simplest/lowest-cost/most convenient way of doing it and either encouraged, or twisted the arms of, the marinas who have the staff and are already interacting with boat owners, although only a proportion as you point out

- boxes thereby get ticked and everyone carries on with their lives without too much thought as to whether they actually achieved anything.

 

Signing off at this point as something interesting has come up on the TV...

[Grinna 2]

The ministry for primary industry bio security division has a national policy of not trying to control Mediterranean fan worm anymore. They've given it up as a lost cause ..... So why are NRC continuing to waste their time and money?

[Murky 1]

"Thanks Murky, we realise you have no involvement with the organisations above – and therefore not the slightest inkling why they make the decisions they do - but are a boat owner and crew.org member passing on a piece of information in the hope that it might be helpful to others."

 

You're welcome guys

[ab1974 1]

Thanks Murky

 

We are passing through Tutukaka twice in late Jan and early Feb so thanks for the heads up.

 

Boat out of the water now, a bum clean amongst other things so we should be sweet!

 

Looking forward to the Budvar!

[smithy09 50]

"Thanks Murky, we realise you have no involvement with the organisations above – and therefore not the slightest inkling why they make the decisions they do - but are a boat owner and crew.org member passing on a piece of information in the hope that it might be helpful to others."

 

You're welcome guys

Hahahaha. Not feeling the love mate?

Thanks Murky!

(Just don't tell the Marina guys that Murky sent you... They tend to padlock the gate to your pier and run for cover...)

[Chewing Gum 17]

This is just silly, given the expense of Antifouling no one is going to do it every 6 or 12 months,

it will just make life a bit more difficult for boaties (what's new). So the end result will be less income for the far north marinas, no difference to the spread of this worm and more people disenchanted with boating.

 

"Far North marinas in Whangaroa, Kerikeri and Opua are joining the Northland-wide fight against Mediterranean fanworm and it may affect the ability of touring holiday boaties to find marina accommodation for their boats this summer.

 

Mediterranean fanworm (Sabella spallanzanii) is a marine animal typically found in estuaries or sheltered sites, at depths of anywhere between one to 30 metres. Internationally recognised as a significant marine pest, it consists of a tough, flexible tube – often muddy in appearance & always anchored to a hard surface – which is topped with a single spiral fan. They grow up to 40cm long and the fans are white, banded with brown and orange, and have an orange central stem. Mediterranean fanworms are unwanted because they can form dense groups that compete with native species for food and space.

 

The presence of Mediterranean fan worm in Northland would jeopardise the local economy and the ecology, potentially destroying seafood and marine reserves. A growing number of Northland stakeholders hope to hold back the tide of this invader being carried into Northland waters on boats. Auckland waters are heavily infested.

 

In practice this means that boats visiting the Far North marinas this summer will need to provide information about their recent location, the age of their anti-foul and/or recent haul outs. The message for anyone moving a vessel is slip it, clean it and anti-foul its hull. Fresh is best, ideally anti-foul will be less than six months old when the boat arrives in Northland. And, boats with anti-foul older than 12 months will not be able to rent a berth at a marina in Opua, Kerikeri or Whangaroa. Marinas in the Whangarei area have already adopted similar restrictions. If you are planning to travel to Northland in your boat this summer please contact one of the marinas in that area, well in advance, to discuss the conditions around renting a marina berth

"

[Grinna 2]

I think this approach is counter productive. Marinas are easy hubs to monitor for invasive species, they have lots of people going through them and an invasive species has a higher likelihood of early detection. Driving boats away from marinas will make them anchor out in remote areas and bays that aren't regularly monitored and it makes it much more likely that an invasive species can establish itself and reach a sustainable breeding population before being detected. A remote and well-established population of breeding individuals is a LOT harder to eradicate or control.

 

NRC should be encouraging visiting boats into the marinas to contain the threat and make it easier to manage.

[rigger 47]

FWIIW most of the larger commercial vessels drydock / slip every 5 years, that includes most of the tugs I have worked on.

[Chewing Gum 17]

FWIIW most of the larger commercial vessels drydock / slip every 5 years, that includes most of the tugs I have worked on.

That's interesting Rigger, seems like we are getting shafted once again ie the small boat owner has to antifoul every 2 or 3 years because the product used has more stringent controls compared to the commercial stuff so it is not as effective.

[rigger 47]

FWIIW most of the larger commercial vessels drydock / slip every 5 years, that includes most of the tugs I have worked on.

That's interesting Rigger, seems like we are getting shafted once again ie the small boat owner has to antifoul every 2 or 3 years because the product used has more stringent controls compared to the commercial stuff so it is not as effective.

 

Nope the restrictions on the commercial stuff is just as tough - do you have to carry certificates to certify that your antifoul complies?

I used commercial branded antifoul, last time I checked it had done 3 years service (no longer have the boat) - but there were many more coats applied than most people do.

The thing with the commercial vessels is the cost of downtime / docking is huge so it is cheaper to apply more coats and haul / dock once every 5 years

 

some info

http://www.imo.org/OurWork/Environment/ ... fault.aspx

 

http://www.international-marine.com/lit ... epaper.pdf

[wheels 543]

There are also some very different kinds of Anti-foul available to commercial Shipping now. For instance, Aratere was coated with Hempels latest technology in Anti-foul, which is a product that works along the same lines as Propspeed. It's expensive and only available in commerical quantities and I imagine a rather tricky material to apply, so it's not really something the ones like us can easily get hold of. That will change eventually I am sure. Well, the quantity may, not sure about the price. The thing is, the Industry is rushing at trying to find replacements for the "toxic" type Anti-fouls.

[Guest]

hmmmmm