Watermark #219 October 2022

Barb receiving her cup (belatedly) for her work with club communications (net type stuff that only she can understand)

Birthdays

October       Jan Mills, Eric Mills, Grahame Probert, Pam Lorden
November    Barbara McEwan
December    Bill McCook, Brian Goodwin, Brian Peachey
 

Rob’s Ramblings – aka Commodore’s Report
Spring has sprung and for many of us, the sailing season is to begin in the next few weeks when we finish our winter maintenance.  We have a couple of issues to resolve before we hit the water but these should be resolved by labour weekend.
We have enjoyed the winter club activities and it has been good to catch up on land.  Thanks to Jan and Graeme for the recent 10,000 evening and BBQ.  It was fun for all attending.  We also enjoyed or recent lunch at Matakana with other club members.  We look forward to have more on the land events over summer as well as on the water events when the weather is good.
We have a new social committee headed by Barbara G and with Jan, Pam, Lis and Barbara M also on the committee.  Address any good ideas to Barbara G in the first instance
Ideas included so far are, Whangarei Trip – November, Manurewa Gardens,  Bay of Islands, Kauri Museum, Puhoi Cheese Factory.
​
New clean hull programme
Six members of WYC, including Karen who was representing Milford CC, attended the AYBA AGM, along with only 16 other persons representing other Auckland clubs!? 
The main purpose of the meeting was to hear Council officers explain their latest marine biosecurity measures which are loosely detailed in the attached web link below and were much more detailed in the presentation.  Basically they will use divers to inspect the hulls of all boats in marinas or moored, and where there is more than minimum fouling (hardly any), will basically require the owners to come up with a plan to remove the fouling within an agreed timeframe.
Asking a question as a typical boatie in a marina who kept up to date with his antifouling, I was told that a haul out every six month would probably be sufficient to meet the new standard.  It was pointed out that there is currently a waiting list of 3 months to get into a hardstand area now, a haul out is expensive, and what they proposed would require much more in the way of haul out facilities than are presently available.
It was also pointed out that Council is gradually getting rid of hardstand areas to allow for high end development and other reasons.  Recent losses include Pine harbour, the Landing Okahu Bay, Pier 21, Little Shoal Bay.  Fortunately the Hammerhead development at Gulf harbour did not happen through a concerted public campaign which would have cost ratepayers a lot of money.
The two officers, were aware of this situation agreed that it did not make any sense to be imposing rules which could not be met even if boaties wanted to adhere to them.   Also, the officers had not been consulted over recent applications including the Baywater Marina proposed development. On 27th September, I will be formally presenting our clubs opposition to the release of marina land for high end development along with many other individuals and clubs presenting similar reviews. 
The was no explanation as to why AYBA and other similar organisations were not consulted before drafting up the new rules or why the officers had no input into recent decisions on reducing marina hardstand areas.  The officers got the message and said that they will discuss the issues with their bosses.
The root cause of the issue is that Council has no Marina Strategy to guide its decision making processes.   Previously set aside money for a Marina Strategy was redirected into other activities.  Had we such a strategy written by someone who owned, or once owned, a boat, we could make good decisions on the future need for marina land for a variety of purposes including ferry travel. 
In my opinion, Auckland Council is making boat ownership and other access to the Hauraki Gulf for active and passive recreation, increasingly difficult for present and future generations.  This is clearly in conflict with the Auckland Plan 2050 which wants future generations to have good access to the Hauraki Gulf, etc.  
There are many issues with the anti-fouling strategy such as what to do with those boats which are moored and have many years of growth on them and whose owners are difficult to find, or cannot afford to take the boat out at an approved hardstand.  At present it is a half-baked strategy which does meet the Council’s Significance and Engagement Policy which required “genuine dialogue” with affected parties such as AYBA before making such a decision.
Stay safe out there and vote carefully.
Rob

Off Water events

Tentative date for Xmas party 10th Dec

Will confirm date and other events after next committee meeting which is in a couple of weeks
 
Still feel free to organise an impromptu event using the club group messenger
 
 
On Water Events

Keep an eye on the club sailing messenger site come October.

Club events and happenings 

The 10,000 (Farkle) night

The teams playing the first round of Farkle

​Eric; the winner of Farkle

Matakana Blossoms Lunch

Very enjoyable lunch                                           Waiting for the blossoms to arrive

This month’s bad joke

One day a young man enters the store, glances at the clerk and at the loaves of bread behind the counter. Noticing her short skirt, and the location of the raisin bread, he has a brilliant idea. 
"I'd like some raisin bread please," the man says. 
The clerk nods and climbs up a ladder to reach the raisin bread located on the very top shelf. 
The man standing almost directly beneath her, is provided with an excellent view, just as he thought. 
When she descends the ladder, he decides that he had better get two loaves, as he is "having company for dinner." 
As the clerk retrieves the second loaf of bread, one of the other male customers notices what's going on and requests his own loaf of raisin bread. 
 After many trips, she is tired, irritated and begins to wonder "why the unusual interest in the raisin bread?"
Atop the ladder one more time, she looks down and glares at the men standing below. 
Then, she notices an elderly man standing amongst the crowd. Thinking that she can save herself a trip, she yells at the elderly man,
Is it raisin for you too?" "No," stammers the old man, "but it's quivering a little."
 
Naval terminology

Hunky-Dory
The term meaning everything is O.K. was coined from a street named "Honki-Dori" in Yokohama, Japan. Since the inhabitants of this street catered to the pleasures of sailors, it is easy to understand why the street's name became
synonymous for anything that is enjoyable or at least satisfactory.
And the logical follow-on is "Okey-dokey."
 
Logbook
In the early days of sailing ships, the ship's records were written on shingles cut from logs. These shingles were hinged and opened like a book. The record was called the "logbook." Later on, when paper was readily available and bound into books, the record maintained it name.
 

Rob's Presentation on behalf of our club

 Bayswater Marina hearing – Westhaven Yacht Club Submission
My name is Rob Lorden, Commodore of the Westhaven Yacht Club who have asked me to present on the club’s behalf.  We are a group of young at heart people who still enjoy sailing and want our mokopuna and their offspring to have the same opportunities to access and enjoy the Hauraki Gulf that we have been fortunate enough to have had.
We believe that allowing the proposed development to proceed is contrary to: 

1. Council’s vision of sustaining access to the waters of the Hauraki Gulf for future generations,
2. Council’s environmental goals which include a 9 fold increase in the use of public transport including ferries.
3. Council’s recently implemented marine biosecurity rules which in effect requires more locally available hardstand areas than at present to enable the more frequent cleaning of boat hulls to protect and improve our degraded marine environment. 

Access to the Hauraki Gulf
The values of the Auckland Plan 2050 include words like:  " have access to a range of inclusive public places." and " Aucklanders will be able to get where they want to go more easily, safely and sustainably"   in other words future generations  want to go to, or walk alongside, or recreate in the sea.  We believe that releasing marina land for high end development as proposed does not support this Plan and access to the waters of the Hauraki Gulf for future generations will be compromised.
Council’s Environmental goals
The Auckland Plan 2050, has been recently been more specifically detailed in Council’s Transport Emissions Reduction Pathway plan (TERP) seeking “a nine-fold increase in public transport use from current levels, and a 17-fold increase in the share of trips made on foot, cycles or scooters”.  I.e. Council want to reduce our carbon emissions by actions such getting more people to use ferries at marinas like Bayswater, and get there by walking, cycling, scootering or using buses or cars which will need to be parked or have drop off zones.   
The general outcomes from the TERP plan in respect to Bayswater Marina, and other marinas where ferry services are available, are not new requirements, they are just more detailed than previously.  Getting more people using public transport including ferries to reduce carbon emissions, has been an Auckland goal for over a generation or more.   
Council’s Marine Biosecurity Requirements
On the 12th of September, I attended a Auckland Yacht and Boating Association’s  “boaties’” meeting with Council Marine Biosecurity Officers explaining their new hull surveillance programme using divers to inspect the fouling on hulls of all boats in marinas or on moorings and what to expect in the way of repercussions if your vessel’s hull is non-compliant.  This will result in boats needing to be taken out of the water at a local hardstand area at a greater frequency than at present.
Presently there are not enough hardstands areas to support the new rules as a consequence of  the loss of hardstand areas such as Pine Harbour, The Landing - Okahu Bay, Pier 21, Little Shoal Bay and potentially Bayswater.
It is wrong in our opinion for Council to be allowing the reduction of marina facilities while at the same time Council through its biosecurity team has placed stringent rules on cleaning boat hulls which they know will require significantly more hardstand land than is available at present. 
Council biosecurity officers were seemingly not consulted in regard to this and other applications and are aware that recent Council decisions to allow marina land to be used for other purposes has resulted in a three month waiting time to get boats hauled out onto hardstand areas such as Oram’s yard.
Root Cause of this issue arising
This issue has arisen because of the lack of an Auckland Marina Strategy which we understand was funded at one point, but did not happen.  Had we had such a document, we would be in an appropriate position to assess this and similar applications.
Allowing the development to occur in the absence of any strategy would be likely to severely compromise:

1. Council’s intended reduction in carbon emissions arising from a nine-fold increase in public transport usage,
2. Council’s intention to improve marine water quality through marine biosecurity rules, and
3. The ability of future generations to access the Hauraki Gulf for active and passive recreation.

There appears to be no good reason for allocating marina zoned land to high end residential development in preference to the primary purpose of the zone which is to service marine related activities including ferries.  It is possible, or likely?, that Council may have to acquire adjacent residential land in order to allow the activities associated with increased use of the Bayswater Marina for the purposed activities discussed above. 
We note that the Bayswater area is described on Council’s plans   as “Areas Susceptible to Coastal Instability and Erosion" and we note that  ongoing land subsidence in Auckland as reported in NZ Herald 1 May 2022 of similar quantum to sea level rise does not seem to have been taken account of in the application.   I.e. this will significantly reduce the amount of land available for marina and public transport use, etc. in the medium future.
As far as we know there has been no opportunity to attend a presentation to better understand the proposal, even though interested organisations have been inundated with much electronic “paper”.  
What is clear however to those of us who use marinas, is that there urgently needs to be a Marina Strategy for Auckland.  Until one is developed all decisions on all marina developments including this one, should be put on hold to ensure that:

1. Access to the water for our mokopuna and their mokopuna is not compromised
2. Councils intended environmental sustainability outcomes related to carbon emissions and the improved sustainability of the marine environment are not compromised by poor decision making processes leading to not enough land being available to physically allow them to be realised.
3. Council’s new marine biosecurity rules are able to be addressed by ensuring that local haul out areas are available.  Presently there is not enough hardstand areas available.
4. And finally, coastal erosion as noted in Council’s documents, the ongoing land subsidence, and sea level rise, at marina sites are fully taken into account, and future generations will not be compromised by lack of areas adjacent to the marine environment.

Accordingly until those issues have been addressed, whether through a Marina Strategy or not, we strongly believe the application to develop marina land be declined, or as a minimum put on hold until a Marina Strategy taking into account the matters above have been addressed.
Reference:https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/rising-risk-how-our-coast-will-be-transformed/R24X3UURX7ESXCLKCGDSHFU2EU/
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/129567385/climate-change-aucklanders-need-to-halve-their-driving-to-reach-emissions-goal

Even worst Bad joke of the month
 
A woman phones up her husband at work for a chat... Says He: "I'm sorry honey but I'm up to my neck in work today" 
Says She: "But I've got some good news and some bad news for you dear." Says He: "OK darling, but since I've got no time now, just give me the good news,
OK?"Says She: "Well, the air bag works..."