Bundaberg, AU during tropical season

[james247]

Originally Posted by s57ra

Hi, i am currently cruising in Fiji and i will need to leave the sailboat during hurricane season in NZ or Australia for few months. I have an option on hard in Bundaberg, but i am still concerned this area might be affected by the cyclones. Could somwone tell me how Bundaberg is affected or where in AU it would be considered safe during tropical season. I wold prefer to stay on hard, not too far south, sailboat is 56ft.

Had a 53 footer in Cairns every year there's a cyclone or cyclone watch.
Everyone is compulsory moved from the marina to a series of mangrove tidal creeks . With great gusto everyone - a couple of hundred boats tie themselves against the mangrove shores with for and aft anchors set to hold off the bank.
This snug setting becomes a bit of a party good friendship and a willingness to help each other. Striped of deck adornments and sails.
48 hours of hiding away. I've been hit with 100kn sustained bullets.
Didn't even spill the bundy.
Keep out of rivers as the rivers on the coast of Qld can rise enormously. Over my life time at least 4 cyclones have reached Brisbane. Northern NZ Isn't exempt.
Lots of good hideouts in southern Morton Bay, Hervey Bay from TinCan Bay to just north of the narrows. Gladstone in the inner channel towards the mouth of the Fitzroy River. There are a few areas around the Whitsundays but not great spots. Hinchenbrook channel has some great hide holes. And Trinity Inlet Cairns.
Just be alert for a storm surge. The Barrier Reef takes care of most of these however.

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by Paul L

Here's the long term hard stand tie downs in Bundy

If I was the owner of that boat I would like to see the Accroprops gone, the boat positioned a little further back on the support and webbing straps from the vertical supports under the boat from both aft and forward posts with turnbuckles to tighten them. Also the tops of the posts should be tied together athwartships and the poly rope replaced by chain.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

If I was the owner of that boat I would like to see the Accroprops gone, the boat positioned a little further back on the support and webbing straps from the vertical supports under the boat from both aft and forward posts with turnbuckles to tighten them. Also the tops of the posts should be tied together athwartships and the poly rope replaced by chain.

Not familiar with the term Accroprops. Is that an Aussieism?
The pic is pretty much how all the long term hard stand is done there.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Mr B

1973, Hervey Bay got levelled by a cyclone, I was living in Maryborough at the time,

I guess that must have been Wanda in 1974?

Crossed the coast in the Maryborough region, but did more damage to Brisbane. Flooded 6000 houses.

In 74 Hervey bay would have consisted of a few fishing villages.

But OK, its only 44 years since the last hit....


http://www.windworker.com.au/qldcyclones.htm

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Paul L

Not familiar with the term Accroprops. Is that an Aussieism?
The pic is pretty much how all the long term hard stand is done there.

Acro is a brand of adjustable screw jacks/props.

It has become a sort of generic term in Aus.

https://synergyaccessandscaffolding.com.au/shop/buy-formwork-scaffold-components/3-1m-heavy-duty-acroprops-copy/?keyword=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI77iF9uiV3AIVEiUrCh1OEw SfEAQYASABEgLhdPD_BwE

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

I guess that must have been Wanda in 1974?

Crossed the coast in the Maryborough region, but did more damage to Brisbane. Flooded 6000 houses.

In 74 Hervey bay would have consisted of a few fishing villages.

But OK, its only 44 years since the last hit....


Queensland Cyclones

Hahaha, 73-74 christmas I was living in Mt Isa, so early 73 I was in maryborough,
The people who lived and worked here and ran the new weather station on the top of Fraser Island, Said it got levelled,

The trees along the sea front were snapped off 3 feet above the ground, I have piccys of it all,
I stood in the eye of the cyclone as it went over Maryborough, I thought it had finished till it smacked back the other way twenty minutes later,


Its still a long time ago,
Cheers, Brian,

[Alan Mighty]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

Acro is a brand of adjustable screw jacks/props.

It has become a sort of generic term in Aus.

Seriously?

The name is Acrow. A registered UK company name since 1935. And a patented device since 1949.

The key person was Bill de Vigier, formally Wilhelm Alphonse de Vigier (1912-2004).

Bill was born in Switzerland and worked with his father in construction until he had an argument with his father and then migrated to the UK in 1934-35. He likely had the idea of an adjustable steel screw prop from his years in Switzerland.

In the UK in the 1930s, he discovered that English construction workers just made new structural props on every site, using timber at hand, rather than carrying adjustable props with them.

Bill tried to sell well-made, strong, adjustable steel screw props in England. He had only brought the equivalent of GBP50 with him. His food and rent was eating into that fast.

In 1935 he visited a lawyer, Mr A. Crowe, to register a company so he could manufacture and sell his standard, built to engineering specificiations, adjustable screw props. Mr Crowe was interested and supportive. And Mr Crowe ended up offering Bill de Vigier a loan (a solicitor's loan, as it was called) to get the business going. In return, Bill de Vigier named his company after the solicitor: Acrow (Engineering) Limited.

Commercial success came slowly. Small scale construction firms were reluctant to abandon their old habit of just ordering surplus lumber, using some of it to make props as needed, then discarding the props at the end of the job.

In 1939, Acrow (Engineering) Ltd chalked up the sale of its 40,000th Acrow prop.

War intervened. Bill de Vigier's company continued to make and sell Acrow props. But wartime demand from government could not be ignored. Bill set up workshops fabricating tubular metal frames for de Havilland aircraft, including the Mosquito. Bill started another small but significant change in British industry: he paid women welders working on the Mosquito frames the same pay as men after discovering that the women made fewer welding errors.

Construction work after World War 2 boomed. Bill de Vigier's business expanded overseas, with subsidiaries set up almost everywhere you can name (including that colonial or ex-colonial outpost, Australia).

That international expansion drew attention to legal status of Bill's Acrow props. In 1948, he filed for patents in most every economy he considered significant. Patents were granted in various years including 1949 (US), and 1952 (Deutschland). See attached patents for your amusement.

[Mr B]

That was interesting, Alan, I never knew the history of Acrow props till now,
Thanks for the info,

[Paul L]

Alan, glad I asked.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Alan Mighty

Seriously?

The name is Acrow. A registered UK company name since 1935. And a patented device since 1949.

The key person was Bill de Vigier, formally Wilhelm Alphonse de Vigier (1912-2004).

Bill was born in Switzerland and worked with his father in construction until he had an argument with his father and then migrated to the UK in 1934-35. He likely had the idea of an adjustable steel screw prop from his years in Switzerland.

In the UK in the 1930s, he discovered that English construction workers just made new structural props on every site, using timber at hand, rather than carrying adjustable props with them.

Bill tried to sell well-made, strong, adjustable steel screw props in England. He had only brought the equivalent of GBP50 with him. His food and rent was eating into that fast.

In 1935 he visited a lawyer, Mr A. Crowe, to register a company so he could manufacture and sell his standard, built to engineering specificiations, adjustable screw props. Mr Crowe was interested and supportive. And Mr Crowe ended up offering Bill de Vigier a loan (a solicitor's loan, as it was called) to get the business going. In return, Bill de Vigier named his company after the solicitor: Acrow (Engineering) Limited.

Commercial success came slowly. Small scale construction firms were reluctant to abandon their old habit of just ordering surplus lumber, using some of it to make props as needed, then discarding the props at the end of the job.

In 1939, Acrow (Engineering) Ltd chalked up the sale of its 40,000th Acrow prop.

War intervened. Bill de Vigier's company continued to make and sell Acrow props. But wartime demand from government could not be ignored. Bill set up workshops fabricating tubular metal frames for de Havilland aircraft, including the Mosquito. Bill started another small but significant change in British industry: he paid women welders working on the Mosquito frames the same pay as men after discovering that the women made fewer welding errors.

Construction work after World War 2 boomed. Bill de Vigier's business expanded overseas, with subsidiaries set up almost everywhere you can name (including that colonial or ex-colonial outpost, Australia).

That international expansion drew attention to legal status of Bill's Acrow props. In 1948, he filed for patents in most every economy he considered significant. Patents were granted in various years including 1949 (US), and 1952 (Deutschland). See attached patents for your amusement.

Nitpickers anonymous. AKA Cruisers Forum.

I suppose that came straight off the top of your head?

[MLOI]

Originally Posted by Paul L

Does Tin Can Bay offer long term hard stand storage? It seemed to me to be a fairly small dry stand area.
.

I left my 37 ft mono on the hard at Tin Can bay marina from October to March last summer. Was around $400 a month. Ring them and ask.

Small community of nice people. Now one of our favorite places, just a bit of a pain to get to.

Mike

[RaymondR]

Anyway, what ever you want to call them using them to prop a boat in any sort of wind speed is not kosher. Once the wind gets up and the mast starts vibrating any props not securely fixed in position tend to move and eventually fall down, I know this from personal experience.

[crazyhorse]

Having been both sides of the Tas, Whangarei is both good value and SAFE. We haul out winter at Norsand Boat Yard which I have found the best in NZ. Tauranga is good too, Sulphur Point (don't go near Bridge Marina, not good). Cyclones are getting worse and seem to travel south a lot further now, Bundy gets them from time to time but mostly when they have blown out to a 'severe tropical depression'. We get strong winds here (60kts last week!) but most yards use cradles, not stands so losing your ship to high winds is not likely. Never heard of it here..ever!.

[DGH]

Originally Posted by s57ra

Hi, i am currently cruising in Fiji and i will need to leave the sailboat during hurricane season in NZ or Australia for few months. I have an option on hard in Bundaberg, but i am still concerned this area might be affected by the cyclones. Could somwone tell me how Bundaberg is affected or where in AU it would be considered safe during tropical season. I wold prefer to stay on hard, not too far south, sailboat is 56ft.

I would say Bundaberg is fairly marginal. The furthest north to be clear of a strong cyclone, imo, would be Brisbane or Gold Coast. Plenty of options there.

[Craigus]

Originally Posted by s57ra

Hi, i am currently cruising in Fiji and i will need to leave the sailboat during hurricane season in NZ or Australia for few months. I have an option on hard in Bundaberg, but i am still concerned this area might be affected by the cyclones. Could somwone tell me how Bundaberg is affected or where in AU it would be considered safe during tropical season. I wold prefer to stay on hard, not too far south, sailboat is 56ft.

Hi Bundy port marina hard stand is reasonably safe in cyclone season .We have not had a cyclone through he for some years and the marina take great care to protect your boat ie boats secured to hardstand etc .
The main problems has been with floods but they did not effect the hardstand areas .
Bundaberg is a customs port close for boats coming out of the Pacific. A close alternative would be Hervey bay .
Cyclone seasons on qld coast is very hit and miss and any port on the coast is Possible to be hit by one .I have kept a boat in Bundaberg for some years with out problem.
Regards Craigs